Dr. Leslie Flynn writes about the time when the English and French were at war in colonial Canada. “Admiral Phipps, in charge of the British Fleet, was ordered to anchor outside Quebec, a city on the St. Lawrence River. He was to await the coming of the British infantry and then join the land forces in attack.

“Arriving early, Admiral Phipps, an ardent nonconformist, was annoyed by the statues of the saints that adorned the roof and towers of the Catholic cathedral. So he spent his time shooting at them with the ship’s guns. How many he hit we don’t know, but history recorded that when the infantry arrived and the signal was given to attack, the admiral found himself out of ammunition. He had used it for shooting out the saints.”

I sometimes wonder, in the church, how much of our efforts are poured into fighting among ourselves over insignificant trivialities, and “shooting our wounded,” instead of uniting our efforts to attack the real enemy such as greed, dishonesty, immoral living, violence, abortion, gay marriage, pornography—and any and everything else that is harmful to people and society.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me not to waste my time, energy, and resources on trivialities or majoring on minors, but always to major on the majors. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. 1 Peter 3:8-9 (NIV).