Are We Lions or Lambs?

Yes, the Spirit gives boldness, but that boldness is not a roaring performance. It’s the quiet humility of true strength, no bravado required.

Years ago, before iPads had a setting for a black screen, I changed the setting on my iPad to reverse the colors when you triple-clicked the home button. It would turn all the whites black, which was good for reading or writing in low light; but it also turned my kids’ coloring app into a horror show. We kept wondering what my daughter meant when she talked about not liking the bad Santa. Turns out while coloring on the iPad, she unintentionally triple-clicked the home button and reversed the colors on the app. On the Christmas coloring screens, the reversal turned Santa into a demonic-looking goblin.

So too some Christians seem to have distorted Jesus’s vision of Christian influence and faithfulness. For example, I saw a bumper sticker recently that said, “Lions Not Sheep.” It was parked at a Christian event and organization. That slogan illustrates an undertow that seems to be pulling Christians away from the shore. Strength over serving. Power over humility. Folks have imbibed a new prosperity gospel of power. They think that Christians are empowered to roar like lions instead of bleeting like sheep.

This new prosperity stuff has a form of power but it lacks godliness. It mirrors the world rather than the word. For example, take a scene in a somewhat recent Netflix special about self-help, positive thinking guru Tony Robbins. In the midst of the large crowd, Robbins intervenes into the relationship of a struggling couple. The man is timid and passive. But Robbins tells the passive man that the man is a lion, not a sheep. He tells the man to literally roar into the microphone in the midst of the self-help seminar. The man roars. The crowd erupts. Tony yells, “[Blank] yes brother, that’s a roar!” as he high fives and embraces him. It’s a powerful moment, as it mirrors a distorted, color-reversed form of Christian boldness. Yes, the Spirit gives boldness, but that boldness is not a roaring performance. It’s the quiet humility of true strength, no bravado required. And the Lord already warned us about the false prophetic performance of the “be a lion” kind of stuff: “The conspiracy of her prophets within her is like a roaring lion tearing its prey: they devour people, seize wealth and valuables, and multiply the widows within her” (Ezekiel 22:25).

“Lions Not Sheep” is the slogan of pagans not Christians. Maybe you’ll protest first that the Bible says that “the righteous are as bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1). Point taken, because boldness and confidence are biblical virtues, and the Bible does say what it says about lion-like boldness. That said, if you scan the way the Old Testament and the Bible as a whole uses the imagery of lions, a lion is more often a sign of danger and judgment, not virtue. “Lions Not Sheep” posits an either/or, and emphasizes a point that the Bible doesn’t emphasize. Instead, in the biblical economy, poverty is wealth, humility is confidence, weakness is strength. Boldness is always tempered by humility and self-sacrifice. The lion always lies with the lamb.

Maybe you’ll protest secondly that Scripture says that Jesus Christ is both the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5) and the Lamb who was slain (Rev. 5:8-9), “an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies,” as Jonathan Edwards said. Yes and amen. Jesus is Lion and Lamb, in an ultimately unique way as fully God and fully man. Insofar as we do follow Jesus in his lionized power, we remember again that boldness is always found in humility. Not only that, but Jesus calls us to follow him as the sheep of his pasture more than the lions of his pride. The prevailing image of Christian faithfulness is more sheepish than lionized.

Getting this reversed can show up in the way we pursue political engagement and political leaders. We might lionize the rough and tumble leaders who will fight the liberals. We might pursue solutions to political problems with the naked power of the state. The lionizing undertow can also show up in the way we pursue pastors. We might follow the powerful preaching and vision of leaders who take the world by storm and put the gates of hell on notice. We too easily and sometimes unknowingly triple-click the button to reverse the image that Jesus gives us. Beware the bad Santa—the form of Christianity that lionizes power and despises humility.

Those commending lionized boldness as a premier Christian virtue might want to consider another lion in the Bible: “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). If you’ve seen Disney’s The Lion King, you know that there are good, valiant lion kings (like Mufasa and Simba) but there are also evil, illegitimate lion kings (like Mufasa’s brother Scar). Those who seek power in power instead of power in weakness should double-check. Those wanting to be Lions instead of Lambs might want to double check that they aren’t valorizing—lionizing—the wrong lion.