Written by Chris Poole, baker and goat caretaker.
“Cassie said…” “Cassie and I were talking about…”
Those were my favorite words to hear. They usually meant something hilarious happened. I wasn’t that close with Cassie, but my mom was her coworker and close friend. I remember the day my mom told me that Cassie wanted to get an office pet—because, you know, she LOVED taking care of animals. They ended up getting a little beta fish that Cassie named Bean.
So it wasn’t really a surprise when Richard told my family that he wanted to raise 2 goats in our backyard to fulfill one of Cassie’s dreams…
Black & White Goats
About four months ago, I came home from work and there were two baby goats in my backyard. There was a small white one and a slightly smaller black one. I remember they were both shy at first; they wouldn’t let me pet them.
Several names for them were bounced around (personally, I wanted to name them Salt and Pepper, while my mom wanted to name them Taco and Bell), but Richard ended up naming them Huck and Hotsauce.
Hotsauce is the black one. He likes to go on little adventures. He will run around and eat as many plants as he could find if you let him out. A couple days ago, in fact, Hotsauce escaped while a neighbor was gardening. He ended up trying to eat the neighbor’s new plants. Thankfully the neighbor brought him back to his pen.
Huck is a little different. He’s more shy and timid. Huck prefers to just hang out and do his own thing.
Buck-Wild
I’ve also learned a lot about goats during these past 4 months:
- Baby goats are called kids, which can make talking about “my kids” sound really weird.
- Goats hate to be alone, and get pretty anxious without their friends.
- Goats don’t eat grass, even though EVERYONE thinks they do.
- They don’t have any teeth on their upper jaw.
- Their horns are very sharp, we had to put duct tape on the very tip of their horns so they wouldn’t hurt themselves (before this they would play fight and end up with lots of injuries from their horns).
- Their nails/hooves have to be trimmed at least once a month—full on goat pedicure.
I’ve also learned they are NOT the biggest fans of parties. We’ve thrown multiple “parties” for Huck and Hotsauce, including their adoption day, St. Patrick’s Day, a Pajama Party, Biker-themed party, etc. Richard bought dollar-store clothes and accessories and we dressed up the goat depending on the party. My favorite party was the biker party—we put sunglasses on them and a bandanna.
Goat Bias in the Bible
Goats aren’t that popular in the bible. They are mainly used for sacrifices. There are actually 37 verses that mention sacrificing them… which seems pretty messed up.
In Matthew 25 there’s a parable called the “The Sheep and the Goats.” There Jesus talks about the judgement when the Son of Man (AKA Jesus) returns to Earth. He begins his judgement by separating the sheep from the goats. To his right and left respectively. The sheep (who took care of the needy) inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, while the goats (who neglected the needy) get sent to punishment.
But seriously Jesus, what do you have against goats!? Personally, I think Jesus should have switched the roles of the goats and sheep. Sure, goats headbutt everyone, are unbelievably stubborn and try to escape all the time… But goats are way better than sheep! They are smarter than sheep, they put out fires, and are work animals—pulling carts or even, get this, leading flocks of sheep.
Goats are better. I rest my case.
The Verse in Question
[The Son of Man] will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when [did we do that]?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when… did we not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”
Jesus Christ, Matthew 25
Black & White Words
It’s obvious in the parable how the sheep represent the “good” or “faithful” people and the goats represent the “bad” or “unfaithful” people. Personally, I’m not a fan of the black and white (or good and bad) mentality. Our world seems incredibly morally gray to me.
In the parable, the “faithful” people can’t remember the times they’ve helped Jesus like He says they did. But the “unfaithful” people don’t remember ignoring Jesus either. Humans are quick to apply labels—good or bad, faithful or unfaithful, sheep or goat. But the parable shows that even the best humans are like dumb sheep who don’t even know what’s going on most of the time.
I don’t agree with Jesus’ choice of labels in the parable, but he makes a good point. The Bible says He is the one who decides which people are good or evil. And he decides that by how much we help people around us. Our job is to try to be good farm animals and love our neighbor… not judge our neighbor.
