CHOOSING SIDES (13 OF 52)
Scripture: Joshua 5:13, Joshua 6:7
This content is part of a series.
Choosing Sides (13 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part Three
Christopher B. Harbin
Joshua 5:13-6:7
We have a penchant for choosing sides. We root for college or professional sports teams. We pick winners and losers in political contests. We find many ways to categorize people into us versus them, almost without thinking about it. It seems we are hard-wired to want those we care for to advance in life, while we give little thought to others. Often as not, we go so far as to assume that God takes our side in all our contests. Do we ever stop to consider that God's purposes might not coincide with all the contests of life we hold so dear?
When we arrived in Porto Alegre, Brazil as missionaries, the first question people asked was, ''Will you root for Grêmio or Inter?'' the two local soccer teams. In rural Virginia, the question was whether we would cheer for UVA or VT, the two regional college teams. The fact that we did not go to Porto Alegre or Virginia to cheer on a sports team did not register. I was not called to champion a sports team. I was called to equip leaders for the churches in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Why did I need to choose a sports team that had nothing to do with God's purposes for my life and ministry?
We chose a team for the sake of having an answer. We never watched a game. Then we got on with why we were there in the first place. As far as I was concerned, it was immaterial to the larger issues of life. There were undercurrents behind the question I did not grasp, but in essence, it was little more than a distraction to why we were there, the call we had answered.
The Hebrews had spent a generation in the wilderness. They had just entered the land promised to Abraham, as Yahweh had made a way for them to cross the Jordan. They were beginning a campaign for control of the land. Yahweh had told them this was the land Promised to Abraham, and the land would be placed under their care. It was a daunting task that lay ahead, one t ...
Series: Discipleship Part Three
Christopher B. Harbin
Joshua 5:13-6:7
We have a penchant for choosing sides. We root for college or professional sports teams. We pick winners and losers in political contests. We find many ways to categorize people into us versus them, almost without thinking about it. It seems we are hard-wired to want those we care for to advance in life, while we give little thought to others. Often as not, we go so far as to assume that God takes our side in all our contests. Do we ever stop to consider that God's purposes might not coincide with all the contests of life we hold so dear?
When we arrived in Porto Alegre, Brazil as missionaries, the first question people asked was, ''Will you root for Grêmio or Inter?'' the two local soccer teams. In rural Virginia, the question was whether we would cheer for UVA or VT, the two regional college teams. The fact that we did not go to Porto Alegre or Virginia to cheer on a sports team did not register. I was not called to champion a sports team. I was called to equip leaders for the churches in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Why did I need to choose a sports team that had nothing to do with God's purposes for my life and ministry?
We chose a team for the sake of having an answer. We never watched a game. Then we got on with why we were there in the first place. As far as I was concerned, it was immaterial to the larger issues of life. There were undercurrents behind the question I did not grasp, but in essence, it was little more than a distraction to why we were there, the call we had answered.
The Hebrews had spent a generation in the wilderness. They had just entered the land promised to Abraham, as Yahweh had made a way for them to cross the Jordan. They were beginning a campaign for control of the land. Yahweh had told them this was the land Promised to Abraham, and the land would be placed under their care. It was a daunting task that lay ahead, one t ...
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