Article September 8, 1997 Issue

Fight the good fight

Nathan Shutler

A few weeks ago, I was at a convenience store with some young Boy Scouts in my troop to get some snacks and a soda after a meeting. On the way into the parking lot, they started yelling at some guys in a car, provoking them. Some guys my age jumped out of the car and started threatening the younger kids. One saw me and confronted me. He flicked a cigarette in my face and started pushing me in the chest and trying to get me to fight.

I was able to stay calm, and just then I remembered what my dad had told me many times. It was something Christ Jesus said: "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him" (Matt. 5:25). To me, at that moment, this meant that I did not have to get angry. Maybe in the past getting angry is what I would have done, but what came very strongly and clearly to me was that this guy was the child of God. I kept thinking this—"He is the child of God, and he can't hurt me or make me feel afraid." I really knew that God was with us and that His law of good was all-powerful. I was able to stay calm and unafraid.

He was yelling at me: "You think you're bad, huh? Yelling stuff at people in cars! Come on then, man, back it up!" I kept telling him that I hadn't yelled anything, but he continued to try to get me to fight. He asked me what school I went to, and I told him where I went and that I had just started a few months ago.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

In next week's SENTINEL