Left to Write: Whose Side Is it Anyway?
06-12-2006
by Brenten Gilbert

If God is on our side, who can be against us? . . . nothing's gonna stand in our way.
- Chris Tomlin "On Our Side"

Romans 8 includes an encouraging statement that has become something of a rally cry among Christians. In the second half of verse 31, we find the rhetorical question, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" This is a statement that many of us have latched on to as proof that God will help us defeat anything that opposes us. However, as with many verses that we popularize and compartmentalize, we've taken this creed out of context.

This thought initially struck me as I was recently reading through the book of Joshua as part of our "40 Weeks of Your Life" and I reached the account known as the battle of Jericho. This story is quite familiar to most of us, but as I read through this time, I was struck by what seemed like an odd statement. Here's the scene: Joshua is the leader of what has become a nomadic tribe - a very large one at that - and they want to find a permanent home.

The people have been promised a great home, and they've been scoping out the land of Jericho as their ideal place to settle. However, they're a bit disgruntled. They're stuck in the desert and they are pretty sure that they can't overtake the city of Jericho because the land is quite fortified. And now, they're impatient with Joshua because he doesn't seem to have a plan. Joshua is off on his own, possibly trying to get away from the others to think clearly or pray or just get away.

Enter a strange man with his sword drawn who appears before Joshua presumably from out of nowhere. (We find out later that this is an angel, the "commander in the army of the LORD.") Curious or afraid or both, Joshua approaches the man and asks, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" Knowing the story well, the answer surprised me. "Neither."

Neither? Really? I thought Joshua was a good guy. I thought (and always assumed) that this angel surely said that he was on Joshua's side, right?

Well, here's the thing. God wasn't on Joshua's side. God doesn't choose sides because God is a side.

When we ask God if He's on our side or try to get Him on our side, we get it wrong. In fact, we have it completely backwards. Reflecting our natural tendancy to assume that we are the center of the world, we ask God to be on our team which is similar to asking the sun to revolve around the earth. And it's not that God doesn't love us or that He doesn't want us to succeed, it's just that His definitions are different than ours.

In a way, God does cheer us on, not wanting any of us to perish, as Peter explains in his second letter (2 Peter 3:9). However, rather than asking if God is on our side, the more appropriate question is if we are on His.

Thanks for your time.

- bdg.