Pastor John D Jakes

This Sunday we talked about why Christians fight with each other and unbelievers about points of doctrine.  Sometimes these points of belief are minor.  Sometimes these points of belief are major (or at least we believe them to be so!).  However, I rarely see anyone asking, “Do I have to fight about this issue?”  Even rarer do I see people asking, “Does God care as much as I do about this subject?”  Instead, I see people content to fight and fuss and get offended over all sorts of things. 

Let me be blunt – I see it as a sign of immaturity.  There are two ways for people to stand for what they believe.  One – they patiently and straightforwardly say what they believe and let the chips lie.  Two – they pick fights with others and won’t let the subject down.  It is the second individual that I am concerned about.  Titus 3:10 & 11 says, “Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned.”  Wow! It is one thing to stand for what you believe.  It is another to make it your lifestyle to always pick on what others believe.

Last year I was a guest speaker at our local college.  I was speaking on how my church saw the Bible.  Someone asked about Fundamentalists and their anger.  I still stand by my response, “Most of the fundamentalists I know are good, loving people who simply are sure of what they believe.  The anger you hear from leaders in the media has much more to do with their personalities than what they really believe.”

So, I would urge us to consider not just if we think that we are right, but also consider how we present that ‘rightness’.  Does God really care as much as we do regarding the issue we are fighting about?

Something to think about – Pastor John