One Kind of Work

For over 2,000 years Christians have tried to do the work of the Lord. Usually that work involves organizing worship experiences, teaching the Bible, and caring for those in need, for example. Occasionally, however, the work of the church has been something a lot less pleasant.
One has only to think of the Crusades to begin to understand that what the Church considers “work” can be in the form of battle. And those who founded our country understood that work for Christ involved much hardship and change. We may be in for that kind of work again.

We have grown complaisant in our Christianity. For over 200 years Christians in our country have been free to worship God in peace. There have been occasional trials and tribulations, but for the most of us, being a Christian has meant going to church on Sunday (or not), saying our prayers, supporting charitable causes, studying the Bible, and generally acknowledging that we are followers of the Christ.

There are days of turmoil, change and conflict on the horizon. Other religious and political movements are growing rapidly, and they don’t adhere to the same rules as we are accustomed to. Their goal is to subdue the whole population of the world, and there is no room for Christianity in their plans. What we do about the situation is a conundrum, one that requires much thought and prayer.

It reminds me of the story of the peacock and the dove that was told to the class of Psychology 101 at Bradley University in 1956. Professor Smith was explaining to us freshmen that different cultures behave in different ways. He told about an experiment that was to pit two aggressors: a peacock and a dove (The dove being the symbol of “peace.”) In peacock culture, when one is getting the worst of a fight, all one has to do is to lay ones neck out on the ground, and the aggressor recognizes the signal as crying “uncle!” Doves don’t have the same rules of warfare. When the two birds tangled, the peacock finally had enough of it, and he laid his neck out on the ground. The dove pecked him to death.

We try to be peaceful people just as Christianity has taught us. There may come a day, however, when our work will be to stand up to those who would eliminate Christianity in our country and in the world. We need to do some work toward figuring out just what we will do and just when we’ve had enough….before we stick our necks out on the ground.