We heard from the herd.

A cliffWhen I was in high school, I complained to my parents that they “never let me do what the other kids did.” I wanted to wear shorter skirts, go to the movies, and attend school dances, all of which were prohibited. Dad’s retort was always the same. “Just because the other kids do it doesn’t make it right for you. If they all jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?”

Probably.

What I wanted more than anything was to fit in, and usually that translated to doing what everyone else was doing. I was following the “herd mentality” of the day; if it was good for my friends, it was good for me. It would be many years before I began thinking for myself.

Last weekend I visited a large farm in Iowa (yesterday’s blog) that was established in 1868 by my friend Fred’s great-grandfather. He began with 400 acres and a few head of cattle, but those 19th century animals probably acted exactly the same as the 21st century cattle I saw last weekend, despite the many generations between them. One of the things endemic to all of these animals is their “herd mentality.”

The herdsFor example, Fred and Becky explained how cattle are quickly trained to steer clear of electric wire fencing. When one animal gets shocked and moves away, the others quickly follow. After that, workers can reshape the herd (to clean the feedlots or for any other reason), simply by stringing a wire anywhere across the pen. What one does, they all do.

Chute 3

The cattle also follow each other up a chute and into the truck that will take them to market, none the wiser. They aren’t able to think for themselves and just do what the animal in front of them does.

But cattle aren’t the only ones who abide by a herd mentality. The argument “everybody’s doing it” can apply to more than just cattle and high schoolers. For the rest of us it might mean cutting corners on taxes, falsely padding a resume’, not telling the whole truth, or any number of other things… because “everybody’s doing it.” But God challenges us to make up our minds, each one of us, as to the standards we keep.

Scripture paints an interesting word picture about a “narrow gate” being the way into God’s kingdom. It also describes the way most of the “herd” will go, calling it “the wide gate” with a broad road leading up to it. In other words, the narrow way is the difficult way, and the wide way is easy. So we need to be careful about which crowd we’re following, or we might find ourselves in some big trouble.

Herded together

As for the cattle? They can follow the herd mentality all they want.

“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.” (Matthew 7:13)

No Place Like Home

Mail from SarahMy UK co-grandma, Sarah, is married to Cliff, who recently traveled to London and brought back something special. It arrived yesterday: an in-tact 6” x 9” envelope, plump-full. (See yesterday’s blog.) Inside was a beautiful linen tea towel depicting the British Parliament – House of Lords, House of Commons, and the familiar London landmark, Big Ben.

I hadn’t expected a replacement towel for the one that was lost in the mail, so this gift was a charming surprise. Having been to London twice, I recognized the landmarks, but even if I hadn’t, I would have known Big Ben from movies, pictures, and textbooks.

Taj Mahal

As I studied the towel, I thought of all the well-known places in our world I haven’t visited but still would recognize, for example, the Taj Mahal, The Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, Niagara Falls, The Sphinx. As school children we studied these impressive wonders and saw pictures of them, becoming acquainted from afar.

Last night Nelson, Birgitta, and I had an interesting dinner-time discussion about the biblical new heaven and new earth. Although there is no way to visit these places, we do have textbook pictures of what they’ll be like, which invites us to get acquainted with them as we did with the famous places in our school books.

God wants us to know that one day he’s going to bridge the gap between heaven (the spiritual) and earth (the physical) by bringing them together. The Bible tells us he’ll make a new heaven and earth for us, describing what they’ll look like after he combines them, although much is still left to our imagination. But since he’s calling our new home “earth,” he probably intends for it to be familiar to us, a better version of what we know now.

Maybe he’ll eliminate all the undesirables of our world, then enrich all the good parts, and add heaven. If that’s true, when the time comes to go there, we’ll probably find it pleasantly familiar (but greatly enhanced). Maybe we’ll find roses without thorns, water without floods, gardens without weeds, and seasons without storms. But roses, water, gardens, and seasons will make our heavenly-earth feel very much like home.

Perhaps God is excited about our reaction to his new heaven and earth the same way parents anticipate a child’s response to a longed-for gift. Since he tells us some of what eternity will be like, he must want us to develop a longing for it, not just in his textbook version but in actual experience.

Tea Towel

I’m grateful to have visited the famous landmarks on my stunning new tea towel from Sarah. And maybe someday I’ll get to see a few more of the legendary sights our world has to offer. But most of all, I want to see what God will show us, knowing it’s going to be out of this world.

“This is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ – everything in heaven and on earth.” (Ephesians 1:10)

Wealth Management

This weekend our church held its yearly “Trash and Treasure” sale. Prices are unbeatable: appliances $3; blankets $2; jewelry $1; dishes 50 cents; books 25 cents; mugs 10 cents. One woman claimed she shopped for all her children’s clothes each year at our event.

Shoppers

It might be a good idea to rename the sale, “Trash to Treasure,” since buyers tote bags full of “cast-offs” out the door wearing broad smiles of triumph. My several bags were filled with toys, children’s books, a clock, a blanket, and games to play with my grandchildren.

Royal mug

I also bought a dark green coffee mug edged in gold that says, “By Appointment to His Majesty The King of Sweden.” Fabulous.

The old adage that one person’s trash is another’s treasure is entirely true, evidenced by the amount of stuff that disappeared from the church tables yesterday. But that statement also applies to intangibles that can’t be pulled from attics, basements, or garages. Consider the valuables of prayer, devotional time, Bible study, discussion of scripture, church services, anticipation of heaven. These, to me, are treasures too, but not everyone would agree. Amazingly, some folks would actually label these “trash”.

I know a man who declares himself an atheist. He has no interest in the Word of God and doesn’t have any use for information about how to be “saved from sin.” Attending worship services is a waste of his time, and thoughts of heaven (or hell) are laughable. Prayer and Bible study? Only for those who aren’t strong enough to manage life without some “religious component” to lean on.

My treasure is his trash.

Advertising

And just as we at the church posted a sign out front advertising the upcoming sale, signs advertising spiritual treasure are all around this man. His choice, though, is to bypass them without checking to see if what they’re advertising might be of some value. Maybe he did investigate earlier in life, but if so, his choice was to place other things ahead of the Father, Son, and Spirit on his list of life-treasures. Actually, he chose to leave them off the list entirely.

But that’s the key: he chose.

All of us get the chance to choose, and as a result, we have to take responsibility for the consequences. If we don’t study the Bible, however, we don’t know what the consequences are. I’m praying for the soul of my atheist acquaintance, because God has said he doesn’t want even one person to miss out on the treasures he offers, which include riches beyond our imagining.

The atheist is right about one thing, though. Oftentimes I am weak as I travel through life’s struggles, and I do need “a religious component” to lean on. His name is Jesus Christ….

….and he’s the greatest Treasure of all.

“Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve.“ (Joshua 24:14-15)