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Target Recognition

Target Recognition

Growing up in rural Central Pennsylvania, one learns about hunting at an early age. The first time you are old enough to get a hunting license and spend a day in the woods hunting was a rite of passage.  When you are learning to hunt, you are taught the importance of identifying your target.  You need to be absolutely sure that what you are aiming at is what you are hunting.  You need to identify the target is in fact a turkey, or a deer, or a bear, or even a squirrel.  This is important because you do not want to shoot something that is not a turkey, deer, bear, squirrel.  And you certainly do not want to shoot another hunter.  You need to verify your target and if you can not, you do not shoot.  This should be common sense, but it still needs to drummed into young hunters.  The thrill and excitement of the hunt may cause a moment of misjudgment that could have tragic consequences.

I was reminded of this the other day as I drove past a billboard reminding turkey hunters to be sure and identify their target before pulling the trigger.

Perhaps we in the church should be teaching this lesson to our congregations because I am afraid too many Christians tend to blast away at anything and everything that falls into their range without concern for who may be hit or what damage may be caused.  Perhaps that is a good description of so many of the miss steps Christianity has made throughout history.  The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Dark Ages may all be in one way or another attributed to Christians attempting to stamp out sin and instead stamping on the people that Christ died for.  

We want to aim at sin. We want to help people come to know Christ.  So we take aim, but we really can't aim at sin without taking aim at people.  And as we blast away we don't defeat sin, but hurt the very people we are suppose to love.  We push away the people we are called to minister to.  We defeat the very cause we are suppose to be working for.

We focus destructive energy at individual and groups that may not act like us, dress like us, have the same political persuasion as we do... any reason we can think of. Sometimes we take time to find a Bible verse to support our actions, sometimes we don't even bother to do that.

Being a Christian is not about destroying sin.  That is already done.  Thank you Jesus.  Our mission is about creating a community where all are welcome and given the freedom to grow as God leads them.  Not to make cookie cutouts of ourselves.  We are called to create not destroy.  

So let's put down our weapons of destruction.  There is no hunting season in the Kingdom of God, but there is a harvest.  Christians are called to be harvester's, not hunters.

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