The Wonder Dog
While taking a morning walk, I was approached by a dog. It is natural to be a little cautious when a strange dog comes up from behind. I soon found he was not to be feared. He seemed very preoccupied and busy. I began to observe him and, as I often do when spotting a dog, tried to surmise what kind of dog he (or she) might be. I could not tell. Then I noticed his trailing gift, so I thought we have a hound of some kind, busy as a beagle, tenacious as a bloodhound. As my walk evolved into a more rural setting, I observed he began to go from place to place, zeroing in on certain spots like holes in the ground. Ah! It is a terrier of some kind—possessing the concentration of a Welsh Terrier and the nervousness of a Schnauzer. Soon, however, the dog lifted its front left leg, held his tail straight behind him, and stretched his neck forward, placing himself in a perfect “point.” No doubt, we have a bird dog here. His looks were nearly non-descript, i.e. he could pass for any or every dog. He was either the all-American “mutt” or the transcontinental “wonder dog.”
Centuries of dog breeders purposely bred dogs with certain traits and attributes. It is fascinating to see police take advantage of a certain dog, a hunter take advantage of another, and a parent who brings a dog into their home with several children to fulfill yet another purpose.
We have studied in our Sunday School for the past couple of weeks, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and evaluated where we fit into Christ’s glorious body. We are amazed at the variety and dispersion of the multi-gifted people who attend Christchurch!
Back to our companion of the morning walk. The question is, is this a mutt or a wonder dog? As is so often the case in the busy society we are living in, dog owners don’t have the time to discover and train their dog, accentuating on centuries of breeding and genetics. So what happens is that the dog's gifts become nuisances. “Fido” doesn’t know what to do with himself, and he ends up annoying the neighbor by allowing his terrier instincts to discover what runaway rodent may be lodging in the next door flowerbed. The owner ignores the hound in his dog, who in the meantime is pre-occupied with a squirrel who has run up a tree and he must let his master know where the next meal is by lifting his voice into the most atrocious howl (in the middle of the night)! With the proper direction, this mutt can become a wonder dog.
I hope you are beginning to make the application. You who are Christians are gifted members of Christ’s body, bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh. He has a place of service for you. “. . . Every man hath his proper gift of God. . . .” (I Corinthians 7:7). “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:7). In Christchurch we have people that have the tradition of literally centuries of Christian training in their genetic past. Others are like a Mary Magdalene who has begun his or her new life in Christ and are going to take the energy that at one time was expended for the wrong things with the wrong motives and shall now transfer that energy into the Spirit-controlled delight of a new tradition, that, God willing, will be transferred to the next generation.
I appreciate the honest answer of Benjamin Franklin who was asked by a lady after the Constitutional framing convention, “And Mr. Franklin, what, Sir, do we have?” His candid reply has reached down through time as a clarion call for all of us to do our part. He answered, “We have, Madam, a republic, if we can keep it!”
I ask you, “What have we in Christchurch at this hour?” I do not see a mutt conducting itself as a community nuisance, but I see a wonder dog. I see a gifted people operating in their unique gifts, blending and blessing this local church, community, and the uttermost parts of the earth. We have a “wonder church,” if we can keep it.
-Pastor Pope-