My writings on this Blog are sporadic at best, but thank you
for taking the time to read my posts. I have been greatly encouraged that God
has, on occasion, been able to use my musing or reflections to be an
encouragement or challenge to some of you. My motives for writing these posts
are many: I started because mom said I should. I try to write earnestly in
hopes that someone will actually read these reflections and be helped in some
way. Also, to articulate a thought that has been ricocheting across the
corridors of my mind for a time helps me personally come to a conclusion on
what to do with what’s been going on in my head. Lastly, quite simply, I write
because I like to write.
This concept, “the hills in life not worth dying on,” has
indeed at times been ricocheting through, but at the very least rolling around
in my head for some months now. In light of current discussion and a day off,
why not flesh it out now, no?
What current discussion you may ask? Well, if you are
completely uninformed on national news, don’t feel bad. This is a safe place,
you won’t be judged here, but you should know the election results were posted
last night. Today being the day after, while it is fresh on the nation’s minds
and at the forefront of their conversations, people across the nation are
writing tweets, pointed status, and blogs on their opinions on these turns of
events. Being a Brondyke, my opinions of course are not lacking, so here I sit
joining in on the Blog community. I hope to avoid speaking on my opinions too
much and rather speak of what He has said and what He desires for us as His
body. Now I do say this to the body of Christ. So if you are not a believer and
reading this, by all means read on. But this is not directly addressed to you.
I don’t plan on saying anything far too revolutionary or novel, for there is
nothing new under the sun. There is surely nothing I will say that has not
already been said and it is quite possible that other renditions of this are
better stated and freer of grammatical error. Nevertheless, in the spirit of 2
Peter 3:1 I say, I write to you that which perhaps you have already heard to
stir up our pure mind by way of reminder.
This is bigger than the reaction of Christians in the
national community when it comes to politics. This touches a larger trend I see
in the church today. A trend I fear that is truly not honoring to Him and that
may very well be detrimental to His main/only cause. There is the over-arcing
lust to be “right”, to win the argument, to make sure the world knows our two
cents worth. The question is, “Is that a hill worth dying on?” This phrase or
similar variations of it have become quite common place today. The fact that
this question is being asked intrinsically implies that the answer may be at
times “yes” and at times “no.”
On my first attempt at finding the etymology of the phrase
Google’s number one hit failed to hit the mark, but I did discover that “A hill
worth dying for” is a metal band. I quickly logged that away in my closet of
useless facts I’ve stumbled upon on Google, and with a few more clicks, Phrase
Finder has this to say, for those of you who fancy history enjoy…
“The phrase has become very popular as a metaphorical
question not related to hills. However, in military history hills have always
been important… many commanders have asked themselves, ‘Is taking this hill
worth the many casualties our army will take?’ Among famous American battles
involving hills were the Battle of Bunker Hill, the battle for Cemetery Ridge,
the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba, and perhaps most germanely, the battle of
‘Hamburger Hill’ in Vietnam, which may be the source of the current popularity
of the phrase.” (Stover)
The statement means that any battle fought is sure to have
causalities, so make sure you only fight the ones worth fighting. Since you
only get to die once, make it count on the right battle.
I just want to encourage all of us to consider: what is our
main battle? Let us keep our focus there, for Satan would love to distract us
from the main cause of Christ by making us fight in skirmishes that in the
course of eternity are inconsequential. Sadly, as believers we are developing a
bad habit of burning bridges to the true heart of man’s problems with our
“two-cents worth.” To win an argument to the loss of your brother’s soul would
surely be a terrible trade.
A couple of men who have shaped my thinking on this are Jim
Elliot and C. S. Lewis. The philosophy that defined the life of Jim Elliot can
be seen clearly in his journal entries in the book Shadow of the Almighty
(complied by Elizabeth Elliot). His convictions were that we are chiefly
citizens of a higher heavenly kingdom and we do well to keep that ever present
in our minds. For our first allegiance ought not to be Democrat, Republican, or
even American; rather, first and foremost, we are ambassadors of Christ’s
kingdom. C. S. Lewis, in his work the Screwtape Letters, pens an interesting
piece on the demonic realm. Using the unique literary device of letters between
a “senior tempter” and his less experienced nephew, C.S. Lewis sheds light on
how, from his perspective, Satan may attempt to trip us up. The book was written
near the time of WWII, so some allusions are drawn to it throughout the work.
In the 7th letter of the book, Wormwood asks Screwtape what would be more
effective to make the patient an extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist?
Here is a portion of his response.
“All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy, are to
be encouraged… Once you have made the World an end, and faith a means, you have
almost won your man, and it makes very little difference what kind of worldly
end he is pursuing. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements,
causes, and crusades, matter more to him than prayers and sacraments and
charity, he is ours—and the more "religious" (on those terms) the
more securely ours.”
You may take this with a grain of salt, for this text is not
inspired, but I do think it important that we be on guard that our spiritual
devotion not be misdirected to a secondary cause. This goes even beyond
policies and politics and even touches the theology of the Church. I frequently
tire of the division that comes from “political camps.” A student (who I love
dearly and who I have already talked to about his comment) said something that
really got under my skin the other day. I was sitting in the dining hall when I
heard, “after all Jesus was a Calvinist.” My friend, Jesus was and is Jesus. He
is God’s son, God incarnate, is the standard! He is not Democrat, Republican,
or American. He is not Baptist, Charismatic, or Catholic, He is the Christ! He
is not a “covenant” theologian, “dispensationalist,” or “reformed”. He is
Jesus. Don’t try and pull him into your camp, accept His invitation to enter
His!
I challenge you look into what the Bible does say, what does the
Lord desire of his followers. Stop reading this now and go and consider all of
1st Corinthians 1 specifically verses 12-15. Read also John 17 in the high
priestly prayer think of what it was that the Lord requested for his disciples.
Consider specifically verse 11, that Christ prayed that we may be one AS He
and the father are one! Consider Ephesians 4 where Christ says to strive for
unity in the body of Christ! Let us not allow a secondary cause to divide us
Brothers. They are to know we are His disciples by our love especially by the
love that we have for those of the house hold of faith. (John 13:35, Gal 6:10)
What is unity? Unity is not uniformity. This does not mean
that we will agree on everything, and it does not mean that we ought not to
have opinions. It does not mean that unity is to be pursued at the cost of
sound doctrine. But for those that are truly born again, in Him, we have the same
mind, (1 Cor 2:16) the same call, (Eph 4:1) the same baptism, (Eph 4:5) the
same blood covering us. (1 Peter 1:18-20)
One of my favorite quotes I now carry with me from my
college studies came from Dan Anderson, the President of Appalachian Bible
College. When asked a tough controversial question in class he replied, “Where
the Bible speaks I will speak, where the Bible remains silent I will remain
silent.” I don’t believe this was a cop-out, I believe it was a conviction. I
am challenged by Proverbs 10:19- “When words are many, sin is not absent, but
he who holds his tongue is wise.”
Not all born again Christians voted the same way. Not all
born again believers will come to the same conclusion on every issue of
Theology, but we are told to strive for unity. I fear as Christians, we too
often fight the wrong wars, against the wrong enemies, on the wrong hills. I
trust and pray that God may grant us grace as He teaches how to walk out what
He intended.
