On my walk to and from the office during the month of August I was regularly harassed and buzzed by crows. They seem to have been protecting a young one from me. Since we know my penchant for eating crow, this is a very important endeavor for the crows. However, besides being agitated and left in a state of “nature seems to be against me” I have been reflecting on what it is that I feel the need to protect and how I go about it.

I want to protect myself from undue pain related to foolishness.
I want to protect the unity of my marriage to Ellen.
I want to protect my children from predators and sometimes from themselves.
I want to protect my investments.
I want to protect the people I love from harm.
I want to protect the church I pastor from … you name it.

Strange thing about protecting–this act of love can become idolatry. The great passage on love in 1 Corinthians 13 describes love as an approach to life that “always protects.” I am not sure we know how to do this well without moving into the realm of control–I want to be God, and into the realm of idolatry–I believe the thing or person I am protecting is the security of my life and happiness. Sometimes the “act of protecting” can usher us into the destruction of that very thing or person.

Some thoughts on proactive protecting:
1. Entrust that which you are called to protect into the hands of God.
2. Take due diligence to know what you can know.
3. Intervene in a manner consistent with the threat when danger appears.
4. Protect as Christ protected–without losing Himself. Jesus protected his disciples from undue criticisim and attack via the Phariessees and from themselves and their limits. However Jesus also called them into a life of faith and trust–He did not do it all for them. Jesus did not abandon the cross to protect the disciples from the distress of that weekend. Yet he had warned them and he had prayed from them, and had entrusted them to His Heavenly Father.
5. Seek the wisdom to know when to let go and accept your own limits and boundaries–and to accept the free will of those you love.
6. I am to pray that God would protect people from the evil one.
7. James writes, “My brothers, if one of you should wander from the trust and someone should bring him back, remember this: whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.” James 5:19-20