Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12 (NLT)
In our world, fighting is big business. For example, between the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and heavy-weight boxing, the fighters themselves (at least those who are good) stand to make millions of dollars whenever they fight. Why are their paydays so huge? Well, it’s because people pay millions of dollars to watch the fight in person or on pay-per-view. Restaurants and bars have watch parties, people host viewings at their home. In other words, people love to watch a good fight, and they pay for the privilege.
While Christians can argue about whether or not it is morally OK to watch such events, we can’t really take the high road. Here’s why. Christians tend to love a good fight, too. Unfortunately, the fighting we do is infinitely more destructive than a pay-per-view match.
Christians find plenty to fight about. We fight about what bible version to use. We fight about music. We fight about media. We fight about dress. We fight about politics. We fight about food. We fight about to capitalize the word “him” when it refers to God. We fight about, well, just about anything. Yet, here’s the problem. We’re fighting for the wrong things. And, as a result, we are becoming known for what we stand against, not who we stand for.
As the Apostle Paul was telling his young pastor-friend, Timothy, “Fight the good fight for the true faith.” This begs the question: What is “true faith?” It is simply this, I believe in Jesus Christ – his life, death, and resurrection – and I know him and he knows me. In other words, we should be fighting to hold on to our relationship with Jesus Christ. But, there is a second fight we are called to participate in, “Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.” We are supposed to declare the Gospel message to the world. Oddly enough, these two things match the two greatest commandments according to Jesus: Love God, love others.
So, please, church, Christians, fight the right fight. Stop fighting each other. Stop fighting about perceived wrongs. Stop fighting about politics and policy. Start fighting for Jesus. Start fighting to introduce Jesus to your friends and family. Love God. Love others.
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