God's Side: 1 Samuel 4:3

           Today's message is about adopting a particular attitude toward all of the opinions that you form over a lifetime. There is a degree to which Christians believe that all of their opinions and ideals are based directly from the Word of God and thus should themselves be infallible. Now, there are definitely some pretty sure positions on what the Bible tells us is right from wrong. However, apart from that, we need to recognize our own fallen nature whenever we form these opinions, especially when we start to believe that these opinions come from God himself. I was reading through the beginning of 1 Samuel and I was struck by a passage where the Israelites had just been thoroughly defeated by the Philistines. 1 Samuel 4:3 continues:

3 When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord bring defeat upon us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that it may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

          Instead of asking if God was displeased with something, they proceeded to call forth the ark of the Lord to make sure that they would win next time. Now, to put this in context, the two sons of Eli the priest, Hophni and Phinehas, were leading the people in wickedness, God had already confronted their father about the nature of their evil, and Eli was not able and/or fully willing to convince them to turn from their evil ways. The people of Israel, fully knowledgeable about these state of affairs, must not have thought God was too concerned about this wickedness that was being allowed in the kingdom when they called forth the ark of the Lord to the battlefield with Hophni and Phinehas leading the way. It may strike you as interesting that this is one of the few times that Israel calls upon and depends on the Lord to deliver the day, but he ignores their plea. So, as you can predict, verses 10-11 tell us that

10 So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.

         Do I need to mention again that these people viewed themselves as having God on their side of the battle? How many times in our different social, relational, and political spheres do we assume that God is on our side without question? As much as we expect ourselves able to discern God's side from scripture, there is a place for fear and awe that comes from our inability to read God's mind. Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

            and, about our plans, James 4:13-16 says:

 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

          When we make plans and form sides on important issues, we need to keep a listening ear to God's voice and never assume that we've got God's opinion fully understood. Heed the warning of Proverbs 18:2:

 2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding
    but delights in airing his own opinions.

            Instead, as wise Christian men and women, we are supposed to be open to correction and growth and be willing to work with people of different positions except in cases of clear contradiction of God's Word. Instead be like the wise man of Proverbs 12:15

 15 The way of a fool seems right to him,    but a wise man listens to advice.

            The Bible actually advises us that, in some small matters, that there is room to keep one's opinions private in order to preserve peace. Romans 14:19-22 says

 19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. 22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

            It is not wrong to take a position on an issue or to advocate it publicly, but what I am advising is to use wisdom and discretion in when and how you express these opinions and to keep a humble mind about what your opinion actually is: an opinion. God cannot be controlled and be drafted into whatever army we choose him to be in. Therefore, as we seek to know the mind of God, let us treat him with reverence and respect. A similar point came from Abraham Lincoln: (who, as most Christians would admit, was on the right side of his war, but still said) "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right".
           The opposite of my initial story, where the Israelites called forth the ark to support their side without question, is when David tells his followers to take the ark back to Jerusalem when they are hoping to help him with it as he flees the evil plans of his son, Absalom, in 2 Samuel 15:25-26:

25 Then the king said to Zadok, “Take the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. 26 But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you,’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.

             In closing, Hebrews 12:14-15 sums up my message here:

14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

In Christ,
Simeon Snow