The Folly of Falling in Love With Goats

When I was a kid, there was a local character known by everyone as the "Goat Man." He lived in an old shed in a holler behind my granny's place. The lady who owned the property was kind enough to let him live there with his flock of goats.

His story was unusual. At one time he was a prosperous businessman who owned a tractor dealership. But then his son wound up cheating him out of the business and booting the old man out with nothing. This threw him into some sort of breakdown, and he decided that goats were better company than people.

He was harmless, but not too pleasant to be around. He stunk just like the goats he lived with.

In the church, I have seen people fall in love with goats. They form an emotional attachment to some rebellious type, and decide that if only the the church and pastor were more compassionate, this poor goat would find healing and restoration.

These folks often become quite judgmental in the throes of this misplaced compassion, and become so fixated on the object of their obsession that there is no spiritual or emotional energy left for the sheep that are all around them, some of them lost and struggling.

And ultimately, these goat lovers usually end up taking on the smell and nature of the goats they love.

I believe in reaching for lost and struggling sheep with everything within me...but hard experience has taught me the folly of falling in love with goats.