White-Tailed Deer
John Miller
02/05/20
- Windstream Mail
R E F L E C T I O N S Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 2/3/20 ________________________________________________________________________ "A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” - Jn. 10:5 |
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If you ever wondered, this is why they are called white-tailed deer. I started photographing a small group of does but made the mistake of saying hello to one who stared at me. That was all it took. Tails went up and hooves went into action. In a few seconds, they had vanished into the woods. These deer use their white tails to signal the presence of danger to one another. In the animal kingdom the reaction to danger is either fight or flight. With deer it is flight. But if I had surprised a grizzly bear with her cubs the reaction would be fight and I would not be around to tell of the encounter. For Christians, scripture advises both responses. We are told to flee in certain situations, and are told to stay and fight in others. This calls for wisdom and discernment. If, for example, we find ourselves in a church where the gospel is being distorted we face two choices. Are we to stay and try to rectify false teaching and so attempt to rescue others from its deadly consequences? Or are we to to flee to a church where the teaching is scriptural and so nurture our own spiritual health? For me, these are hard choices. I know of churches that have been rescued from heresy by those who chose to stay and fight for truth. I also know of people who have had their faith destroyed by not fleeing to a place that offered sound teaching. We must know that there are some issues that are not worth fighting over, and there are other issues that must be addressed and corrected no matter what the cost. It is vitally important that you and your church know which is which. There are some voices we can tolerate, some that require a fight, and other voices from which we must flee. These does knew the difference and how to react. Does your church? - John
