Sheep Over Goats… Literally?

While in seminary I did some research and editing work for a missiology professor, and I came across a story of a missionary who took Jesus’s illustration of sheep and goats quite literally when working with a people group in an arid climate.

The people had a few sheep but mostly tended goats, which provided food, milk, hides, and waste disposal (goats will eat just about anything). Using Matthew 25:32-33 as his guide, the missionary convinced the people to switch from goats to sheep as their main livestock, with disastrous results.

The sheep did not have a taste for scraps…