Natural Instincts and Dead Elephants

After the tsunami hit earlier this year, my wife noticed something interesting. Although many people were killed, there were no animal carcasses to be found. The animals, sensing the coming storm had made it safely to higher ground.

I saw a 60 minutes report recently about a nomadic group of sea dwelling people who live around the area that was hardest hit by the tsunami. They all survived. These people have not been touched by what we call "civilization". They have retained their connection to nature (like the afore mentioned animals) and therefore noticed the storm coming and made it to higher ground.

In the early 20th century during the off season for circus performers, many lived in a town called Peru, Indiana. For about four months out of the year these performers and all the circus animals rested in Peru and prepared for the next tour. In 1913 a huge flood demolished Peru. When the people realized the severity of the coming flood, they freed the animals and headed for (you guessed it) higher ground. The elephant trainers swam under the water (which was as high as an elephants thigh!) , unchained the elephants and left for safety believing the elephants would naturally flee too. The problem was these circus elephants had been fully domesticated. Their natural senses had been bred out of them. Instead of going to higher ground, they went to the homes of their handlers and waited to be fed and saved. When the waters receded, the trainers came back to find dead elephants in the doorways of their homes.

My responsibility as a follower of Jesus is to bring other people to Him and let them discover the God who knit them together in their mothers womb. It's NOT to bring them to "my" church and train them to perform on circus Sunday. In that case, I'm simply taking what is natural and organic about a relationship with Jesus and breeding domesticated church elephants. And when the storm comes, they will die. I must allow them to get to know Jesus and let nature take its course. ANYONE who honestly seeks God WILL find Him. ANYONE who humbles himself before God WILL be lifted up to higher ground.