Being bush turkeys

This week we catch up with Kevin Bird, and hear why he thinks we should be more like the bush turkey...

This week I foolishly started to let myself get excited because I hadn't seen bush turkeys in the carpark for a few days.  Had we finally got rid of them?  Did they find somewhere better?  Have they given up?  No. Turns out it was all just a cruel joke on their part.  As I drove in this morning there they were, proud as punch on top of their mound.  I now realise I hadn't seen them because they were actually off at a strategy conference to counteract the latest measures we had put in place to deter them.
 
Now don't get me wrong I'm all for protecting our natural flora and fauna, but when it comes to bush turkeys I suspect they aren't the ones needing the protection.  I was at a meeting the other night and as we were leaving, the host quickly asked if anyone knew how to get rid of them. He told us his sorry tale of how the whole neighbourhood was at the mercy of these persistent creatures. We started to come up with strategies, but to no avail. At the end of the discussion we all went home knowing we were totally defeated and no closer to the answer.

Some of you have heard about my anti-turkey tirades and how I have been known to chase them out of the place.  No, I don't like them; they are a pest.  But having said that I must admit I have a tinge of admiration for them.  You have got to admire their determination - these things just don't give up.

As I've been mulling over this, I've come up with an idea.  Maybe we should make the bush turkey our church logo.  Who are we? We are the bush turkeys!  Now I'm not convinced the graphic designers and marketers are going to let this idea see the light of day, but just the same, I like it.  I like the idea of being known in our neighbourhood as those who don't give up; who are determined despite all the opposition, to make a difference. 

It would seem that Paul thought similarly.  To the Galatians he wrote, 'let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up' (6:10) and to the Thessalonians he put it this way, '...never tire of doing what is right' (2 Thess 3:13). 

Unlike bush turkeys it would seem we can be tempted to become discouraged, to slack off, and even give up.  And because of that possibility Paul not only calls us to do something, but gives us an incentive.  Bush turkeys don't spend their lives scratching and scraping for no reason.  Their incentive is seeing a whole new generation being born.  And as we stick at 'doing good' and 'what is right' in our neighbourhood, 'we will reap a harvest'.  We will see people in need being comforted and assisted.  We will see moral decline being challenged.  We will see people coming to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. 

So come on all you bush turkeys, let's get scratching.  Let's not give up in doing good!