Do We Stand or Do We Flee?

Christians like to talk about “taking a stand.”

Usually it means to take a stand against the culture, or against the politicians, or against immorality of various kinds.

Image via Pixabay

For the last couple of years there’s been lots of talk about freedoms and governments and COVID, and much debate (especially and including amongst Christians) about when it’s appropriate to take a stand or not.

And in trying to determine whether to take a stand or not, on any issue, it can be challenging to answer, as there are many nuances to these conversations, and there isn’t always agreement on how to interpret the Scriptures or which Scriptures we should emphasize over others.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what things Scripture tells us to flee from – specific things where we should not take a stand, but rather remove ourselves from the situation instead.

Perhaps this will help give us some clarity on how we respond to various situations.

Away we go!

• We are to flee persecution when it comes (Mt 10.23). Or at least we are permitted to. This was Jesus’ charge to His disciples. When troubles comes against us because of our faith, we are actually not expected to stay and take a stand; we are called to escape and continue sharing the truth. When harm was threatening Jesus, He moved away to avoid the harm (Lk 4.28-30; Jn 7.1). We also see this in the book of Acts in various places (e.g. Acts 8.1; 9.23-25; etc.). There is a strong push in current North American Christian culture to “take a stand!” against alleged persecution, but interestingly, that’s not how Jesus or His followers typically responded in Scripture.

• We are to flee when the signs of the end-times arrive (Mt 24). “Avoid the city, and flee to the mountains!” Jesus says. Again, as with persecution in general, there is nothing that suggests that we need to be sitting ducks when harm comes our way; we are allowed to remove our selves and seek to preserve our lives. The caveat would be added, of course, that if the Lord was specifically telling us to embrace the danger, we should, as Paul did towards the end of his life (see Ac 21.12-14).

• We are to “flee sexual immorality,” (1Cor 6.18-20). To sin in this way is to sin against our own body, which belongs to the Lord and houses His Holy Spirit. In a practical sense, temptation to this particular sin is perhaps more common than other sins, and the damage that can be done to bodies, to families, to others, to victims, to souls is significant. So, no messing around, no taking a stand when we are facing it – run away.

• We are to “flee from idolatry,” (1Cor 10.14). Paul wrote this in a time when literal idol worship was everywhere, and the pull from the culture was strong. Although literal idols are perhaps not our main North American struggle, we can all certainly be drawn to the idolatry of culture, money, social media “likes,” fame, status, etc. It’s interesting when considering this alongside the previous bullet on sexual immorality; we all have a natural sex drive, and then we also all have something natural in us looking to put our hope in something greater than ourselves. These natural tendencies can easily be twisted into sin. Because of this, perhaps the sins of sexual immorality and idolatry get special treatment, because they are so universal. At any rate, we do not mess around with idolatry – we flee it as fast as we can.

• We flee from the love of money (1Tim 6.10-11). Money itself is not a problem, but the love of money leads to all sorts of problems. It’s interesting that Jesus referred to love of money as the other “Master” besides Him (Mt 6.24). Greed, selfishness, status, power, envy, ambition – the list could go on – but an unhealthy relationship with money is the root of them all. We avoid the web – we flee from this love.

• Finally we are to “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart,” (2Tim 2.22). Paul is writing specifically to a young man in this passage, but even for those of us who are no longer young, we embrace the righteousness, faith, love and peace that we are called to. Growing up should mean growing more Christ-like, and so we run away from anything that gets in the way of that calling.

So there is a bit of a survey of “fleeing” in the New Testament.

Let us not confuse our boldness in “standing”, for times when the wisdom of Scripture would rather compel us to “fleeing.”

And although to flee sounds like we are running away from our problems or giving in to fear, it cannot be those things when we do them out of biblical conviction and obedience.

To back away from something means that we avoid the sin, perhaps avoid the harm, and in so doing, continue to speak the truth, continue to spread the Gospel, continue to thrive in Jesus while we walk in obedience to His will.

If it wasn’t sometimes necessary, God would not have included such provisions in His Word.

May we who follow Him have the wisdom to know how to respond to each and every situation.

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