What We Leave Behind

I read something yesterday that really made me think... it said that if a mother dog is crippled and limps on one or more legs, all her puppies will learn to walk the same way. It is strange how the physical world can mimic the spiritual world so much. When you start to work with people, try to train them and mentor them, you start to see your own faults in them. If you lean to the left, they lean to the left. If you struggle with a sin, they seem to struggle with the same sin. That is the same thing that I see in my kids. Sometimes Carey or Ella will do something wrong, and when I am talking to them about their sin, God will be saying, "That is just what you have been doing today!"

The thing that is so dangerous is not that we fail, but that we will not be honest about our failure. When we get into leadership, it is easy to feel that we have to know everything. We have to have all the answers, never make mistakes. We are afraid that if people know that we struggle, or that we are not the be-all and end-all, then they will think less of us. The sad thing is that all this does is teach the puppies that our limp is normal and acceptable. And, if we are not careful, we even keep the puppies from others so that they will not know that we have a limp. In the end, we do not help them, we hurt them.

We have to be honest. I have a responsibility not to be a little 'god' but to point them to the real God. I am to point them to the Bible. I am to tell them that I failed today, and I might fail tomorrow, but that there is a God that never fails, that never changes, that has given us a Word that will never be broken. I must be honest with them so that they can learn from my faults and see when God gives me victory over those faults. I must show them and tell them of the multitude of others that are following Christ so they can learn from them all and be spiritually balanced. We were never called to build kingdoms. We are called to lead people to Christ so that He will lead them and build His kingdom.

Long ago there was a king with a speech impediment. When he spoke, he could not speak some words properly. The king was very embarrassed with his problem and commanded all his court and attendants to speak the way that he did. They did, fearing to anger the king. Soon the habit of the slur became second nature, and the people began to use it outside the presence of the king. Slowly the habit began to spread. As visitors came to see the king and heard the whole court speaking with a lisp, they would leave thinking that they must speak incorrectly, for no king or court could be wrong. In time the whole country began to slur some words, all because a king was too embarrassed to tell the truth.

Now you may say that that is a crazy story, but it is true. The king was King Ferdinand and because of his pride Castilian Spanish will never be the same.

Lord help me to remember this: Let me hate my sin and faults, but be honest about them. Let me point men to you so that I do not lead them to limp.