Well if snakes are not your type, then maybe a furry little Rabbit is more your style. At this point I must plead your forgiveness, if you are an "animal" person then you are probably find it offensive to hear me talk of rabbits as food, but in my home growing up, it was a staple during hunting season. But rest assured, no rabbits OR snails will be harmed in the writing of this blog entry.
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Have you ever met anyone who had it all together? I am sure you have, even if they didn't they went to great lengths to convince you they did. Well if you've seen one of those people then you've probably met a rabbit. I hope my observations are such that you can identify this animal in the Christian world when I expose it's cute little hop.
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Well let's shine a little light on this furry little nuisance. It's the curse of the "HAVES" and "HAVE-NOTS". I've not only met these folks but at one point in my life I was one. It's a difficult reality and I guess that's what makes me want to be up front about it. Some of you reading this have known me for more years than I will admit in this paragraph.
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Let me explain, some of you may not be on the same page. If you remember the old story of the hare and turtle. That little race that all knew who would win. Well you're beginning to get the picture then. The "Rabbits" are good at telling you where you're not keeping up. It can be anything from praying in public (oh my can a rabbit pray in public, they're so far ahead) to being able to quote Bible verses. It's always "Don't you know about that?" or "I've known that for along time (here the "I'm ahead of you").
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Rabbits are good at running ahead. Let me give you an example from scripture. Round 1... And a certain teacher of the law got up and put him to the test, saying, Master, what have I to do so that I may have eternal life? And he said to him, What does the law say, in your reading of it? And he, answering, said, Have love for the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and for your neighbour as for yourself. And he said, You have given the right answer: do this and you will have life. But he, desiring to put himself in the right, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbour? (Luke 10:25-29 BBE). Hear the "I've got that one mastered", but what this rabbit did not know was that he wasn't messing with a deacon in a church, or some pastor, or even the little old person who was born in church and still hangs out there 100 years later. He had a big one on the line, the Son of God himself. Let's move on to Round 2... And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead. And by chance a certain priest was going down that way: and when he saw him, he went by on the other side. And in the same way, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, went by on the other side. But a certain man of Samaria, journeying that way, came where he was, and when he saw him, he was moved with pity for him, And came to him and put clean linen round his wounds, with oil and wine; and he put him on his beast and took him to a house and took care of him. And the day after he took two pennies and gave them to the owner of the house and said, Take care of him; and if this money is not enough, when I come again I will give you whatever more is needed. (Luke 10:30-35 BBE). OOPS, what happened? The first one, the priest, well he was way ahead, he could not break his stride and dirty himself with this project. The second one, the Levite, hear his pace, he also passed by, gotta wonder if there was a "America's Funniest Home Video's" back then, what the look on these two's face would have been, oh well, only speculation. Round 3, the knockout punch... Which of these three men, in your opinion, was neighbour to the man who came into the hands of thieves? And he said, The one who had mercy on him. And Jesus said, Go and do the same. (Luke 10:36-37 BBE) If you can't hear it, Jesus is saying, be like the "dog" and you'll be alright. If you've ever had a big lovable dog, you know they like to lick your face and get all over you to show affection. Good illustration if you ask me, but Jesus didn't ask me, it was good without my commentary. By the way, something else most big dogs like to do... chase rabbits and kill them. Just a thought.
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Es cargo, can't say as I ever had it before, but one thing is sure, this little beast is another one of those dinner table topics that can turn stomachs. Just the mention and you can hear people "argh" or "yuck". So what do this slow moving little slimy creatures look like in the Christian world? Well, I'm glad you asked, I would have not been able to finish without your help.
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There are probably more than two types of snails in the real world, maybe in the church world, but I want to look at two of them today. I'm not sure it makes a snail go slow but I can't say that I would be able to move that fast either with my house on my back.
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You see, there are people, who because of their "load" can be seen as "burdensome" to churches. What usually happens is that these "obstacles" in our church growth plan don't live up to the speed we need to be "a success". What we lack is the vision to see the "down and out" as the means by which God creates real growth, whether numerically or not is immaterial. so for this first species of snails, take a few moments, stop to pick one up and help it's progress by going with it. Just remember, some snails in this group are afraid of heights, so you may have put them back down occasionally and travel at their speed to help them get to the destination. Do not put on one side him who is feeble in faith, and do not put him in doubt by your reasonings. (Romans 14:1 BBE) We who are strong have to be a support to the feeble, and not give pleasure to ourselves. (Romans 15:1 BBE)
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Take a deep breath, we're almost done. There are also people in the Christian world that are so steeped in their own way of thinking, no growth possible for them, they just crawl back into their shell and won't move. What's interesting about this phenomenon is that for some reason, I am not sure all the dynamics, their are able to get a number of people's attention and hold the whole church back. These snails also lack vision, let's see a sample of them in this passage... Then all the people gave load cries of grief, and all that night they gave themselves up to weeping. And all the children of Israel, crying out against Moses and Aaron, said, If only we had come to our death in the land of Egypt, or even in this waste land! Why is the Lord taking us into this land to come to our death by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will get into strange hands: would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, Let us make a captain over us, and go back to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron went down on their faces before the meeting of the people. And Joshua, the son of Nun, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, two of those who had been to see the land, giving signs of grief, Said to all the children of Israel, This land which we went through to see is a very good land. And if the Lord has delight in us, he will take us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. Only, do not go against the Lord or go in fear of the people of the land, for they will be our food; their strength has been taken from them and the Lord is with us: have no fear of them. (Numbers 14:1-9 BBE) Do you hear the tactics of these snails... "if only we had....." or a modern version "if only we hadn't" you fill in the blank in your life as a Christian or for your church. It always has to do with what should or should not be done. No true scripture background most times, just the statement of doubt. Note the difference in the "doubt" in these two different snails.
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One snail should not be looked upon as a burden, the other is a burden to be overcome.
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Well, that's enough for now, dessert is on it's way soon, we'll finish and probably just in time...
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I have to ESC-AR-GO! Sorry for the pun, but my fingers are getting a little tired and out of sorts...
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Till next time...
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