I don’t know why “bird-brain” is an insult. In some ways, the birds are pretty smart. I know the robins who built a nest on my downspout, just under the eave, were enjoying their decision in the middle of several hailstorms. But here’s where they are really smart: they only feed the babies for so long:

These aren’t pictures of our robins; their location prohibited photography. But we saw them. Little heads up, beaks open, “Feed me! Feed me!” Even as they got bigger and could look out of the nest, the beaks were still open: “Hey! I’m here! Where are you? Where is my worm?” Pretty soon, of course, they’re bigger than the nest. We saw one of them take his first “flight” if you can call it that. They don’t fly, and they don’t fall, they kind of fly down.

The point is, the robin parents don’t feed the babies forever. They push them out of the nest and teach them to feed themselves. And it’s not long before those fledglings are parents themselves.

It’s the same with our children, is it not? We feed the babies. Children feed themselves. We teach young adults to cook and feed themselves, and parents feed others.

I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one. (1 John 2.12 – 14, NKJV, emphasis mine)

So why is it in many churches that the pastor looks out and sees a sanctuary full of baby birds, beaks open, saying, “Feed me! Feed me!” and both the pastor and the people like it like that?