LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Have to Fight?
"I urge first of all, that requests, prayers, petitions be made... for all men; for kings and for all who are in eminence, so that we may live quietly and peacefully in all piety and honesty" (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
Faced with the demonstrations and protests that mobilize the crowds, we can ask ourselves what our reaction as Christians should be.
The Bible invites us to always remember that we are "strangers and sojourners on the earth" (Heb. 11:13). Of course we must comply with the laws of our country and submit to "the authorities... which... have been established by God" (Rom. 13:1). But God does not ask us to take part in polemics in which he himself is excluded.
One day the Lord Jesus said to one of his disciples: "Follow me; let the dead bury their dead" (Matt. 8:22). In the eyes of God, the unbeliever is "dead", to whom he nevertheless wishes to give eternal life. The important thing for us, believers, is to follow Christ, without participating in combats that have nothing to do with us, since we are citizens of heaven (Phil. 3:20).
Our combat must consist of rejecting all forms of evil in our lives, through prayer. If people make fun of God, let us pray for those who make fun of it; If there are people who kill innocent people, let us pray for the grieving relatives, as well as for the murderers. Let us also pray for the rulers, because their task is not easy; Let us not forget that "God... wants all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:3-4). LBS.