Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 20-22.

One of the things which struck me about today’s passage was the way in which Ahab felt more brotherhood for Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, than he did for Naboth, an Israelite.  Ben-Hadad had attacked Ahab and sought to loot his country, but when Ahab got the other hand, he made a treaty with Ben-Hadad and let him go.  Ahab valued the life of his enemy, because they were both kings, more than he valued the life of one of his subjects.  If you look you see leaders of many countries today who value the interests of the leaders of their country’s rivals more than they value the interests of their fellow countrymen.  You see the elites of the world pursuing common interest with the elites of countries which are rivals, and perhaps even enemies, of their own, rather than the interests of their countrymen.  This sort of commonality with those who do not share their professed worldview is not exclusive to political and social leaders.  We often see it among religious leaders as well.  We often see religious leaders seeking common interest with the leaders of groups which do not share their faith.  Sometimes that is Christian pastors, or other Church leaders, who find more in common with leaders from other denominations than with the members of their own denomination.  That may not be a bad thing, after all, Christians all profess faith in the same Lord.  But it may lead to a dilution of the leaders dedication to serving the Lord, in particular to bringing people into a relationship with Christ.  More importantly, some Christian Church leaders seek common ground with the leaders of other religions.  Here, there is definitely risk of losing sight of our primary duty as followers of Christ, which is to bring others to him.  In this passage, Ahab lost sight of his primary duty as king, which was to protect his subjects, and became more interested in his own pleasure and comfort.

I want to add that the problem is not with having friends whose faith differs from you (whether in a little bit, such as a different Christian denomination, or in a lot, such as a different religion or areligious).  The problem is when you value those people’s interests (except for their interest in learning to know and serve Jesus) more than you value the interests of those who share you faith.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.