When To Take A Stand

What do you think of when you hear the word "bullheaded"? Regardless of the image, it probably isn't a positive one. Typically we use the word "bullheaded" to describe a person who makes life incredibly difficult by fighting over every little thing. No matter how much you try to compromise, with the bullheaded person it has to be either his/her way or the highway. For such people, there is no room for the kind of compromise and cooperation which are absolutely essential to getting along with other people.

In recent years, however, the "bullheaded" concept has been very mistakenly applied to any individual who feels strongly enough about an issue to disagree with the majority or those who are in power. Nowhere is that more evident than in the increasingly hostile language appearing in our media directed at Christians and Christian teachings. Whether the issue be evolution, sex or stem cell research, Christians are portrayed as "bullheaded" simpletons whose only motive is to control the behavior of the rest of society, when in reality the debate should be about truth. Taking a stand for what one believes is the truth should never be mistaken for "bullheadedness".

Beginning this Sunday we are going to be studying the New Testament book of Galatians. This short letter was written by the Apostle Paul less than 20 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For two thousand years the words Paul wrote have served as a Christian manifesto on truth. It is a letter full of intense emotion, reflecting a man who has staked everything on the message that eternal life comes through faith alone in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. God took a stand for you when Christ went to the cross. The result of what happened on that cross enables us to take a stand for God. Compromise can be a key to getting along with people, but it is always disastrous when it changes the truths of God.