The Dog and the Leopard
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Guest author
The Dog and the Leopard
by Warren Baldwin
A wealthy man decided to go on a safari in Africa.
He took his faithful pet dog along for company.
One day the dog starts chasing butterflies, and
before long he discovers he is lost. So wandering
about he notices a leopard rushing in his
direction with the obvious intention of having
lunch.
The dog thinks, "Boy, I'm in deep trouble now."
Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by,
and immediately settled down to chew on the bones
with his back to the approaching cat.
Just as the leopard is about to leap, the dog
exclaims loudly, "Man, that was one delicious
leopard. I wonder if there are any more around
here?" Hearing this the leopard halts his attack
in mid stride, as a look of terror comes over him,
and slinks away into the trees.
"Whew," says the leopard, "That was close. That
dog nearly had me."
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the
whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put
this knowledge to good use and trade it for
protection from the leopard.
So off he goes. But the dog saw him heading after
the leopard with great speed, and figured that
something must be up. The monkey soon catches up
with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a
deal for himself with the leopard.
The leopard is furious at being made a fool of and
says, "Here monkey, hop on my back and see what's
going to happen to that conniving canine."
Now the dog sees the leopard coming with the
monkey on his back, and thinks, "What am I going
to do now?" But instead of running, the dog sits
down with his back to his attackers pretending he
hasn't seen them yet.
Just when they get close enough to hear, the dog
says, "Where's that monkey. I can never trust him.
I sent him off half an hour ago to bring me
another leopard, and he's still not back!!"
I hope you recognize in this story something more
than just a dumb joke. This parable, or fable,
points to a number of human attitudes and
behaviors that tend to get us in trouble.
Notice the monkey. He is quiet. He sits on the
sidelines and watches the other players. He mulls
over in his mind how he can control these other
players.
Lies? Deceptions? Or, tell the truth, but do it in
such a way that you can gain advantage over
another?
Such behavior is more than dishonorable or
reprehensible. It is downright ungodly. Paul gives
warning in the Bible against those who go about
from house to house, spreading gossip and
mischief. He calls them busybodies. He isn't
complimentary of their behavior. In fact, he says
that such people are following the devil (1 Tim.
5:13-15).
Be careful how you go monkeying around in someone
else's life. You can very easily undermine trust,
hurt people, and permanently damage relationships.
Jesus counsels SERVING others rather than
CONTROLLING them.
Serving is hard work, but it sure keeps the monkey
off your back. And may keep you from being the
monkey on someone else's.
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