Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

The potential problem with Christians "standing up for their rights" is that, depending on how vigorously they do so, it may damage their witness to others with regard to living in accordance with their knowledge that this world is not the be-all and end-all of existence, and showing the same type of humility and submission to God's will displayed by Christ (Philippians 2:5-8), and instead reduce them to the status of the Gentiles of whom Jesus spoke in Matthew 6:25-33, who care only about worldly or material concerns. 

Paul made a point similar to the verse cited in the question in 1 Corinthians 6:1-11, where he reprimanded the Corinthian Christians for taking disputes among themselves to pagan civil courts, rather than settling them privately within the Christian community. In Paul's view, it was preferable that Christians allow themselves to be defrauded, rather than to cause divisions within the church, or to possibly subject the church to criticism or ridicule from the unsaved as a result of exposing disputes between Christians to public view.

March 16 2020 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Emo Tenorio Shomer

I humbly submit for your consideration an opinion that while in total agreement with Paul's thoughts on decorum within Christendom. The current realty outside of Christendom and within of the public square of our little sphere is that it's only the moral that must limit their tongues. (Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 3:7)

The true problem with not standing for your own inalienable rights; is that it becomes so much easier not standing for those unknown weaker among us. And we were reborn, but left in place here to fight the evils present, not compromise with them in our silence. 

I humbly submit that in 1973 if a righteous hard stand had been taken for the yet unborn; perhaps we would not have murdered sixty two million of them? But sensing weakness and a chance for victory in that time, the darkness seized it's moment.

The bottom line is simply this: that the landscape will be occupied by either the moral or amoral, whose ideas - laws you will be forced to obey. And every evil that transpires here will affect everyone in ways unknown or cared about by the amoral who may well wield the limitless power of a nation, because the moral have forsaken their civic responsibilities. And surprisingly many do just as they're told without a word spoken. 
(Mark 10:42; Mark 10:43; Luke 16:8; 2 Corinthians 10:5; 2 Corinthians 11:4)

Neighbors then Neighborhood:
A nameless good Samaritan willing to get his hands dirty, crossed the road one might say from his comfort zone to help a nameless stranger who was in need. While the heavenly minded professionally pious simply could not be bothered with such worldly matters. (Luke 10:30-37; Luke 16:9)

"The occupation of the good soldier of Christ is war" ~Charles Spurgeon

"What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?" 
~Winston Churchill 

"We must always take sides. Silence encourages the tormentor, not the tormented." ~Elie Wiesel

March 25 2020 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church

Believers should work for justice but not take personal revenge (Romans 12:17-21). I do not believe that Jesus was teaching to "turn the other cheek in ALL situations. Even Jesus Himself didn't literally turn the other cheek when hit by a Sanhedrin member (John 18:19-23).

And other places in the Bible, too, the Bible flat out says that believers are to resist the devil (James 4:7) and the evil forces that are in society (Eph 6:13).

March 25 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report