Teach Chickens How to Roost
I rounded the corner and spied both of my boys and my husband in the small chicken pen out front. Ever since those chickens moved in, my husband has tried to convince them to climb the ramp and sleep up top. He’s always saying, “You’d think those chickens would know not to sleep on the ground. They’re chickens. They are supposed to fly up at night.”
So today, he created a better ramp leading to the upper level. When I rounded the corner, he was bent over, holding a chicken and physically helping her walk up the ramp. After he showed the first one, he did the same thing with the next and the next.
It was rather comical. I mean, think about it; chickens ought to have enough sense to climb up at night instead of having some human get in the pen and teach them how to roost. Every feathered creature I have ever been around gets off the ground and flies up at night. They are safe up high, away from the critters. God gave them wings for a reason. It’s crazy to think they have never figured out such a simple concept.
But then, haven’t we met folks like that? Haven’t we met other Christians like that? When they are faced with seemingly simple situations they have no idea how to move forward. Stuff we think everyone should know, not everyone knows.
Looking back on our chickens, they were incubated and raised together as biddies. They never had a mama chicken to show them how to be chickens. Many people in our society and in our churches are like those biddies. They are doing the best they can with the hand they have been dealt and oftentimes that means they never had anyone showing them how to walk out this Christian life. These folks need us to get in their pen, help them climb the ramp, and teach them to roost like other chickens.
Jesus commands us is in (ESV),
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Even Jesus acknowledged the need for us to teach and disciple others. And then in , the author says,
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
Every chicken needs another chicken showing them how to be a chicken. Instead of making snap judgments when people seem incompetent or unknowledgeable, step back and think about these chickens. Maybe the person in front of you honestly has no idea or concept of how to handle the situation. We need to step in as spiritual parents and show them how to go up the ramp. Sometimes we need to stop expecting and start teaching because not all chickens know how to roost.
Copyright © 2019 Christy Bass Adams, used with permission.
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