text: It all depends on how far a metaphor is taken.  I suggest the Church has taken the sheep/shepherd thing to ridiculous lengths.   As John 10 says: "The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep."  To me, that means that no-one substitutes for the Lord as Shepherd of his flock.   "The Lord is my shepherd" is an important prayer.
  
  We really need to stop thinking that priests and bishops and popes are stand-ins for our Lord.