The Dangerous Joys of a New Hunting Season

We have reached the point of summer where my appetite for sunshine and hot days has been satisfied. The constant clinginess of sweaty t-shirts has me wishing I could sink into the roominess and comfort of my hoodies and blue jeans. It seems backwards to think about hoodies and warm clothes in the midst of July’s humidity, but I am always looking and longing for the season ahead, a disposition that can be just as profitless as it is poetic. It is usually about this time each year that I can feel a growing hunger for the fall season welling up within my gut. Quota hunt applications have been submitted, personalized ads on social media are reminding me of the nearness of my hunts to come, and my work schedule is ramping up towards the bustling event season. As joyful as an approaching hunting season can be (and it is a truly joyous occasion), there is a spiritual danger close at hand that hides behind the excitement of eager outdoorsmen, like myself.

An eager mind is quick to make much of little things and the same can be true regarding my own eagerness towards the approaching hunting season. I can make too much of it’s annual arrival. I can let my heart be so enthralled with it’s coming, that everything else diminishes in value, including my love for Christ. If you are a hunter you know the power and sway that hunting season imposes on the mind. It is all you think about, all you want to do, and it is of highest priority. It dominates your schedule, finances, conversations, and cognitive effort. It is exhilarating, satisfying, and rewarding. Hunting is a good thing. It is a gift from the Father to partake in the enjoyment of creation. It is a time to pursue solitude, rest, and retreat from the weightiness of daily battles. The rich blessings of the hunt are so sweet to the mind and body, but just like every good gift received from above, as sinful beings we can take a good thing and make it into something that it was never intended to be. This is where the danger lies.

I suppose this danger only applies to those outdoorsmen that claim Christ as their savior and Lord. Otherwise, this so-called “danger” won’t seem all that relevant or contextually significant. Apart from Christ there is no competition in the heart and soul of the individual. Ungoverned and unyoked, Christ-less outdoorsmen can pursue the hunting season with nary a concern to its hold on the heart. For many, hunting season is their god and in the end it will prove to be a shallow and pitiful savior.

If you belong to Christ and are graced with his easy yoke, be quick to identify the things that compete for his seat on the throne of your heart. For myself, I must admit, Christ feels rightly placed until the leaves fall from the trees. My fervor for discipleship, bible reading, and engagement with the local church body begins to dwindle as my obsession with the hunt becomes consuming. We ought not to make much of what was intended to be very little in comparison with Christ. Our highest priority and allegiance, namely Christ and the advancement of the gospel, should remain constant regardless of the season at hand.

It is commonplace among Christian outdoorsmen to say, “I would rather be hunting and thinking about God, than at some church thinking about hunting.” On the surface this sounds humble and honoring to God, but I think beneath the surface it shows where our hearts place the most value. We ought to think of God when we hunt and we ought to think of him when we are gathered together to worship, but be careful to justify a love for hunting with a lesser love for God.

Do not read this as an indictment on Sunday hunting. Please don’t stamp this with the legalism label. Lord, knows the number of Sundays I have spent in the woods as opposed to church. And Lord knows how many more Sundays I will be in my favorite stand. Many of my best hunts have come on Sundays and I believe you have the right to spend as many Sundays in the woods as possible. However, be sure to analyze the true desire of your heart on those days when you would rather be in the tree stand than at church with the family of God. This is a confession and open admission, not a condemnation.

As many of you would probably agree, some of my best talks with God have been in a tree. I hope your time in the tree stand this fall is filled with prayer. The kind that is deep, moving, and Spirit led. Praise God for the glorious truth that time in creation allows us time to pray! Praise him that he meets his children there! Praise him that hunters everywhere get such an intimate glimpse of his working in the stillness of nature! Please, just be careful not to use God as your excuse to do what your heart prefers. Be careful not to neglect the the pursuit of God through scripture reading and gathering with the church body in order to pursue time in the stand. I say that boldly because I have lived it and still need to seek repentance from it at times. I do believe that God works wonderfully in the hearts of hunters while they are in the field, but I believe he instituted time in the word and time together with other believers as the primary means to developing the heart of his children.

The danger I have been referring to is not ultimately about where you find yourself on a Sunday morning, rather it is about what you give your heart to. Where do you give your life away? Do we give our life away for the sake of the gospel or do we give our life away for the sake of shooting more deer or ducks or turkeys. If our life is consumed with the pursuit of another, I pray it ends at the cross of Christ.

Though my selfish desires are an ever present battle, Christ is my king and my treasure. Let every hunt prove worthless in comparison and let our hearts undoubtedly proclaim that. No amount of time in the woods will ever give me life equal to the life I have in Christ. I look forward to the hunting season ahead with growing eagerness, but I pray that God will loosen hunting season’s grip on my mind, heart, and soul.

I am a hunter and glory be to God in that, but I am Christian before I am anything else. I am a unique individual with a desire to hunt and stay close to the few quiet places this world still has to offer, but I am not my own. I was bought with a price, so I no longer have sovereignty over my life. Christ is the definer of my life. Christ must be the centerpiece of all my living. My outdoor pursuits, ambitions, and longings must all become obedient and subjected to the pace and stature that Christ commands.

When it comes to my love for hunting and the joy it brings, I must remind myself season after season that Christ is greater. I am reminded of one of my favorite old hymns. The lyrics fit perfectly with the heart of worship I long to carry through the approaching hunting season.

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand

All other ground is sinking sand

All other ground is sinking sand”

Lord, let all other ground apart from your son be sinking sand. As we approach the new hunting season, please let our hearts not be led away by the empty and shallow promises of another hunt. Be our everlasting joy, our source of life and love, and our greatest delight and treasure. Help us to walk through hunting season at the pace you set, with our minds rightly fixed on the cross. I pray for fruitful days afield where your spirit will move within your outdoor inclined children, in order to draw them to yourself. Please, just teach us to love Christ more than the total number of days we spend in the woods. I know my heart needs to be changed and I know I am not the only one. Awaken us to deeper love for Jesus and a deeper love for the things you love.

In Christ and for Christ,

Amen.