Have you ever experienced a parasite?
They can be pesky and quite scary little buggers. Just the mention of the word “tapeworm” is enough to give me the creeps, a good old fashioned case of the heebie-jeebies. NO THANK YOU!!!!! I really didn’t need to know that there are 6 different types of tapeworms that commonly infect people. You probably didn’t need to know that either. But now we do, and we can hopefully agree that they are undesirable at best. Sure, some might think that having a tapeworm would offer weight loss benefits, but at what cost? Disease. Weakness. Pain. Deficiencies. Again….NO THANK YOU!!!
Unfortunately, tapeworms aren’t the only type of parasite out there either. If they weren’t enough to make your skin crawl by themselves, there are other types of nasties as well. In fact, there are three major categories of parasites.
- Protozoa: Microscopic, single-celled organisms. Think tiny. Really tiny. Little tiny parasitic cells that live off of other cells and create all kinds of chaos.
- Helminths: Large, multi-cellular organisms. Think worms. Threadworms, hookworms, pinworms, tapeworms. They typically live inside a host and do their damage internally.
- Ectoparasites: Organisms that attach or burrow into the skin. Think skin mites, lice, ticks. They typically live on the outside of a host, burrowing just a bit into the host’s skin. Again, damage is done. These things just prefer to operate on the exterior.
There.
Feeling sufficiently yucky?
I know I am.
We should feel all kinds of yucky when we read such a list. After all, we know that parasites can have negative effects. Severely negative effects. From the teasing that can take place at elementary school when someone has lice to the death that can occur from a brain-eating amoeba, parasites are not something that should be taken lightly. Though there is reason to study them and know about them, I cannot see a reason why we would desire to have one. In general, parasites are bad. Really bad. Like “drop whatever you’re doing and get rid of these things as soon as possible” kind of bad. (At least that is my non-medical, internet & common sense informed opinion.)
Last week, I discovered that I had a parasite.
I was standing in front of mirror as I often choose to do, and I was flexing my muscles. You know, admiring the pipes. Kissing the old biceps. Getting super impressed with my middle-aged strength. (Not really.) It was then that I noticed it. Something looked different. I had a new spot, a new black mark that hadn’t been there before. Further investigation was required. I needed to see closer. I grabbed my phone to zoom into the spot and take a picture.
It was as I feared.
An ectoparasite.
A tick.
Burrowed into my skin.
Getting a free lunch…and lunch was me.
Now, what do you think that I did in that moment? What do you think was my response?
I did like any rational, middle-aged, grey-haired man would do. I shrilled in a high-pitched voice, danced around waving my arms frantically, and called for my Mommy. (Ok. I didn’t do any of that either.)
What I did do? I went about getting it out.
First thing. No hesitation. No time to lose. That tick was being shown the door. No long-term-meal-plan on me. I wanted rid of the thing as quickly as possible. So, out came the “Tick Twister,” a genius little piece of plastic that helps to twist the little pests right out of the skin, and away went the tick (with the help of my wife as I couldn’t quite reach it).
Gone. Flushed. Never to return again. Hasta la vista, baby.
To me, that was the only appropriate response. Immediate removal. I wanted no part of that thing.
Why? Well, who wants Lyme disease or Powassan virus or some other kind of crazy tick illness?
Not me!
The risk of infection increases as you keep the tick in your skin for longer periods of time. The sooner you can get that sucker (literally) out, the better. Parasites are bad and they can lead to worse things.
Whenever I encounter a parasite in my life, instant removal is my only course of action. I see no other path. No other plan. Everything else must stop until the parasite is eradicated. Stop flexing, stop typing, stop eating, stop _____. Take care of the parasite.
But what about parasites in other areas of my life?
Specifically, what about parasitic thoughts?
Have you ever had one of those?
A thought that bores deep inside of your brain and lives by taking the life from other, healthy thoughts.
Whispers about worth and value.
Nudges about identity and purpose.
Suggestions about meaning and importance.
Parasitic thoughts can cycle through our minds like a never-ending soundtrack, asserting themselves over and over and over again.
“You’re not good enough.” “You will never get out of this mess.” “Nobody loves you.” “Nobody cares about you.” “You have to do everything all by yourself.” “Even God doesn’t forgive you for that.” “Even God has abandoned you.”
We can let these thoughts and others like them go on repeat without ever doing a thing about them. We can listen to them again and again and again, little knowing the damage that they are wreaking, little knowing the harm that they can cause.
These negative thoughts that we entertain, these negative messages that we allow to play, these negative ideas that we tell ourselves (sometimes even vocally) are not helpful. They are not from God. In reality, they are harmful. Perhaps they are even more harmful and wicked and “heebie-jeebie-inspiring” than the physical parasites that were mentioned above.
Why?
Parasitic, negative thoughts are bad (because they aren’t true), but they can lead to things that are worse (because they cause us to doubt Who we are and Whose we are).
We need to combat parasitic thoughts as instantly and as sufficiently as we would combat a physical parasite because the effects of the thoughts can be just as bad or worse than the negative effects of hosting a physical parasite.
First, let’s remember. Who are we?
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
~John 1:12-13
For those who have received Jesus, for those who have believed in his name, we are children of God. Think of that for a moment! Reflect on the awe and the wonder of that statement!
Children of God.
This should be at the center of our identity. This should be at the core of our being. When any thought would seem to counter this fact, when any thought would seem to suggest otherwise, that thought should not be welcome.
So, let’s say a thought starts rattling around in your head. “You’re worthless.”
Treat this like a parasite. Immediate action required. This thought should be up for immediate removal.
“No I’m not! I’m a child of God! I’ve been adopted into God’s family!”
As many times as it comes up, battle it over and over and over again with what is true. We cannot allow parasitic thoughts to remain or they might lead us to question our identity, to doubt who we are as God’s children. Instead, we need to remove them, to combat them with the truth.
These parasitic thoughts can also come against Whose we are.
Let’s remember. Whose are we?
We are Christ’s.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
~1 Corinthians 6:19-20
We belong to Jesus.
This should also be at the center of our identity as children of God. “I am not my own. I belong to Jesus.” Thoughts that suggest otherwise need attention. Thoughts that look towards self-deprecation (or self-promotion) should be handled. They should be viewed as parasites. In need of immediate removal for we don’t want worse things to come.
So, when a thought comes, “You can never do anything right.” We know that we can counter “I am not my own. I have been bought with the blood of Jesus.”
Paul says that we are to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Like them or not, parasites are a reality. They are a reality that we face in our outward, physical life as well as in our inward being. Whenever we face them, we need to deal with them. Swiftly. Quickly. With importance and authority so that nothing else worse is the result. So the next time you hear a parasitic thought whisper in your ear, do just that. Deal with it. Pull out the Tick Twister. (Quote Scripture…the weapon that we have to fight these types of things…see Ephesians 6:17) Take care of the problem before a worse one can happen.
~ Pastor Chris
