Insects and the Corporate World

Have you ever watched a nature show about the world of insects? I'm always amazed at the cruelty. I wonder why a loving God made it that way. Watching wasps lay their eggs in live caterpillars to have their larvae then eat it alive upon hatching, watching ants or roaches pick to the bone anything that enters their voracious path is horrifying to me. Endless cruelty in the name of survival. The wounded are eaten, the weak destroyed and the strong survive. Why?

When I look at the corporate world in which I live, I think I can guess why God gave us the insect world. The insect world epitomizes the lifestyle and ethos of the corporate world. They thrive on dominance and hoarding. They reward the strong and devour the weak. Drive out, starve and destroy the competition. Survive at all costs. Eat or be eaten. Mercy is weaknesses. The perfect corporate model!

In the animal world, God gives us endless examples of the outcome of a life lived for self, a life focused on acquiring for self to ensure one's survival. When we see the outcome, we have to ask ourselves, do we really want to pursue that as a corporate model? Is that the world we want to build for our children and neighbors? A merciless world where kindness is weakness and conquest is everything? If that's not the world we want, why are are working so hard to build it?

In one office where I worked, there is a poster I utterly despise. There is a lion lying in the tall, brown grass with a gazelle in the background. The saying is something like: "When the sun comes up, the lion knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. The gazelle awakes to know it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten. Whether you are a lion or gazelle one thing is certain - when the sun comes up, you had better be running." Is this supposed to inspire me to corporate achievement? Do I aspire to live in a world dominated by fear?

More than we realize, our world is drenched in fear, motivated by fear. Our assumptions about authority and power are rooted in fear. Jesus came to free us from this fear - to awaken us to the realization life can be different; it doesn't have to be this way. We are humans in the image of God. We do not need to live like animals - to live by survival of the fittest. Yes, Jesus came to give us a peace unlike any other - a peace that knows the ultimate power in the world is love and when love frees us from slavery to self, it sets us free of fear for the self and brings us peace.

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." John 14:27 (NASB)

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear" I John 4:18 (NASB)

Yes, this peace comes when we no longer lived like animals obsessed and driven by ensuring our own survival and fear for ourselves but rather imitate the love of God demonstrated on the cross - a life obsessed and driven by love for other even against one's own survival.

So when you watch those animal shows and are shocked by the cruelty and constant fear, look around you. Is that the world to which we unconsciously aspire? It doesn't have to be. We are not animals driven by survival and instinct although we frequently behave that way. We can choose love; we can choose mercy. We have seen the outcome of a life lived for self. Let's begin to explore the mind-blowing possibilities of a life lived for love!

Virginia
Posts: 1

issues of power
Reply #2 on : Wed May 14, 2008, 13:20:36

Lots of travel time for thinking lately and I struggled with that appalling poster image! In your intro you asked how a loving God could let things be this way. The whys of God. Human interpretation. The hows of being Christian.
So I thought about the fact that cruelty is intentional so the bird eating the bug, the lion devouring the gazelle are not 'guilty'. However, we sometimes draw the wrong lesson. Is it survival of the fittest that we were meant to learn? Or are we meant to think more about purpose than power? The animals at the bottom of the food chain exist to reproduce themselves, keeping the species in existence, and to be food. God's gift to them is simply to share, however briefly, in being. They fulfill their purpose. We fret about or are stunned by their powerlessness because we see the stronger animals as more powerful. In a sense they are. But in a different way, they are just as limited. They are what they are without choice; they do not know themselves as powerful or dominant. So when humans adopt this survival/ instinct model, we make the mistake of equating dominance over a perceived lower life with power. Our gift from God is to participate in being, activating our ability to love, fulfilling our purpose by loving. That is how we get to experience true power and its fruit is peace.
Some time ago I read a book entitled "Love is letting go of fear." My initial reaction was scepticism but I came to understand through mnay experiences, that fear leads into a kind of drivenness that shuts out all considerations except the need to succeed, to win over, to be in control, to be always focused on the next goal. A decidedly unpeaceful path, too focused on one's own pursuit to really see and know the people around us much less love them, want only what is good for them rather than what is good for the bottom line. I find in working with teams of youngsters that by encouraging them to learn, accept, and support each other's talents and unique ways of being, they create an ambience which frees up their creativity. Giving this coming together first priority, then the effort to achieve a common purpose is way more successful. So while I have no experience of working in a corporate situation, I do believe that the same approach would be valid. Love, not dominance, is key. Fulfilling our God given purpose is our way to be; the power is God's.

jsullivan
Posts: 1

Pervasiveness of Fear
Reply #1 on : Thu June 12, 2008, 18:10:25

Hi, Virginia, and thanks for commenting. I apologize for not publishing your comments sooner but I just noticed them.

As always, they are quite insightful. I am amazed at how much of our society is driven by fear - not just overt fear but those internal demons - fear of rejection, fear of not being loved, fear of embarrassment. I suppose since fear seems to be root in the preservation of self, as we grow into selfless love, fear disappears. Perhaps this is what the Apostle John meant in I John 4:18.

I'll try to be more prompt next time :( - John

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Insects and the Corporate World