Worth the Fight

I was given some good professional advice early in my secular career.  I was railing over the bad decisions of my boss, the inequity of the workplace, the unethical practices of those who would step on the heads of others to get ahead and other things I just didn't like about how people conducted their work.  The advice I was given went like this ...

1) Wherever you work, people who are mean, self-focused, unethical and "social climbers" will exist.
2) Wherever you work there will be inequities.
3) Wherever you work the grass will always look greener somewhere else ... till you go to that other place and find out that problems exist there too.

With these truths established, one must decide which of the inequities, which of these problems are worth the effort it will take to correct them.  If the injustice is so heinous it must be confronted, weigh the effort it will take to take on that battle.  The advice I was give said, "Be careful which hill you choose to die on."

In Hebrews 12 we get a taste of this when we read "Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people ... then you won't become weary and give up.  After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin."  Jesus endured sinful people and He was careful to make sure His death was worth the fight.  Jesus chose well the hill upon which He gave His life!  We were/are worth the fight, the sacrifice and the battles He endured.

All of this might seem surreal in a world where we are not pressed to sacrifice or even invest in the battle.  I wonder if the writer of this passage from Hebrews isn't making a comment about the cultural lack of personal investment in God's battle in the 60's AD.  The focus on urgency, discipline and Christian immaturity of the Jews seems to fit with the writer's frustration about the army needed to fight the battles that were upon them.  Less than 5 years after the writing of Hebrews the Jews had a great shock that took their battle to another level.  The temple in Jerusalem was sacked.  Temple sacrifice could no longer be made.  Worship and the way of life they took for granted ceased almost overnight.

Remember ... some battles are worth fighting.  Some hills are worth our sacrifice.  Some work is worth our blood, sweat and tears.  Sometimes we must fight for what is good, right and worthwhile before it is destroyed by the enemy.  Be careful which hill you chose to die on ... but know there are hills, virtues and things worth dying for!  Randy