And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and rejoicing, and she despised him in her heart.
I suppose it comes down to which you find more important. Your status with your neighbors. Or God. Most people will quickly answer "God", but by our fruit you can tell where our heart is.
Which do you find more embarrassing:
Talking to friends about God or Talking to friends about someone you hate?
Helping the beautiful woman at the store or Helping the homeless man in the parking lot get food?
Talking yourself up to someone important or Talking to the person no one at school likes?
To me the best word for what society does to us is brain washing. Over and over it tells us that hating, lust, and power are important. And God, the helpless, and the hated are not. But God flips that on its ear.
By looking at your own works you can know that is more important to you. What is it?
You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth.
Going to a Christian collage that was supported by a pacifist denomination was how I was first introduced to Christian pacifists. For myself, I was raised by a Christian dad who was also a veteran. I was taught early on that sometimes violence is needed to protect others and keep peace. The above verses are where I found my own understanding between the calling of a warrior and the calling of a pacifist.
God called David. All that David did was for the LORD. Including the blood he shed. And today some are still called to be warriors. To serve as soldiers and police officers. But, the calling of David was not the calling of Solomon.
God called Solomon. And Solomon could build the temple of the LORD where David could not. Today some are still called to the building of the Church in a way that a warrior can not.
Do not confuse the two men. God did not call only Davids to His work. And God did not call only Solomons to His work. They are two very different Men of God.
The question for you is so find what God has called you to be.
Ever notice how Christ doesn't answer the actual questions that are asked by those trying to trap Him? And it isn't because He was being tricky in not getting "caught". Rather notice how He answers the real problem that is in the heart of the people talking to him.
Everyone that came to Christ to question him had a personal agenda. And Christ directly spoke to that agenda. The rich man wanting to know if he was following the law was told to sell everything. The authorities on taxes were told about the giant chasm between God and Caesar. And the men wanting to point out the sin in others had their own sin placed in front of them.
Only one man standing there had the right to judge the woman and that was Christ. At that time He wasn't on earth as the judge. He was there as the living sacrifice for her sins. But soon He will return to judge.
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