Hiding or Helping?

"You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep going astray, and hide yourself from them; you shall certainly bring them back to your brother. ² And if your brother is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until your brother seeks it; then you shall restore it to him. ³ You shall do the same with his donkey, and so shall you do with his garment; with any lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost and you have found, you shall do likewise; you must not hide yourself. ⁴ You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again."

Deuteronomy 22:1-4

When I was a kid, playing "Hide and Seek" in the backyard was good fun.  It was simple enough to understand and play.  The one who was "it" would stand at home base, and in our case was a pole or a pepper tree.  The seeker would close their eyes, count to ten, and upon finishing the count shout, "Ready or not, here I come!"  Then a mad scramble from hiding places ensured as the seeker drew near, and the race was on to touch the base before being tagged (or tipped, for Australian readers).  The rules were simple and everyone regardless of quickness could play.  Despite the seemingly necessary arguments over if you were actually tagged or not, it was a game we happily played over and over again.

As we grow up, life becomes much more complicated than simple childhood games.  Input from parents, educators, and exposure to a world of ideas in print and media (in addition to personal experiences) reveal astonishingly different perspectives.  In formative years these days all are made painfully aware of the rights of each individual to assert what they believe to be true and live accordingly.  Whilst everyone has a God-given right to choose whom or what we will serve, many are cautious not to impose their personal beliefs or views on others.  A culture of political correctness avoids anything which could be construed as offensive or divisive.  This cautious consideration of the feelings and convictions of others when exercised in humility and love is healthy, but can also lead down a path which avoids our personal responsibility to intervene when things go bad, even in the lives of fellow Christians.

I am a city-dweller, but as I read the beginning of Deuteronomy 22 I was carried away to a quaint country town with rolling green hills, a large paddock, and a gate which always seems to swing open when the neighbour is out of town.  I can imagine sitting at the kitchen table and seeing my neighbour's sheep or ox wandering where it should not be and muttering to myself.  Three times in the passage God forbade His people from seeing a lost or wandering animal and hiding themselves from intervening.  We've all done this, like when the phone rings or there is an unexpected knock at the door and you choose not to answer it.  We may "hide" for many reasons, and perhaps on some occasions it might be legitimate.  But if we will be honest, we know exactly how that tired old farmer would feel if he saw that stubborn ox wandering off again:  not my problem!  I have enough work with my own flocks and herds.  Why doesn't he fix that gate anyway?  Serves him right if his stock wander off.  It isn't only farmers who turn a blind eye to a wandering sheep.

We sometimes struggle to know when to step in when we see something that seems off.  A few months ago there were loud, angry shouts late at night on my street.  At the time I wasn't sure what was the right thing to do.  I felt something should be done, but what?  Should I walk up to the house and knock on the door?  Should I call the police?  Would my action be seen as an unwelcome intrusion?  These are the kinds of thoughts which flood our minds and can paralyse us from helpful action.  You don't need to be a farmer to notice when a sheep is caught in a barbed wire fence or a ox or donkey is stuck in the mud.  God didn't want His people to see a problem and ignore it, even when it involved their neighbours' animals.  We naturally want to hide from conflict and justify our reasons for avoiding intervention.  That is why God put these commands forbidding "hiding" in His Law, so all who became aware of a wandering, lost, or fallen animal were responsible before God to act for the good of the animal, even caring for it as their own until it could be safely returned.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul spoke of the passage in the Law which forbade the muzzling of the ox which tread the grain.  The principle is the working animal has a right to partake in the fruit of his labour.  He explained that God cares for people as well as oxen, and those who labour in the Word and provide spiritually have a right to be supported financially by the church.  With this insight, knowing God cares for people as well as oxen, an application of the Deuteronomy 22 passage is when we see a brother or sister wandering from the truth we have an obligation before God to lovingly intervene according to scripture.  Galatians 6:1 says, "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted."  Instead of hiding, when we see someone in trouble we ought to come to their aid.  That is exactly what Paul was doing in writing this letter to the church in Galatia.  They had strayed from the simplicity of the Gospel, and Paul wrote to them to admonish and correct their erroneous thinking.

At our church we have a small box for "Lost Property," and in the States we called this facility the "Lost and Found."  When we find something which belongs to someone else, we should do what we can to return it to them.  When we see a child of God wandering from the faith or fallen into sin, we must not hide ourselves from them.  We are called to help them return to the simplicity of faith in Jesus and obedience to Him, and He will lift them up.  The Good Shepherd of our souls has provided every sheep of His pasture spiritual eyes to see, and when we notice something is off in a brother or sister we are called to exhort, rebuke, and encourage such a one to return to Jesus.  It also may be we are the ones who are wandering from our paddock, lost along the road.  Let us be receptive of God's correction, even when it comes from a fellow brother or sister in the LORD.  We have all been lost at one time, and by God's grace we have been found.  May gentleness, grace, mercy, and love be hallmarks of our faithful service to our LORD and our attitude towards our fellow believers.