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December 30, 2004
Fight for what you believe
A piece on NPR a few days ago included an excerpt of a conversation with some teenage evangelical Christians about their motivation and preparations to debate their faith. What stuck in my mind was one kid who said something like “we have to prepare to fight for what we believe” referring to their training as debaters. The idea of fighting seems to be amplified in evangelical thought (“Fight for Christian values”), but what really got me thinking is why evangelical Christians feel a need to fight those around them?
The gospels are somewhat ambiguous on the topic of fighting. Jesus did use a form of physical power to communicate his disapproval of the use of the temple (Matt 21:12), but this was limited to turning over a few tables and benches. A clearer lesson on the use of force came during Jesus’ last hours, instructing his disciples to eschew the sword even in defense (Matt 26:52).
Saint Paul makes further references to fighting – but typically to admonish his disciples to “fight the good fight of faith” or “struggle against the unbelievers”. However, as with Jesus, these images of fighting are (almost) always juxtaposed with Love (e.g. Rom 15:29-31).
So the question remains, why fight? It seems that evangelical Christians have never had it so good – the opportunity to practice their faith in the United States is unrivaled. What fuels the evangelical Christian in his or her intent to change the world around them?
Simplistically one can view this as a fear (stress) response (fight or flight). The evangelical Christian fear response has been compared to other (radical) religious movements when they believe the future of their beliefs are threatened.
Being a Christian takes practice and courage to live a life full of love (Luke 6:32-35). It is very easy to shrink back from this daunting task, and project our own fear onto other’s – making them responsible for our own failures. This is the “fight” Saint Paul was referring to – the inward fight to be a more loving person. The future of Christianity is threatened, but it’s the treat of relevance, not “secularism”. As a Christian I am completely committed to living as Jesus did. But I am also completely committed to building a faith community that’s relevant in today’s world, not waste precious time and resource fighting.
Posted by pgutwin at December 30, 2004 12:10 PM