The putty birds

God wants us to get hurt. Last week I talked about the need to be able to fail safely. Let me explain the other side of this by looking at a problem we have down at our Bible camp in the Ardennes. Birds are eating the putty from around our new windows. (I assume they are using this in making nests –  a good use of modern technology? But that’s another post entirely.) The best way to stop this is to put a toxic substance (varnish) on the putty. Other options I have read include blocking off the windows, not using windows, or providing more food for the birds so that they hopefully will not go for your putty (which means that you get fat birds pecking the putty anyway).

Bird-lovers might not like the toxic answer. Birds will get sick and perhaps die because of the substance they are ingesting. And yet, this is the best way to save the other birds. If the few who first tried this died, the rest would not take over the learned behaviour. And it is learned behaviour. They do not need the putty. Only some birds do this.

God wants us to get hurt! Well, he is willing to allow us to get hurt. If we didn’t and were always bailed out of all our difficult situations, then we would never learn how to stop, never learn what the consequences of our actions are. If there is no consequence to an action, then I will think all is okay and will learn and teach this to others who will then also be in danger. It is better that we suffer consequences and teach others that this behaviour is not good.

We are not birds. You can’t put a warning on window putty telling the birds that this is not good for them. But to be honest, most birds don’t even do it. It is the few that are either bold enough (or dumb enough) to try something new, different, dangerous (because unknown) who will do this.

But we do have warnings. There are plenty of literal warnings on all sorts of materials and activities in our lives today. Smoking will kill you. Don’t use the lawn mower to trim the hedges. Don’t stick your hand in the trash disposal of the sink while it is running. Eating too much sugar will rot your teeth.

And those are just the normal warnings concerning everyday things and activities. There are more important concerns if we want to really live well and happy, live fully. God gives us warnings about our spiritual life.

Will we listen? If not, will we learn from the consequences? And if we will not, will others learn who observe the consequences in our lives?

When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:20-23)