When Joshua was on his way to take the city of Jericho, he came upon a man with his sword drawn (Josh.5:13ff.).
Joshua asked him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"
The man responded by essentially telling him 'neither' -- and went on to identify himself as the commander of the Lord's army.
This incident supplies us with a great principle for navigating the confusion and conflict of our own age.
And that principle is this:
What matters most in all the issues we face is that we're faithfully aligning ourselves with the Lord.
Let's think about this...
In the past two years we've faced three major crises -- racial tension following the death of George Floyd... COVID and its mandates... and now the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
In each of these situations there's been a lot of pressure to choose sides...
... and if you don't choose the right side, watch out! You might get cancelled!
Yet here's where the principle comes into play.
We need to avoid getting pigeon-holed as being 'for' or 'against' something in the way our popular culture defines things...
... and we must instead consider what the commander of the Lord's army would think.
In other words...
We must constantly be asking...
What would He say is just, righteous and good?
This takes thinking and discernment. It requires you to sniff out lies and propaganda. And it takes courage apply...
But aligning ourselves with God and His principles is exactly what we need to be making a practice of these days.
May the Spirit help us do just that!