Conviction that Conquers

Judges 11:4-8

"It came to pass after a time that the people of Ammon made war against Israel. And so it was, when the people of Ammon made war against Israel, that the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. Then they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our commander, that we may fight against the people of Ammon.” So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me, and expel me from my father’s house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned again to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the people of Ammon, and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you take me back home to fight against the people of Ammon, and the LORD delivers them to me, shall I be your head?” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The LORD will be a witness between us, if we do not do according to your words.” Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpah."

I am not quite sure if the elders of Israel humbled themselves to the Lord before they humbled themselves to Jephthah. Too often we tend to be people pleasers rather than God pleasers. Of course it is not as simple as it seems. We also need to be kind and serve others so that we gain their confidence and trust and that is building the bridge of deeper relationships for the Gospel to come through and into the lives of those we meet. However, this of course does not mean we compromise our values to accommodate contentious ideas and feelings for them to like us and continue to fellowship/relate with us. Some may be opposed to Christian principles for reasons far deeper than simply not understanding and even past hurts that pertain to it. In those cases, we continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will purge deep-seated misplaced prejudice against the Gospel within their hearts. We do have to continue to make our values clear and live up to it so much so that even people who oppose those values will consider highly of us based on our own standards after all, "there is something winsome, even irresistible, about a life lived with conviction." We stand on our principles and we state that clearly if called for, but we must never forget that we relate to people, and unlike other belief systems that requires cutting of all ties one has to the world and or to the physical body, relationships are very much a Christian focus. We are still stewards of God's creation and very much in the world though not of it, for a purpose.

1 Cor 9:19-22

"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."

~29.09.2013