Trivial Bickering

As a parent, I get so frustrated when my kids argue over who had what toy or who gets to climb into the car first. I really don’t care who had the toy first or who gets in the car first. I just want my kids to get along and to live in harmony with each other. It seems that my kids actually find themselves in trouble more often for fighting with each other over trivial things than they do for “breaking the rules”.

I often wonder if God weeps when his children bicker over issues that are of no relevance to His Kingdom. The list is so long! The color of the carpet, worship time and format, too many new songs (or old songs), doilies in the communion bread tray, individual pieces of cracker or one large piece, décor of the church building, and the list just goes on and on and on. In fact, so much time is spent arguing over these things that there is little time left for visiting the sick or saving the lost!

As children of God, we have a higher calling. We are called to praise God, to share the good news of Christ to the world and to care for the downtrodden. Why do we waste our energies arguing over so many things that will do nothing for our salvation, and in fact, will only aide Satan in getting a foothold in our life? The world does not want to be a part of a group of Christians who do nothing but fight over trivialities. It’s time to re-evaluate what matters to God and work to accomplish those goals. If it is not a matter of the soul of a man, then it does not matter to our Father.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation…” (Philippians 2:14-15 NIV)