Why Fit Shepherds?

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep." John 10:11-13

There is a crisis of good men in our world. Society seems to hold men to standards that are pushed lower and lower.  Entrenched in our culture is a narrative that contributes to men living as a hireling, not a shepherd. The hireling undertakes menial work for little pay, caring little for what he does and those under his watch. He is bored. Therefore, when the wolf comes, the hireling flees, abandoning the sheep. Without their leader, the sheep are left to scatter and perish.

Conversely, the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.  He does not abandon his flock when confronted with danger.  Fit Shepherds are men striving to model their lives after the Good Shepherd rather than the hireling. We are tired and fed up with the narrative that encourages men to scatter when life gets hard. We are men who endeavor to lay down our lives in a sacrificial way for our families and community.

Due to the strong narrative that lends to men being hirelings, a Fit Shepherd knows he can't do it alone. He needs brothers. He needs other men to go to battle with. He needs to know he has other men alongside him in the trenches pushing him to be in better shape; to be a better son; a better husband; a better father; a better brother; a better neighbor--both during the workout and in the day-to-day grind. The wolf will come, his goal is to scatter and destroy. Will you be a hireling and flee, or a Fit Shepherd who sacrifices his life?