Which Hills Should We Be Willing to Die On?

One of the interesting things that I’ve noticed throughout my life growing up in Christian culture is that we choose a lot of hills to die on. There isn’t a problem with having hills to die on. If you have any strongly held theological or moral beliefs, then the evil and oppression in our world essentially necessitates you having some strong feelings about something.

But, as the phrase makes obvious, strong feelings about something don’t, in and of themselves, create a hill to die on. A hill to die on is something that you believe so strongly in that even if the entire world charges at you to throw you off of it or else, that you would gladly dig your feet in and give your life for it. Having hills you’re willing to die on is part of what makes life so beautiful and worthwhile.

American Christians, as a culture, have chosen some odd hills in the past (and are still standing on some right now). Take the Republican Party for example. You can be a Republican and still be a sincere, born-again follower of Christ (you can be a Democrat, too). But if you are willing to cast aside Christian morality to vote for a deeply flawed Republican politician just because “they aren’t a Democrat,” then I personally believe that is wrong. Stances against Harry Potter, Rock and Roll, and for guns also fall under this umbrella. You would be hard pressed to find a passage in the gospels that tells us why we need guns (let alone love them so much).

As Christians, every hill that we should be willing to die on should tie directly back to Christ. We should stand for his virgin birth, sinless life, unjust death, and resurrection to save us from our sins. This is the most important of hills. Others that are connected to it include the value of all human life, the fundamental importance of the Bible, and the necessity of spreading the gospel to every human being on the planet so that they can experience saving faith in Christ.

Sure, there are others. But we must all be careful when we choose which hills we are willing to die on. The hills we choose tell the world a lot about us. They show that which matters most to us. All of us, myself included, owe it to our Lord to show the world that He is what holds the highest place in our hearts. So, let’s examine the hills each of us has chosen for our lives. If Jesus isn’t the number one reason for one of our hills, then we would be wise to evaluate if we should keep it.