CHAUVINISM - PREJUDICED DEVOTION TO ANY ATTITUDE OR CAUSE.
There are many attitudes and causes to which we should be devoted. There are also many that we should not be devoted to at all. We can’t properly distinguish the two groups if we are prejudiced for or against something. I imagine that when some of our brethren first began using radio as a way of spreading the gospel message there were some who were prejudiced against it even though there was and is nothing scripturally wrong with it. In fact, anything we can do to spread the gospel farther, faster is something we should consider. We may determine that it isn’t the best way for our congregation to do it and that is fine, but we should consider all alternatives and then chose the best ones.
But, Chauvinism is not prejudiced against something, rather it is for something. There are those who will be devoted to some cause and not be willing to consider any other even though the cause they are in favor of is no longer effective. Certainly, we must be devoted to the truth regardless of how effective we think it is, but methods and manners of getting the truth out there can change. The Jule Miller Filmstrips are a good example. The teaching on them is good, and some think they are the best thing since sliced bread. Maybe when they first came out they were, but now with the people in them dressed in clothing that is out of date by 3 or 4 decades people won’t hear the message for laughing at the fashions. One congregation wanted to do a remake video with live sound and moving picture, and they were quickly turned down because someone was chauvinistic. Sadder still are those who try to use the Bible to support their sinful chauvinism. There are men who want to treat their wives in anything but a Christian way, and then claim they are doing as the Bible teaches. These men will read every verse in the Bible about how wives are to behave and be in subjection to their husbands and so forth, but they never bother to read the verses that tell husbands how they should behave. (1 Cor 7:4) “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.” If a man thinks he can beat his wife, then he better allow her to do the same to him. (Eph 5:25) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” Can you imagine Christ running around on the church with other religions, or making cruel jokes about the church, or beating the church. These pictures are incomprehensible, yet the husband is to love his wife like Christ loves the church even to the point of giving himself for her.
There are many other forms of chauvinism that we could talk about, but suffice it to say we shouldn’t be devoted to any cause before we have examined the evidence. Even our faith in Christ must be based on the evidence, as the Bereans’ faith was. (Acts 17:11) “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Don’t be a chauvinist.
There are many attitudes and causes to which we should be devoted. There are also many that we should not be devoted to at all. We can’t properly distinguish the two groups if we are prejudiced for or against something. I imagine that when some of our brethren first began using radio as a way of spreading the gospel message there were some who were prejudiced against it even though there was and is nothing scripturally wrong with it. In fact, anything we can do to spread the gospel farther, faster is something we should consider. We may determine that it isn’t the best way for our congregation to do it and that is fine, but we should consider all alternatives and then chose the best ones.
But, Chauvinism is not prejudiced against something, rather it is for something. There are those who will be devoted to some cause and not be willing to consider any other even though the cause they are in favor of is no longer effective. Certainly, we must be devoted to the truth regardless of how effective we think it is, but methods and manners of getting the truth out there can change. The Jule Miller Filmstrips are a good example. The teaching on them is good, and some think they are the best thing since sliced bread. Maybe when they first came out they were, but now with the people in them dressed in clothing that is out of date by 3 or 4 decades people won’t hear the message for laughing at the fashions. One congregation wanted to do a remake video with live sound and moving picture, and they were quickly turned down because someone was chauvinistic. Sadder still are those who try to use the Bible to support their sinful chauvinism. There are men who want to treat their wives in anything but a Christian way, and then claim they are doing as the Bible teaches. These men will read every verse in the Bible about how wives are to behave and be in subjection to their husbands and so forth, but they never bother to read the verses that tell husbands how they should behave. (1 Cor 7:4) “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.” If a man thinks he can beat his wife, then he better allow her to do the same to him. (Eph 5:25) “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” Can you imagine Christ running around on the church with other religions, or making cruel jokes about the church, or beating the church. These pictures are incomprehensible, yet the husband is to love his wife like Christ loves the church even to the point of giving himself for her.
There are many other forms of chauvinism that we could talk about, but suffice it to say we shouldn’t be devoted to any cause before we have examined the evidence. Even our faith in Christ must be based on the evidence, as the Bereans’ faith was. (Acts 17:11) “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Don’t be a chauvinist.
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