The news recently has been filled with scenes of violence—college campus protests and Tesla cars being keyed or set on fire. Depending on which side of the political aisle you sit, you’ll likely be angered or empathetic.
But there is an issue at play here that goes beyond the specific viewpoints or beliefs you hold, and that is simply this: what issues, what things, what causes matter enough to you that you would be willing to rise up and fight for them?
You may be an easy-going person who is not easily ruffled. You are not easily offended or riled up, and when you are, you’re good at letting offenses roll off like water off a duck’s back. Or you may have a more fiery personality and find yourself more easily worked up over things. You probably just consider yourself “passionate.” But regardless of whether your emotional fuse is short or long, my question to you is: what are the things that light it? What things, what issues are so tied to your values, your sense of justice, of right and wrong, to your sense of mission and purpose in life, that you would be willing to take a stand, not back down, and figuratively or literally fight for them?
Over the centuries, Christians have been martyred for their faith—willing to be imprisoned, tortured, to fight, and to die for it. It’s hard for those of us who have spent our lives in the pursuit of comfort and happiness to think about these things. But I suspect there is value in having a cause, a belief, a person, or a thing that is so sacred, so valued or prized, that you’d be willing to sacrifice that comfort and happiness to preserve it. I am grateful for the sacrifices that so many have made to provide us with the freedoms here in America that we enjoy. It’s easy to forget that while you and I don’t have to fight and die to have the right to live, work, worship, and vote the way we think best, others who came before us did.
So how about you? Would you fight to save your children? Your business? Your freedom to speak your mind? Are there injustices and evil so great that if faced with them or forced to support them, you would sacrifice the comfort and happiness you worked so hard to preserve—even to the point of death?
I’ll be honest; there are a lot of things in my life that I appreciate and enjoy, but I’d walk away from them if the price became too high. But I think there is an aspect of our character and conviction that is so central to who we are that to deny it or lose it would be unthinkable. Yes, I think it is a valuable exercise to take stock of the things in your life that are worth fighting for. Make a list; talk it over with those closest to you and whom you trust. Settle in your mind and heart those things that are worth sacrificing and fighting for.
