A little Help? First Installment... Magpies
March 26, 2009
I have been working on a book and I’m decidedly interested in your take. If you would read the following excerpt and give me your feed back. There are just a few rules. 1. Remember this is a work in progress… a chance to see into my mind. Don’t correct the grammar. 2. If something rubs you a little raw, then… just wait. More is coming. 3. Don’t take the thoughts and write your own book. 4. If you like it ask your friends to read and make comments.
Here is the first installment. The working title is Magpies and Lemmings. Preface
Have you found yourself wondering where the romance in your faith has gone? You remember the first love that possessed, or perhaps even obsessed you?
This is a stream of consciousness book. I don’t suspect that you’ll find a system in the back of the book (although God can do whatever He wants, and may desire to place one there). It expresses my thoughts on the leadership journey to new ground. It concentrates on the two creatures that I wish to avoid becoming. The Magpies and the Lemmings.
Magpies are an English relative of the Jay. In the U.S. they are connected with crow. What are important here, however, are their habits. The Magpie is known for two, less than amicable qualities. They steal other bird’s eggs in order to eat, and they are known to risk much for the sake of a shiny object. Things like gum wrappers are every bit as impressive to them as diamond rings. In exploring the nest of the Magpie, one inexorable probability is likely. It will be full of ”bling”. Most of the components will be attractive to the casual onlooker but would be worthless. You might consider them the pirates of the animal kingdom: Pirates without discernment of true value.
Lemmings are more the product of urban legend than real accumulated knowledge. Almost all of the people that I know can speak of the suicidal tendencies of these poor arctic rodents. Frankly, many don’t know much more than that. I have heard some pretty good sermons on “Lemming-like” behavior. The problem with using these creatures as an example like that is that the myth, is just that.
Those friends of mine, who are what I call trivia-rich, generally know that the movie which launched a thousand illustrations, “The March of the Lemmings”, was almost entirely fiction. There were not herds of small, mouse like animals crowding each other into the sea in an emo-mousy, suicidal pact. In fact, the viewer only saw lemmings in groups of a dozen or so. A little Hollywood magic, and, “voila!” …Herds of migrating Muroidea leaping into the water to drown.
The truth about Lemmings is perhaps more intriguing. Death for them comes seldom in a march to doom. Their problem is overcrowding along with mating urges. Sometimes these animals will crowd each other off of a ledge. None of them have a death wish, however.
The problem with Lemmings is their lack of foresight. The ones in the back keep pushing the ones in the front. Those at the front of a pack may be pushed into the water by those who cannot see what is ahead. Death comes only to those who cannot get back to dry land.
Both of these animals are imitations of what I have observed in the Christian world.
We Christian leaders have been guilty and victimized by similar habits. In return, those who follow us are destined to fall victims to our leadership strategies which too often, pad our ministries, families and pulpits with tin foil. The believer’s behind us all crowd in to see what we see. In some cases, the frenzy that we cause to experience this new shiny object pushes us over the edge. When the next group of Christians arrives at the ledge will they see anything of eternal value?
Marriage conferences, concerts, mass meetings have all drawn our Christianity into an “event” mentality. The sad reality is that an event cannot raise godly children, save my marriage or launch the next new ministry. Only God can do those things.
My challenge in the next few pages is not to write a “how to” manual, but rather to share a vantage point from the edge of leadership.
When we said our vows, committed our lives to Christ or stated our intentions to serve God, we all had a similar goal. It was to know God through Christ. This book is for anyone who has come to a ledge and wonders what to do next. It is for me. It is for those that I have pushed over the cliff in order to get a clearer view. It is for those behind me hoping that I am leading them toward something more glorious.
To every student, teacher, pilgrim, pioneer, pastor, parent, spouse or disciple who desires the inspired change: This is my story.
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