Christians Fight or Flight?
My response to Josh’s comment on Thinking Christians.
I’d agree that we often have the prideful, legalistic problem of resisting the devil without first submitting to God, thinking that we are something without Him. The Bible teaches that we run FROM the devil TO God. Jesus teaches us to replace the bad that is cast out of our life with His good (Mat 12:43-45). Paul also describes the Christian life as being continually transformed from one degree of glory to the next by drawing closer to Him (II Cor 3:18). God has won the battle with the devil through Christ once and for all (Rev 12:7-12) so, I’d say we always stand firm by the grace & protection of God.
How this translates in our relationships is the question. I guess the answer for Christians is given in (Rom 14:4 & 5). God is able to make us all stand firm and we are to act towards other servants of Christ as if we and they are both standing firm by the grace and power of His resurrection. We are taught to encourage one another (Heb 3:12-14), but not to pass judgment.
I wonder what the Bible teaches about how we deal with those who do not walk in the light. God’s focus is on our transformation from the inside out and not so much on the specifics of how we act. I suppose whether we fight, run or hide will become natural as when draw near to Him. Of course this doesn’t provide specific answers about whether we should actively fight evil in our society, or, “as much as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Rom 12:18). This is a tough question to which I’d say the answer is “Yes”. . . there are times to stand up in relationships with those in darkness and there are times, to do what Paul tells Timothy, “Flee youthful lust . . .” (II Tim 2:22) (Though notice here Paul also says to run TO righteousness) and there are times to hide under the shelter of His wing, but we are always standing firm by to power of His awesome grace!