“You don’t have the sense that God gave to a Goose!” Almost every time I made a mistake growing up, that’s what I heard. So, I started looking at geese. I soon realized two things; I LOVE to see GEESE and geese are not stupid! I have spent many hours watching geese and have read a lot about why they do what they do. As a pastor and army chaplain, I have learned some valuable lessons from “goose bumps.” I want to share some lessons and how they relate to our lives as believers in Jesus Christ.
GOOSE FACT NUMBER 1: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates a “lift” or “updraft” for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, it is estimated that the entire flock can fly 70% farther than if each bird flew alone. A few years ago, as Cheri and I were driving from Maryland to Missouri, we saw hundreds of thousands of geese in flight! The estimate was 750,000 to 900,000 geese! The sky literally went dark at noon with massive geese formations for over ten miles as we drove! It was one of the most AWESOME views we have ever witnessed! WOW! (Let me say that backwards – WOW!)
GOOSE MEANING LESSON # 1: Christian believers share a sense of community and a common bond through Jesus Christ. With a VISION of God, we can achieve God’s goals for us much more easily when we “LIFT” each other and travel with the impulse of our fellowship. “But you, Timothy, are of God; so flee from all these bad things and follow what is right and good. Live a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance and meekness. Fight the good fight for what we believe. Hold on to the eternal life that God has given you, that you have confessed so well before many witnesses. ” (The Bible, 1 Timothy 6: 11-12, Living New Testament). Good common sense means that people do good things for other people.
GOOSE FACT NUMBER 2: When a goose breaks out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. Quickly return to formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the rest of the flock and avoid the gust of wind from all the other flapping geese. Remember the scene from the movie “Top Gun” when Maverick and Goose (ironic, huh) got caught in their wingman’s “jet wash” and ended up crashing into the sea? It is the same concept with geese.
SENSE OF THE GOOSE LESSON 2: There is much more “drag and drag” in the world when we try to FLY alone! We should be willing to let others HELP “carry our load”, and we should be willing to HELP others carry theirs! Learn to do “Random Acts of Kindness” for others. Help an old woman put her purchases in the car. Rake your neighbor’s leaves. Take dinner to someone who is sick. Offer to babysit a young couple so they can go out at night. Present a restaurant gift certificate to your pastor and his wife. Our oldest daughter just had twins in ND and we were getting ready to leave MO on our motorcycle when a couple from our church called and said they wanted to buy us plane tickets so we could get there earlier. He planned to say “no” because he was looking forward to the trip, and then he blurted out the “B” word at me. He said, “It would be a tremendous BLESSING for us if you would allow us to do this!” I had to accept then, because I learned a long time ago that “Being a blessing to someone else brings us a blessing.” Good common sense means spending good, quality time with other believers. Share Jesus with your loved ones so that your closest family and friends will be other believers.
GOOSE FACT # 3: When the lead goose folds up, it turns back into formation and another goose immediately flies to the lead position. All geese, except sick ones, take their turn leading the formation. There is no scandal, there is no debate, there are no discussions, they just do it! It’s part of being a goose!
SENSE OF GOOSE LESSON # 3: The ministry of the Church does NOT belong to paid pastors. It is NOT just for deacons and elders. Every believer should participate in the ministries of the church. Difficult tasks are worth taking turns doing, and sharing leadership responsibilities is good. As with geese, we are interdependent on the gifts and talents of others. Plus, when our consistent goal is for Jesus Christ to get the credit, praise, honor, and glory, it doesn’t matter WHO does the real WORK! See Colossians 3: 23-24. Every believer is a follower, a follower of Jesus Christ and his shepherds in the flock. But every believer is ALSO a leader, based on their spiritual gifts and talents, and it is imperative that they use those gifts and talents to do good things for the kingdom of God. Good common sense means that believers do good things for the kingdom of God and other pilgrims of the kingdom.
FACT # 4: All the geese flying in a “HONK” formation to encourage the geese in front to “keep going” to the finish line!
GOOSE SENSE LESSON 4: I IMPLORE YOU to make sure ALL of your “SNACKS” are ENCOURAGING by nature! For heaven’s sake, for the kingdom’s sake, whenever you talk to or about someone else, be sure to say ONLY one GOOD, “ELEVANT”, LOVE, and ENCOURAGER. There is no place in the kingdom of God and there is no place in the life of the Christian for gossip, slander, negativism, “not saying”, backbiting and tearing at each other! “Beloved, if God loved us so much, we too must love one another.” The HONKINGS of the GROWING Congregations are encouraging and “uplifting”! GROWING congregations are JOYFULLY HAPPY congregations! Our individual and collective missions are “to conform to the image of Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of God.” (Romans 8:29). Let’s be “LOVING” one another for the cause of Jesus! Let’s say GOOD SENSE things to each other. Let’s say things of the GOOD SENSE OF EACH OTHER. Goose good sense means encouraging one another to “move on” to reach the goal of God’s high calling prize in Jesus Christ.
GOOSE FACT # 5: When a goose gets sick and cannot continue, two other geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with him until he dies or can fly again. They then dart with another formation or catch up with their herd.
MEANING OF THE GOOSE LESSON 5: I’m HAPPY God gave the believers “Sense of the Goose!” His word teaches us to support each other, both in difficult times and in good times. It teaches us to lift each other up when we fall. When relationships fail, when children rebel, when careers collapse, when good people have bad things happen to them, when people die too soon, when problems arise (and eventually reach all of us), God’s Word has a word for believers. Galatians 6: 2 says: “Bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.” Verse 9-10 reminds us, “Let us not tire of doing good; for in due time we will reap if we do not faint. Therefore, when we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are from our land.” the house of faith. “Good common sense means being together through good times and bad, standing up for one another, and standing up for those less fortunate.
GOOSE FACT # 6: A pair of geese will meet and mate for life. They live, travel, and have babies together until one of them dies. Then the other goose will find another mate and mate for life again.
GOOD SENSE OF GOOSE LESSON # 6 Monogamous relationships just make GOOD SENSE OF GOOSE! First of all, that’s the way God planned it! (See Genesis 2-3). Second, it prevents a host of problems, including divorce, sexual sin, divided and merged families, financial burdens, children’s behavior problems, etc. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying these things don’t exist in monogamous relationships as well, but statistics show that they are more prevalent when people have had multiple relationships. (And my 34 years of ministry has taught me that “the grass is NOT greener on the other side of the fence!) It is so nice to see the growing number of young people in our society who choose to remain abstinent and celibate until marriage, that is certainly a step in the right direction from my generation (being a teenager in the late 60s and early 70s during the height of the “sexual revolution”). If you or your young teenagers are interested, go to True Love Waits on the Internet Good common sense means waiting for the person you know God intends for you to spend the rest of your life with and then spending the rest of your life with that person!
In short, what do GOOD SENSE LESSONS tell believers?
Love each other. Pray for each other. Encourage each other. Support each other. Lift each other up. Help each other. Stand up with each other. Stay the course. Love each other. (I know, I already said that, but you have to say it twice, right?)
I pray that all believers will listen to and practice the geese lessons. Do you have the feeling that God gave to a goose? They do it if they do the GOOD SENSE things to each other. You do it if you do things with GOOD SENSE for each other. Use your GOOD SENSE, you’ll be glad you did!
Danny Presswood, 2006, All rights reserved.
