A year ago, I started seeing this bumper sticker that keeps getting more popular. “Lions Not Sheep,” it says. At first I thought this meant, “expect to get cut off,” or that the driver might decide that traffic lights are suggestions for timid livestock like me. Thankfully, so far this has not been the case.
Sean Whalen gave birth to the “Lions Not Sheep” slogan in 2014 in Utah. It has since grown into a movement of individuals “who have chosen not to be mediocre, not to be ordinary, and to never quit.” Within this worldview, “you have two choices: to lead or be led.” The vision statement and taglines have morphed over the years, but its basic point is clear and unchanging: the world is made up of two types of people—lions and sheep. Which one are you?
There’s something praiseworthy here. There’s a challenge to step up, to take ownership of your decisions and their consequences, and to not swallow groupthink. People in all times and places need to hear that call. Maturity develops out of taking responsibility.
When it comes to values, I would agree with “Lions Not Sheep” in praising bravery and initiative, but not without qualification. It takes bravery to lead a gang. It takes initiative to come up with a scam. Those kind of people are lions. They are the strong preying on the weak. But we’d all be better off if they’d been a bit more sheeplike—maybe deferred to others a little more.
I understand you cannot ask a slogan to carry the nuance of a treatise. But a slogan catches on because it captures a mood. It simplifies a worldview. And that worldview concerns me, whether or not the founder and its adherents would articulate all the implications. Further concerning are the Bible verses and Christian virtue-signaling blended into the company’s cookie batch, giving off the vibe that “Lions Not Sheep” could be translated, “Christians who’ve decided they’re not gonna take it anymore.”
The “Lions Not Sheep” worldview is plain to anyone who reads those three words—you are either a lion (good, strong, independent) or a sheep (bad, weak, dependent). There is no middle ground. There are two assumptions here that are devastating for both society and the individuals who buy in.
What Lions Not Sheep Gets Wrong for Society
The societal mistake is the polarizing and “othering” view of people that historically has led to all kinds of abuse, including genocide. What would an all-lion society look like, exactly? Everyone would only know how to roar and hunt. Tranquility and common cause would die in utero. And where exactly do the sheep fit in? Do lions protect the sheep? Traditionally, that relationship has a different feel.
Lions feel no compunction about devouring a sheep. That’s what lions do. If someone is a sheep, you need hardly give them a thought if you’re a lion. A sheep is a different sort of animal, and she serves only one purpose for you. There is no dialogue, no mutual respect in a world composed of only lions and sheep. We are in the animal kingdom, which achieves its harmony by means of a food chain. That’s not the ideal template for human society. Lions rule; sheep follow and/or get eaten. This fits with one of the company’s new clothing lines: “Give Violence a Chance.”
What Lions Not Sheep Gets Wrong for its Followers
You are not made to live like a lion 24/7. Those who buy into a Lions Not Sheep worldview are making the grievous assumption that demonstrating power is a categorical good. When we invoke the symbol of a lion, we usually do not have in mind a cat napping in the sun. The symbol of a lion is power, strength, and bold leadership. Lions act and don’t ask permission or feel regret.
This is an exhausting burden to carry as a human being—to never listen, never accept another’s word, but always lead, always have to take charge. If you pursue that image as ideal, you will rule out learning and growth (except perhaps honing your hunting skills). You will live by force and power alone. Your pride will constrict your humanity because lions, unlike people, do not practice compassion or generosity. A lion who falls sick faces poor prospects.
The Solution: Be Both a Lion and a Sheep
God calls us to play different roles at different times. There are equal dangers that come from being all lion or all sheep. Weakness in every situation becomes an oppressive tyranny to those who have to care for you. If you always insist on being the alpha, however, you will be a bully and a burden. It’s hard to make sense of self-sacrifice in a lion’s brain.
Jesus describes himself as both lion and lamb. Jesus, who was God himself, submitted to unjust rulers, permitted himself to be led, and laid down his life for others. In Revelation, the apostle John weeps because no one in heaven or earth is found worthy. His vision is directed to “the lion of the tribe of Judah [who] has conquered” (Revelation 5:4-5). That’s our Christ—the true lion who makes all the rest look like kittens. . But in the next verse when John looks, he sees… “a Lamb… standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). The Lion Jesus conquered sin and death through becoming the Lamb who was slain.
The Bible calls all people sheep in need of a shepherd. “We all, like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Lions don’t go astray. A lion is never lost. If all you are is a lion, you’ll never allow somebody else to care for you. That sounds strong and independent, but you will end up tired and lonely.
The type of person we want to be, that we want our kids to be, is someone who knows how to be both lion and lamb. We want people in our world who can step forward and stand alone—who will ferociously attack things that are evil and threatening. But then we want that same person in the next moment to turn, and show compassion and tenderness, to empathize with the weak and powerless. We are looking for people… like Jesus.
