I recently spent a week in Chicago, visiting with one of my five sons. When I entered the kitchen and looked at the refrigerator, it was like déjà vu. A quick visual audit revealed that were close to sixty magnets collected from all the countries that my son and his wife had visited in recent years. Of course, there were also pictures of their two boys and some of their school work affixed with magnets to the front of the refrigerator. I remember those days. We had seven kids and at times, for visitors, it probably was hard to find the refrigerator. That’s déjà vu. Today, at my house there are possibly three pictures in small, plastic frames on the front of the refrigerator.
One of the pictures on the front of the refrigerator was colored very well by my four-year old grandson. At a glance, one might have thought it was a peacock, but one would be mistaken. If was a picture of a pigeon that said, “Pigeons are incredibly intelligent and have excellent hearing abilities. They can hear distant storms and volcanoes.” My interest was heightened immediately. Initially I thought, “What if Christians became incredibly intelligent by studying the word of God? What if Christians everywhere could be described with excellent hearing abilities, hearing distinctly and correctly, what thus saith the Lord? Wouldn’t the world be a better place?”
My questioning did not stop their as I thought about believers in terms of pigeon-like Christianity. I asked a couple of more “What if” questions. “What if Christians could hear distant storms that were coming in their life? Would not they be moved to call on Jesus to tell the storm, regardless of the type of storm that was approaching, ‘Peace! Be still!’ What if Christians could hear situations and circumstances that were about to erupt and disturb or destroy some component of their life? Wouldn’t they call on the Lord to intervene and ensure that they would be adequately prepared to handle the forces of life that would come against them?”
The thoughts stimulated by the Pre-K student’s picture on the refrigerator, prompted me to look at pigeons a littler bit further. I referred to an article in Psychology Today, written by Dr .Sebastian Ocklenburg in 2019. Here is some of what he reported on the intelligence of pigeons. Pigeons could discriminate between the works of Picasso and Monet. They can distinguish between benign and malignant forms of cancer. Pigeons can recognize words. They are also on par with counting with animals considered primates. Finally Dr. Ocklenburg pointed out that pigeons had an amazing memory. You already know where I’m going in reference to “{Pigeon-Like Christianity,” don’t you?
Yes, that’s exactly where I am going! “Wouldn’t it be great if Christians could discern, discriminate between the presentations by the world of what things actually look like good things? Wouldn’t it be great if Christians would use their Bible-wisdom to distinguish between things that would do them no harm physically and things that were already hiding in them and moving to bring a tough fight to them in their days ahead? Wouldn’t it be great if Christians could count each day, regardless of what is going on in their life, as a blessing, because they realize that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose? Wouldn’t it be awesome if we had an amazing memory that continuously reminded us of the great things that the Lord has done in our lives?”
How do you match up with these traits that I have batched together and dubbed under the title, “Pigeon-Like Christianity?” And after you finish answering that question, consider another creature in God’s creation and see how you match up. Have a great day, “Be blessed!
“Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:24-26 NIV)
Committed to the climb,
Mark L. King
I would definitely welcome the traits of a pigeon. The memory alone would help me keep the word in my heart so as not to sing against my Father.
Yes, we all need some “Pigeon Christianity.” Keep living in accordance with the word! Keep hiding the word in your heart! Be blessed Dr. King!