Recently I’ve been pursuing with reckless abandon one of my most ardent passions, whitetail hunting. Nearly every day for the last couple of weeks I head out before daylight to match wits for a few hours with one of the most intelligent animals in the woods.
I saw a nice buck yesterday, but one side of his antlers was broken off. This time of the year the bucks go into the rut and compete, (often violently), for does. They use their antlers as deadly weapons and will sometimes fight even to the death.
They don’t hold a grudge after the rut however; they simmer down and several old bucks can be seen together in bachelor groups peacefully eating side by side. All of the violent fights are forgiven and forgotten and fussing and fighting is the farthest thing from their minds.
I’ve noticed that wild turkey toms do the same thing. During the spring mating season they viciously attack each other using their long sharp spurs to try and eviscerate their opponents. Afterwards I often see ten or fifteen of these old gobblers traveling in groups, peacefully living together like a flock of chickens.
For whatever reason this phenomenon reminded me of someone I know who used to be heavily involved in a particular ministry. Many lives were being reached for the Lord, and this man was leading the charge. He was a meteor on fire for the Lord, burning with the power of the Holy Spirit. He was a tireless and hard worker with the ability to organize events, and importantly, he used his huge network to convince others to attend.
Then something was carelessly said that hurt his precious pride. An apology was quickly forthcoming, but it was to no avail. He got mad, he quit, and that was the end of that. Now he does nothing for the ministry.
I suppose he has his pride to maintain.
Hmmm… Too bad he doesn’t have the wherewithal of a whitetail buck or old tom turkey and can forgive and forget and resume life after a tussle.
I wonder if that is why Jesus emphasized forgiveness so-o-o much in His ministry. This man might have his pride, but he has lost his blessing including eternal rewards, (and you can know that he was being greatly blessed by seeing those who were reached for Christ as a result of his hard work).
The epilogue is that he remains wallowing in his bitterness over a meaningless slight, and the ministry has moved on and is carrying on without him. People are still coming to know Jesus through it virtually every day, but there is no question that more lost people would be reached with him rather than without.
Sigh… Unfortunately I suppose he thinks he is getting even with the ministry for making the mistake of lobbing an unkind comment in his direction, but it is Jesus Christ who he’s really attacking, and it is HIS ministry that my friend is hurting – all because of his precious pride.
I’m sure he would tell you that he loves Jesus with all of his heart, but I wonder if God might tell him to look to the whitetail buck with those deadly sharp antlers, or maybe even one of those wild tom turkeys with their 1-1/2 ” spurs, and point out that if they were to fight forever, they would destroy themselves and their society…
Oh to have the intellect of a turkey…Selah…
Are you losing your blessings and eternal rewards, because you have been hurt or slighted, and have now quit? I suggest that you put it behind you. Life is too short and our opportunities to accomplish something to give back to Christ are too limited to waste a single minute of it with such immaturity. Don’t destroy yourself by wallowing in pride. It is where satan wants you to be.
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday! We will have a new pastor in the pulpit this Sunday and I look forward with great anticipation to hearing his message.
2 John 8
Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.