The world is a society of rebels. It finds it hard to tolerate those who are in joyful fellowship with Christ. There is a sense in which believers are aliens. They do not belong. They are different, and the world hates the difference. … Says [William] Barclay, “To put it at its widest—the world always suspects nonconformity. It likes a pattern; it likes to be able to label a person and to put him in a pigeonhole. Anyone who does not conform to the pattern will certainly meet trouble. It is even said that if a hen with different markings is put among hens that are all alike, the others will peck her to death.”
David J. MacLeod, “Destroying Our Illusions: What the Bible Says About the World: A Meditation on John 12:31," The Emmaus Journal, Vol.5/No.1, pg.16-17
7 comments:
This quote is so true! It became my responsibility to care for my son's chicken's when he attended Basic Training for the National Guard during the summer months. They were egg layers, so we were blessed with a fresh supply of eggs daily, and "the chicken chores of my youth" came in handy when caring for his small flock.
After feeding and collecting the eggs each morning, I would quietly observe the turmoil of the hungry animals as they cackled in anticipation. The same hens (only 2) would rule the feeders first, then a few more would add their beaks to the feeders, and finally, as their gizzards were filling and they less aggressive in their pecking, then the last few birds carefully (to me they looked fearful and apprehensive) made their way to the feeder.
There was a definitive "pecking order." I never noticed this as a child, responsible for those chores a number of years, ending in the fall with the butchering, of which all of our family members as well as aunts and uncles and their families participated in. The bounty was divided and we enjoyed fresh fried and baked chicken all winter long from the loving hands of our mother.
Pecking order. It was so clear.
continued....by Martha
As the chickens grew into their adulthood, I notices two of the hens missing feathers on their back ends. One morning I decided to observe the chickens for a longer period of time, into their after feeding rituals. As I sat there, it soon became apparent that the two leader(let's call them alpha hens) hens first initiated the pecking, then the other hens (I call them beta hens-the followers) followed their bad behavior.
Pecking order. One morning I came out and counted all of the hens, there was one missing from the pen. Did a skunk sneak in and steal one? No, a remnant of bad fumes didn't permeate the building, so it had to have been a sneaky fox. I looked around for a small crawl hole in my son's self made chicken wire fenced in room, and no, there were no holes in his well crafted construction. Then as I walked over to collect the eggs from his nesting area, I noticed the one missing bird in the shadows huddling next to the wooden nesting boxes.
The hen was shaking and shuddering in fear. And when I approached her, she quickly ran in the opposite direction, and then I knew why she was hiding with her behind to the wall. Her entire back end was a bloody mess with no feathers left to speak of, not even one pin feather left. She had been "pecked" into bloody submission, and now fearful for her life.
I cried. This was the most friendly, sensitive, and peaceful chicken of the whole lot, and was always the last one to be allowed to dine at the feeders, and the other hens were killing her, as her torn flesh was now susceptible to a host of diseases and infection.
I was angry, with a righteous anger and decided to first remover her from the abusive hens. Healing ointment was placed on her wounds daily, and she was fed and cared for outside of the bad fellowship that was destroying her. I noticed she did not lay eggs like her peers, and concluded it must be due to the stress of enduring abuse day after day after day.
Pecking order.
continued by Martha
I loved this hen back to health as it actually became more of a pet, especially during the fall harvest. My grain tester was in the barn, so with each load I hauled home, this hen would come a running and fly up, perching itself on the beam above my back, and give a cluck every once in awhile. And I would visit with the bird, sometimes singing my memorized Psalms that have become a comfort to my soul during the stressful harvest.
Pecking order. That abused hen became healed, happy, and more peaceful/joyful, outside of her former abusive environment. And frankly, she was the most healthy hen of the whole lot. Those leader/alpha hens continued to abuse a few of the others, although not to the degree of this one hen, and those beta/follower hens continued to assist the leadership. The pecking order continued and there wasn't a single thing that I could do about it.....even my prayers were not answered on this one for this system was out of my control.
Pecking order.
continued by Marth
Then it came to me nearing the end of harvest, how this same case scenario reminded me of my faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. How there is such disdain/persecution/and all sorts of unChristlike behavior towards those of us who worship Jesus in spirit and truth. How those of us who love Jesus and desire to serve Him, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak and move in our lives without the alphas and the betas telling us what to do in accomplishing their worldly venues.
Pecking order. This whole lesson given to me by caring for my sons chickens, opened up my eyes to the reality of how people possess this same trait in desiring to be first, especially within religion, and those who do not conform to their ways, are treated exactly like that abused chicken. And true healing can only occur when one removes themselves from that abusive religious system, which desires to control, dominate, dictate, and destroy the lives of those who do not conform to their agendas.
I have said this before to other brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, "I personally am not worried about all of those "unbelievers" out there, for they are far easier to witness too and share Jesus Christ with, it's those people within the religious systems that care not to hear about the truth of the Gospel and how Jesus is working and shaping our own faith in trusting in Him."
Pecking order. It is alive and well within the church, but is no where to be found in the true Body of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Head of His church.
Martha,
My goodness, that was amazing! God bless you for having eyes to notice the ones who are downtrodden (if you can see a bleeding, battered chicken, you will certainly see the bleeding, battered human souls.... just as the song says, His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me). That story should become a devotional in a book.
How many pastors out there need to be as you are - notice the alpha and beta believers who are pecking the gentle souls to death - and deal with those bullies in righteousness?! There should be no pecking order in the body of Christ. And you are right about true healing. God often takes us OUT of the "local church", when the church won't obey Him and rebuke the wrongdoer, and heal the broken. Amen and amen sister.
My goodness, this was a great start to my week.
And yes, Glenn, the world hates non-conformity. But Martha nailed it, so does the church, and the church is often worse, frankly, than the world.
-Carolyn
Oh yes, the modern church hates non-conformity, which is why they persecute anyone who exposes false teachings and false teachers.
Glenn,
And don't we know it!
-Carolyn
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