Where have the baby bunnies gone?

FENCE

FENCE (Photo credit: marc falardeau)

Where I work a family of rabbits has taken up residence inside the fence. Coyotes can’t get through the barrier, so it’s safer than in the brush along the creek.

But Saturday night an orange cat (also a regular visitor) went through the small holes in the fence. Sunday night I never saw a baby bunny, Did the feline hunter decimate the family and its three little ones?

The reality I have to live with is that I am off duty for the next three days. During that time the babies probably would reach the age of accountability and have to fend for themselves. So I will likely never know what has happened.

Over the years I have worked with many congregations, as pastor, member, elder, and consultant. Some faced enormous problems. For the most part I cannot help them anymore than I could defend little bunnies from the hunter in their midst, seeking to devour them. Only radical obedience to the Head of the Church can save any congregation, no matter what the size.

What I find instead looks similar to the baby bunnies. Inside the fence, under a pile of very large  logs, they assumed their safety was sure. But physical barriers or a strategy of “We’re safe inside our walls” produces a tragic mindset for Christians.

Survival mode guarantees defeat.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Those who want to come with me must say no to the things they want, pick up their crosses, and follow me. Those who want to save their lives will lose them. But those who lose their lives for me will find them. What good will it do for people to win the whole world and lose their lives? Or what will a person give in exchange for life?’ ” (Matthew 16:24-26 God’s Word).

In this life the fate of the baby bunnies will likely remain a mystery to me, but the fate of fortress congregations bent on survival looms as a disaster waiting to happen.

Jesus died. That gave life. Jesus expects you to risk all for Messiah to find what gives this life  meaning beyond challenge, and life with Christ that has no risk of termination.

Learn from the baby bunnies…