The people of Israel are divided into two groups, as Paul also writes in Galatians - those who were sons of the promise and those who were sons of the flesh. These two groups have been exemplified by Isaac and Ishmael and also by Jacob and Esau. The Christian community is also divided this way between the nominal and true believers.

Although all of Israel may be spoken of as sheep - just as both Isaac and Ishmael were sons of Abraham, yet those in the pen who listened and obeyed may be likened to the sons of the promise, while of the others Jesus says: "but you do not believe because you are not my sheep." John 10:26 So here we see, being his sheep in the pen precedes having faith in Christ. For such sheep have already believed in the Lord as the Old Testament had revealed him - as Abraham had. Such people are already in the flock before they even hear the gospel, having been justified as Abraham was. But upon hearing their Messiah speak, naturally they recognize his voice and put their faith in him. This is not to say that these other sheep could not be saved in the future. For I have little doubt that the apostle Paul before his conversion was one of these type of Pharisees that Jesus referred to as not being his sheep at the time. But he was a lost sheep redeemed later on.

I think also that the sheep in the pen may even incorporate Gentile believers, like perhaps Cornelius of Acts 10. For Jesus said, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." John 10:16 "This sheep pen" may refer to Israel, whereas the other sheep pen may refer to the Gentiles who while being ignorant of Christ himself, believe in the God of Israel and are thus righteous as Abraham was - even when he was a Gentile. (See Rom 4:9-11)

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."John 10:25-29

These are likened today to nominal Christians who have a behavior inconsistent with that of a child of God. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2Peter 2:22 But of those born of God, speaking in a lifestyle sense, John writes: "No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."1John 3:9,10

I infer that it is not inevitable that the shepherd would have found the sheep. But having found him, the lost sheep was then eternally secure. For what effort did it take for the lost sheep to return to the flock? None at all on the part of the sheep. For when he was found, the shepherd carried him home. He doesn't simply lead them back. He doesn't give them instructs or directions on how to return, as if leaving a map with them and saying "good luck at finding your way back." He doesn't even leave it up to their own will or decision to return. Instead what he does is force them to come back by picking them up and carrying them on his shoulders. In returning to the flock, these lost ones hadn't taken a single step of themselves. It seems they made no effort at all in repenting. But they did repent. Rather, the shepherd did all the work in them to bring them back.

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--
• continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
• for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." Php 2:12, 13

But a good shephard knows his sheep. He takes time to and effort to lead them, even individually. The model that Jesus' had presented for ministry was one of personal discipleship. Yes, he taught the multitudes, but in particular he discipled 12 men. And he managed to do this without building a building. These days who disciples the way Jesus did? Institutional churches were meant to facilitate the ministry, but have become ends in themselves. They have become entities like large corporations and those who don't quite fit into its programs are often neglected. There is often little effort in such corporations to seek lost sheep.

But notice how Jesus ministers in the gospels. Even in the midst of crowds, he patiently takes time for individuals. One is reminded of the bleeding woman who touched Jesus in the crowd and Jesus was aware of it, but his disciples said:

You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'" But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Mark 5:31,32

He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." Luke 19:3-5

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark 2:17

The Christian community is dominated by people who seek not to serve but to be served. This was even Paul's experience, as he wrote of Timothy, "I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." Php 2:20,21 And pastors tend to be willing accomplices, developing mere pew-sitters.

Indeed the visible church has become a field of lost sheep itself. One hardly has to go outside the church to do evangelism. For it seems there are plenty to be saved right inside the visible church, being simply nominal Christians. Yet if you try to saved these lost sheep, it has been my experience that you often run into hostility by others in the church, especially institutional leaders who seemingly play the role of wolves, who think that you're trying to steal their food away.