the good fight

So much of what gets written and spoken lately seems to me to be pretty pointless because the writer or speaker makes an argument that they know the audience agrees with. So many interviews are like that now. The interviewer and the interviewee have the same view and the interview is just them agreeing with each other and criticizing the other side often in a really scathing and dismissive way. 

The comment section on YouTube videos is full of people voicing approval for what the presenter says. There can be no debate. It seems like you can't just agree with something someone says and disagree with other things they say because you have to adopt the whole world-view and network of stories. 

People have to take sides. The most dire social emergencies become opportunities to wage ideological war. The other side is wrong about everything. Both sides say that the other side is depraved and immoral and selfish and hate-filled, and so....we all become that. Nothing can be done. Nothing can be done to fix real problems. 

I think the Bible presents us with a better model than that. I was reading about one of the Apostle Paul's many trials where he spoke in front of kings and other leaders. Paul understood that God was in control and that everything he went through was according to God's plan and to further God's purpose. Paul had a sense that, whatever was happening, he would be spiritually productive. So, he didn't get bitter or deeply invested in human drama. 

His actions were imbued with a higher purpose. He didn't take sides in the culture wars or politics. You might say, but didn't Paul point out other people's sin? Yes, but whose sin did Paul concern himself with? The sins of the believers. He didn't go on and on about how sinful and wrong those outside the church were - how evil they were and how we are in a battle against them - because he understood that the church is not in a battle with an opposing ideological camp. The church is not in a battle with sinners, but a battle for sinners. Paul wrote: 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)