It happened late one night after dinner as I stared at the waves crashing on the beach in Dar Es Salaam. I love the Ocean and often found myself mesmerized by its rhythm. Wave comes in. Wave goes out. In between, a small crash with the rush of surf. Water, spray, wind, sound. There's something so attractive about it. The Ocean is so vast and so majestic that it's easy to miss out on what I noticed that night. As the waves crashed and retreated, little legs would go scurrying through the sand. Crabs. All sizes. Big ones, Medium ones, and itsy bitsy ones barely large enough to be seen in the darkness.
At first I thought to myself, "Oh how cute!" They would run up to the crashing wave with great enthusiasm and then suddenly retreat almost immediately as though fleeing from an imaginary foe. I watched them cleaning out their holes with vigor and gusto. I watched them gathering small plankton in the shallow waters. And then I watched with amazement as they would defend their holes. The thought came to me suddenly," They're mean!" Crabs are territorialists. They come flying out of their holes with fervor at the slightest advance by another crab. Whether the visitor is just passing through the general area or actually trying to investigate the interior of another crab's hole, the resident crab will always attack. The defensive mechanism is incredible in these little crustaceans. They defend their territory at any cost.
The scene is so predictable.
Wave upon wave of ocean magnificent crashes on the beach sending crabs scurrying in every possible direction.
As they scurry they invariably come across a fellow comrade's territory.
Out comes the offended comrade with claws blazing ready for the fight of a lifetime.
Another wave crashes and the scenario repeats itself.
Obviously, this is nothing endemic to the crabs of Tanzania; rather it is a world-wide phenomena. Crabs don't like other crabs. They are mean. And crabs really don't like when other crabs start to infringe upon their personal crab territory. That night I could almost see them imitating the seagulls in "Finding Nemo" Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
And the more I watched the more I laughed at the silly little crustaceans so preoccupied with their personal kingdoms and realms of authority until the thought hit me like a lightning bolt. Humans aren't much different.
We have our own little kingdoms, agendas, and spheres of authority that we will defend just as ridiculously. Out we come claws and all offended that someone else would dare to question our way of doing something. We protect our little holes with such intensity that we have missed the big picture- The Ocean. God's greatness and love is personified several times in scripture by this image. Instead of a sense of awe and holy reverence, we become mean-spirited and territorial crying out- Mine. Mine. Mine.
I've seen it many times since that night on the beach. In many of the finest churches in the land and in the finest of Christian leaders. Sadly, I've even seen it in myself at times. And I've cried out to God for my heart to be set free from this selfish heart that says, "my way or none at all." Instead, I want to be a refuge, a safe-house, a source of healing and love for my generation. I don't want to chase the hurting and the disillusioned away. I want to point them to the mighty ocean of God's love, grace, majesty, and power. And say, "Behold!" And in that place of beholding, we realize our smallness and humility. God is so awesome and powerful!
What about you? How can you be intentional to point people to God instead of driving them away?
How can you knock down barriers and walls to welcome people to find the same grace that He has given you?
A word of caution here: I'm not advocating moral relativism and political correctness that accepts everything and anything in the name of toleration. That is foolishness.
What I am talking about though is creating environments where people are welcome to ask the difficult questions of faith and find the love of God present in the people of God to help them take the next step of faith. This is absolutely critical if we are going to reach a generation for Christ. And see lives transformed with the saving power of heaven. I don't want to be a crab.
this has been on my mind the past two weeks.....thanks alot for sharing
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