This fall, Glorify Dance Theatre is preparing to perform Label: Beauty, a ballet about finding identity and security in God. This ballet imagines the stories of two young women, Sandra and Virginia, who are each searching for a sure sense of self but find that emulating an admired fashion star or even being that fashion star are unsound foundations on which to establish who they are and what they are meant to do in the world. A third character, Jean, shows Sandra and Virginia how her self-confidence is built on her faith in God and her relationship with Jesus.

As Glorify artists develop these and other characters in Label: Beauty, they are attending to a few key theological questions that motivate the story. Sandra and Virginia wonder what to make of Jean’s faith, asking: How does your relationship with Jesus help you understand who you are and who you are meant to be? How do you know you can trust God to provide for your security?

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In Ezekiel 34, the prophet hears a word from Yahweh God that parabolically describes the differences between unreliable and trustworthy sources of security. Yahweh’s word to Ezekiel compares Israel’s exploitative political and religious leaders of the time to bad shepherds, which Yahweh then contrasts with capable, divine shepherding.

Yahweh’s word to Ezekiel begins, “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who were shepherding themselves! Will the shepherds not shepherd the flock?” (Ezekiel 34:2). Yahweh’s speech is motivated by the observation that the shepherds of Israel focus their attention on the wrong object, caring for themselves when the task of a shepherd is to care for the flock. A similar expression later serves to transition from Yahweh’s accusation against the shepherd’s to Yahweh’s own statement of intent to shepherd “my flock” (Ezekiel 34:8).

Beyond merely neglecting the flock, Israel’s shepherds care for themselves by abusing the flock. Their activities are described with transitive verbs “consume,” “wear,” and “sacrifice” that take the sheep as their object, but these are not actions that benefit the sheep. Instead, the shepherds use the sheep for their own benefit.

What the shepherds fail to do is described with the negated verbs “strengthen,” “heal,” “bind,” “restore,” and “seek” (Ezekiel 34:3). As a result of the shepherds’ exploitation of the flock under their care, the sheep are scattered and devoured (Ezekiel 34:5-6).

In John 10, Jesus draws a similar contrast between “the good shepherd” and another caretaker who cares more for themselves than for the sheep under their watch. In Jesus’s parable, the hired hand runs away at the first sign of danger, leaving the sheep to be snatched and scattered by a wolf. Like Israel’s failed shepherds, the hired hand for whom “the sheep are not his own” (John 10:12) leaves them for dead in order to save his own life.

In Yahweh’s word to Ezekiel and in Jesus’s parable to instruct his disciples, the neglected and abused flock disintegrates as if there is no shepherd at all, for the shepherds do not take ownership for the flock as caregivers but only as self-interested consumers.

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In Label: Beauty, the characters who look for their identity and security in the fashion industry are disappointed. Sandra tries to build up her sense of self by emulating her favorite model, but taking her cues from a celebrity who has no real relationship with her leaves her feeling like she’s lost the ability to express her genuine personality. Virginia in turn seeks security in her modeling career where employers affirm her value in terms of her looks. But when Gloria, the fashion designer, uses Virginia as a faceless mannequin to show off her designs, Virginia realizes this job drains her of her sense of self-worth. Gloria has taken advantage of Virginia for her own ends rather than caring for Virginia as an equal partner in her work. Virginia has also unwittingly transferred her misplaced trust in fashion to the younger Sandra who admires her, contributing to the ripple effect of Gloria’s poor shepherding.

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In contrast to the shepherds, Yahweh calls the sheep “my flock,” repeatedly claiming ownership with the first-person possessive (Ezekiel 34:6, 8, 10-12, 15). Unlike the shepherds, Yahweh will “seek out,” “restore,” “bind,” and “strengthen” (Ezekiel 34:16). Yahweh takes up many of the caregiving actions that the shepherds have neglected. Furthermore, Yahweh promises to shepherd the flock to “rich pasture” (Ezekiel 34:14). Yahweh declares, “I will shepherd my flock, but I will settle them down” (Ezekiel 34:15). Making the sheep settle down implies that all their physical needs for nourishment and comfort have been met.* Where the shepherds take advantage of their power over the sheep to feed and clothe themselves (Ezekiel 34:3), Yahweh provides for the needs of the flock.

After explicitly transferring responsibility away from the shepherds (Ezekiel 34:10), Yahweh affirms twice, “I will shepherd [my flock]” (Ezekiel 34:13, 15); God personally takes up responsibility to care for the flock. In an ostensibly contradictory statement, God later announces, “And I will establish one shepherd over them, and my servant David will shepherd them” (Ezekiel 34:23). The calling of this Davidic shepherd marks the turning point from exploitation of the flock to restoration of wholeness and well-being as Yahweh establishes “a covenant of peace with them” (Ezekiel 34:25). Under the new shepherd, the sheep “will dwell securely, and none will make them tremble” (Ezekiel 34:28). Their previous shepherds exploited them for personal gain and left them to be eaten by wild animals, giving good reason for the flock to live in constant fear of death. But the new shepherd brings peace and assurance of life; he is a far more reliable source of care.

In John 10, Jesus identifies himself as “the one shepherd” (Ezekiel 34:23; John 10:16) appointed over the whole flock. “The good shepherd,” unlike the hired hand, “lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11), expressly prioritizing the lives of the sheep over his own life.

The good shepherd’s willingness to sacrifice himself so the sheep may live contrasts sharply with the self-interest of shepherds who are willing to kill and neglect the sheep to save or augment their own lives. But even more astonishing is Jesus’s claim that the good shepherd can give himself up for the sheep and still live. Because of his voluntary self-sacrifice, the good shepherd overpowers death, and not only the sheep but also the shepherd ultimately live (John 10:17-18). Thus the shepherd continues to watch over the flock, and the sheep know they can trust him to save them from death and also to always be present for the sake of their provision and protection. The life-giving character and power of the good shepherd is so remarkable that it draws other sheep into the flock (John 10:16), giving anyone who follows this shepherd a place to dwell securely under a trustworthy leader.

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As Sandra and Virginia realize that they’ve placed their trust in something that snatches away their life instead of fulfilling their search for identity and security, they must learn that a worthy foundation for their sense of who they are and what they’re made for is a God who promises to give life, not to take it away. Thus, the ballet Label: Beauty is motivated by the artists’ own understanding that Jesus is a trustworthy, life-giving shepherd.

Biblical quotations in this post are from my own translation.

*Secondary Reference: The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament, by Kenneth E. Bailey (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2014).