Don't pick fights

  Don’t pick fights

The writer of Hebrews states,

"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14.

The Apostle Peter who wrote,

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  

Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:11,12.

Sadly here in North America where I live there are many calling themselves Christians who are picking fights with those they agree with. They try to impose their moral values on people who don’t want them.

Jesus never told us to impose our beliefs and morals on anyone.

Both Jesus and the apostles live in a multicultural world, the Roman Empire. A secular world where many gods were worshipped. Where moral codes were the opposite of what they believed. 

Can you imagine what the apostle Paul and the others thought of temple prostitutes in Corinth? What they thought of when it came to the blood sports that happened in Roman arenas around the empire?

Can you imagine Paul entering Athens and seeing the various temples to various gods all of which espoused beliefs far different to what he believed?

Paul seen all these temples yet never spoke against any of the gods worshipped in Athens. Instead he presented the Athenians with the one true God.

It was the same with the other apostles they presented the word of God in as pure a form as they could. As a result they changed their world around them in under a century. 

As believers in Christ Jesus in 2021 we should be doing the same. We should be presenting the good news about Jesus to anyone who will listen and not pick fights with those who do not believe as we do.

Please think about it.