"Transform Indiana" Column:
Ministry Coalition to Change Lives & Communities"
Neil Cox, Facilitator
http://IndyChristian.com/transformindiana.htm
The Blue Heelers: A Modern-Day Parable
(Excerpted with permission from "Somebody
Cares", Doug Stringer, Regal Books,
2001)
Hank Marion, pastor of Bammel Baptist Church, serves on the Somebody Cares Houston steering committee. He has traveled with us to other cities to communicate the vision and strategies of Somebody Cares. He tells this story that illustrates the message of unity with a purpose.
My dad has property in East Texas with 100 cows. Three times a year all the cows are gathered into a corral to receive care. The process of getting the cows into the corral is not easy. Cows are not like dogs and cats that come running when you call them. In fact they seem to sense when we are having a roundup and run to the far side of the ranch.
My dad's friend has blue heelers, which are called "cow dogs". They are bred and trained to herd the cows into the corral. Whenever possible, we contact our friend with the dogs to get him involved in our roundup. Typically, at 7 a.m., we gather at the corral and greet each other while sharing stories and sipping coffee. At the appropriate time, the owner of the blue heelers will walk over to the cages and open the doors, while giving a shout: "Go get 'em."
Like lightning those dogs take off. This is what they live for, and nothing keeps them from the task. Across the pasture they bolt and surround the cows. Then with precision and teamwork they bring the cows up the hill through all the gates and into the corral.
One time, another friend who lives just up the road was planning his own roundup. He knew about the blue heelers and invited them to come and work his cows, but there was one problem: instead of 100 cows, this man had about 500 cows. The owner of the blue heelers knew this was too much for his dogs to handle, but he had three friends who also had blue heelers. They decided they would all bring their dogs over on roundup day.
So there we were about 7 a.m., and it came time to let the dogs out. The owners did just that, but much to our surprise the dogs ran to each other instead of taking off after the cows. They walked around each other sniffin' and snarlin' and checking each other out. Their masters were yelling at the top of their voices, "Blue, git on," and "Beau, stop it now." But it wasn't until the dogs decided everything was okay that they ran down the hill into the pasture and brought the cows into the pen.
The Lord has a big job for us to do. The harvest He has planned is so huge that it is going to require the whole Church to accomplish it. He desires that we work together instead of separately. We must get past the sniffin' and snarlin' and become comfortable with one another. Otherwise, when the job is at hand and the work has begun we will waste precious time.
We have to look at the need in the field -- the mighty harvest waiting -- and get over the sniffin' and snarlin' and growlin'. We must humble ourselves and work together to build Gods kingdom.
"Transform Indiana" ministry coalition welcomes pastors, leaders and coalition volunteers to join the initiative to create greater prayer, care and share, community by community. Our statement of faith, roster, meeting dates and other information may be seen at... http://IndyChristian.com/transformindiana.htm .
Article also reprinted in the November issue of "Crossroads Newsletter", Cindy Strictland, Publisher.
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