"Whether we are pursuing our cherished creatures or following the crucified Christ, may we never lose our way."
With deer season right around the corner, excitement is at fever pitch among hunters. I love to hunt, but with 2 bottomless pits (in the form of my 9 and 6 year old sons) in the house, it has also become a chance to stock the freezer. For me, processing the deer and feeding my family are just as rewarding as the successful hunt itself. This is not the case with every hunter.
While I hunt to feed my family, other hunters may hunt strictly for trophies. Even though there is absolutely nothing wrong with trophy hunting, it’s quite different from hunting for food. Trophy hunters will let does and undesirable bucks walk while food hunters will most likely harvest those animals.
These differing philosophies provide fertile ground for arguments to crop up. Being a food hunter, I have been accused on many occasions by trophy hunters of being trigger-happy or just out for blood. No matter how many times in the past I’ve tried to explain that Reagan and Michael prefer fried backstraps over antlers au gratin, some believe food hunters are damaging the herd. As you can imagine, these arguments can get pretty heated.
Even though these two groups love the same sport, they are deeply divided over a philosophy. This is not unique unto the sport of deer hunting. This may come as a shock but college football has been known to stir up a conflict or two thousand. Being from Louisiana, I am a huge LSU fan. So, we hear arguments all the time about who has the better football conference. Is it our beloved SEC or all those other losers? (I’m writing this hours before the proud fighting Tigers of LSU open up their 2016 season against those rodents from Wisconsin so I hope I’m not having to eat these words by the time you read them.) But, despite all this, I have found the solution to winning an argument:
NEVER GET IN ONE.
This can be difficult for someone who loves to argue as much as I do. I’m not saying I’m always right. I have been wrong before. The last time was in April of 1987. But, I still love to tell folks why I’m right and why their opinion is probably skewed because they are a Wisconsin fan.
However, silly arguments can and will cause divisions. That goes for Christians, too. The world is watching us. How can we claim to love and honor Jesus when we let trivial differences divide us? How can we praise the Lord with our lips, then slander a brother, friend or enemy with the same lips?
Jesus was pretty clear on the subject. He said we cannot. Let us pray for our enemies. Pray for our friends. Pray for the strength to realize that we’re never going to live in perfect harmony here on this earth but also pray that God will give us the serenity to love everyone. Then, we will truly feel the ultimate love of the Father.
I John 4:20 says, If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. So, the next time an argument opportunity arises, take a step back, try to see the bigger picture and ask these 2 simple questions to grade the importance of this conflict:
Will it make a difference 100 years from now?
Is it worth driving a wedge between me and a fellow believer?
Chances are if we follow these simple questions, we’ll see our silly arguments as just that. SILLY.
Like the Ben Dupree-Author page on Facebook for book ordering information, speaking engagement bookings and future book release dates.
While I hunt to feed my family, other hunters may hunt strictly for trophies. Even though there is absolutely nothing wrong with trophy hunting, it’s quite different from hunting for food. Trophy hunters will let does and undesirable bucks walk while food hunters will most likely harvest those animals.
These differing philosophies provide fertile ground for arguments to crop up. Being a food hunter, I have been accused on many occasions by trophy hunters of being trigger-happy or just out for blood. No matter how many times in the past I’ve tried to explain that Reagan and Michael prefer fried backstraps over antlers au gratin, some believe food hunters are damaging the herd. As you can imagine, these arguments can get pretty heated.
Even though these two groups love the same sport, they are deeply divided over a philosophy. This is not unique unto the sport of deer hunting. This may come as a shock but college football has been known to stir up a conflict or two thousand. Being from Louisiana, I am a huge LSU fan. So, we hear arguments all the time about who has the better football conference. Is it our beloved SEC or all those other losers? (I’m writing this hours before the proud fighting Tigers of LSU open up their 2016 season against those rodents from Wisconsin so I hope I’m not having to eat these words by the time you read them.) But, despite all this, I have found the solution to winning an argument:
NEVER GET IN ONE.
This can be difficult for someone who loves to argue as much as I do. I’m not saying I’m always right. I have been wrong before. The last time was in April of 1987. But, I still love to tell folks why I’m right and why their opinion is probably skewed because they are a Wisconsin fan.
However, silly arguments can and will cause divisions. That goes for Christians, too. The world is watching us. How can we claim to love and honor Jesus when we let trivial differences divide us? How can we praise the Lord with our lips, then slander a brother, friend or enemy with the same lips?
Jesus was pretty clear on the subject. He said we cannot. Let us pray for our enemies. Pray for our friends. Pray for the strength to realize that we’re never going to live in perfect harmony here on this earth but also pray that God will give us the serenity to love everyone. Then, we will truly feel the ultimate love of the Father.
I John 4:20 says, If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. So, the next time an argument opportunity arises, take a step back, try to see the bigger picture and ask these 2 simple questions to grade the importance of this conflict:
Will it make a difference 100 years from now?
Is it worth driving a wedge between me and a fellow believer?
Chances are if we follow these simple questions, we’ll see our silly arguments as just that. SILLY.
Like the Ben Dupree-Author page on Facebook for book ordering information, speaking engagement bookings and future book release dates.