So your mama told you not get in fights...
Well your mama was right. Fist fights, push fights, spit fights, hair-pulling fights - those are bad things. But there is a good kind of fight. It's the fight of faith, or, rather, the fight for faith. I read the entire book of Jude today (it's only 25 verses), and I spent some time meditating on verse 3: "Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." What really struck me today as I read this is that Jude was not simply giving an appeal to pastors to be careful to teach the right things to their people. As far as I can tell Jude is speaking generally to all Christians. The letter is addressed simply to those who are "called" and are "beloved in God the father and kept for Jesus Christ" (v 1). So everyone claiming the name of Jesus is to contend or fight for the faith. Every Christian, from 8 to 80...