Church life, like the life of almost any religious organization, is organized around a society of believers and their leaders - carriers of the sacred functional of the cult. The latter - priests, priests, etc. - often bear the name of shepherds. Accordingly, flocks are wide layers of the laity. This analogy is very ancient and, by virtue of its obviousness, is understandable to everyone.
Semantics of allegory of the shepherd and flock
A shepherd grazes sheep, guards them, leads them to a watering place and to meadows rich in food. The care of the shepherd is the well-being and safety of the entrusted herd. The religious leader is also called upon to guard his flock from schisms, from embarrassment by dissent and heresy, to deliver spiritual water and food in time, and to take care of the good of the flock in every possible way.
Image history
The prospect of a “shepherd and flock” relationship in a religious context is rooted in hoary antiquity. It is hardly possible today to establish where and when this metaphor was first used. It is important to note that initially the god himself was called a shepherd. Thus, for example, in the psalms attributed to David, Yahweh is called a shepherd who feeds his worshiper in the evil pastures (Psalm 22). At the same time, the cryophor, that is, the ram carrying, was called Hermes - the pagan messenger of the gods of the Greek pantheon. In this role, Hermes was portrayed as a young man carrying an armpit or on the shoulders of a small lamb. Perhaps, not without the influence of this religious-cultural type, the image of Jesus Christ appears as a good shepherd, who considers himself to be a sheep, with the beginning of a new era. The sacred texts of Christians put the words: “I am a good shepherd.”
Probably, this image was so popular, because it was understandable to wide sections of the peasant population, often illiterate. The fact is that in the East the shepherd goes ahead, and the herd follows after him, guided by his voice or melody. The faithful flock is also a herd of obedient sheep, following the voice of its leader, the shepherd-savior.
Negative Symbols
Over time, the pastoral role passed from the hands of the deity to the people. Community leaders turned from flocks to shepherds, creating a distance between people. Such a situation did not sensibly reflect on ethics and, in general, on the whole structure of religious life. This can be shown by the eloquent example of Christianity.
Initially, all Christians were considered disciples of Christ and, accordingly, were part of his flock. However, quite quickly (already in the New Testament time), a split occurs between leaders and communities. The former take on the sovereign right to priestly and teach, which eliminates the royal priesthood of the church community to a profane level. The parishioners of the church from now on are not the people of priests, but simply lay people - worldly, profane people. The increasing distance led to the doctrinal consolidation of the doctrine of two churches - the teachable, consisting of uninitiated laity, and the teaching, consisting of carriers of the so-called apostolic succession. In one form or another, this division into clergy and peace is present in almost all modern Christian denominations. Contrary to the preaching of Jesus himself and the norms of the early church, the flock lost the opportunity to stand in the celebration of the Eucharist, to preach and perform other purely “priestly” duties. Currently, clergy and laity even receive communion separately.
The development of ecclesiasticalism and clericalism has led to the fact that shepherding has become a profession, and in some countries in some periods of history as a whole. The very allegory of the shepherd, transferred from God to man, contributes to this understanding: psychologically, the shepherd rises above the flock, and therefore has the rights to judge, rule, rule, cut (!), Punish, etc. Therefore, often in the history of Christianity, the flock is not a holy people, and a silent herd, led by grief-shepherds for slaughter. Jesus himself foresaw these abuses, comparing himself as a true good shepherd, with mercenaries who do not care about the herd and at the first danger leave him, and with thieves who plunder the herd, pretending to be shepherds.
Conclusion
Clericalism and spiritual despotism are an inevitable consequence of the separation of people according to a hierarchical principle in a religious context, when some gain power over others by virtue of a simple consecration to the rank, and not by virtue of personal merit. Considering that in parallel with the process of dividing the church people into the spiritual elite of shepherds and the faceless herd of flocks, the latter even lost the right to choose pastors, we can talk about the negative impact of this image on the spiritual culture of Western civilization. The Christian flock (this is especially characteristic of the realities of the modern Russian Orthodox Church) is a disenfranchised gathering of people for whom there is only one law - the so-called obedience (to a man in a cassock).
Unfortunately, the more time passes, the more followers of Christ depart from the ideals proclaimed by their teacher.