{"id":87695,"date":"2025-06-11T09:42:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=87695"},"modified":"2025-06-11T09:42:28","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:42:28","slug":"standing-for-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/standing-for-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Standing for Right"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Paul M. Tucker<\/p>\n

Standing for the right is very demanding of us. It is not easy. It may be very inconvenient. It may even lead to loneliness. On the mountain peak of spiritual experience, it can be a lonely place; we may even find ourselves alone.<\/p>\n

“At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me<\/em>,” wrote the embattled Apostle Paul, speaking possibly of his defense before the Roman court (II Timothy 4:16). He had no defensive legal counsel, there was no crowd of the faithful packing the courtroom to encourage him or plead his case. As a man, he stood alone. “Not withstanding the Lord stood with me,<\/em>” he wrote. There he stood in a hostile court with no comforting presence of sympathizers. But the Lord was there.<\/p>\n

\"\"It takes courage to stand for the right alone; Noah built the ark alone. Neighbors likely smirked at the simpleton, Noah, and they perished in the flood.<\/p>\n

Abraham wandered and worshipped as a lonely leader of his family. Sodomite neighbors gave no credence to his righteous example. They followed the fashionable popular crowd into folly and flames. Lust and peer pressure led them to fiery destruction.<\/p>\n

Daniel prayed alone, Elijah sacrificed alone, and Jeremiah wept alone. Jesus died on the cross alone, except for the company of two thieves.<\/p>\n

The higher one climbs up the mountains of spiritual achievement, the more rarified the atmosphere and the crowd, and the more lonely one becomes, but the Lord stands by His own, with an invisible but powerful presence.<\/p>\n

What we need in the church are men and women, young and old, who have the courage and the conviction to stand for the right (alone if necessary), at the cost of fame, fortune, and friends. We need congregations under the leadership of elders who will lead the congregation in the right direction, even if it means isolation from other congregations who are departing from the faith.<\/p>\n

The powerful pressure of popular pride challenges us. Sins of all sorts are glamorized, glitterized, and glorified to appeal to fleshly folly. False doctrine, fancy fables, and changing alternative worship styles are made appealing to the worldly-minded. But the Lord stands by His own. With His help, we shall stand, and the wreath of victory will be ours.<\/p>\n

In our search for worldly goods, we climb the highest mountains and toil across the hot sands of the desert, forgetting the words of the wise man Solomon, “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it<\/em>” (Proverbs 10:22).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Paul M. Tucker Standing for the right is very demanding of us. It is not easy. It may be very inconvenient. It may even lead to loneliness. On the mountain peak of spiritual experience, it can be a lonely place; we may even find ourselves alone. “At my first answer no man stood with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1090,1126],"class_list":["post-87695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-conviction","tag-courage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66103,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/standing-for-the-right\/","url_meta":{"origin":87695,"position":0},"title":"Standing for the Right","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores It can be intimidating to stand for what's right. It's even harder when you stand alone. Isaiah tells us that in his day, God's true followers were an ever-decreasing minority. Oppression, selfishness, and flagrant sin were everywhere. Few were the ones who stood by the godly principles\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/different-197x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4250,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/barabbas-a-prisoner-set-free\/","url_meta":{"origin":87695,"position":1},"title":"Barabbas \u2013 A Prisoner Set Free","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 5, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton The scene was chaos as the crowd shouted, \u201cCrucify Him, crucify Him.\u201d The subject of their wrath was not for a murderer but a man \u201cwho went about doing good\u201d (Acts 10:38). Their cries for death were not given for one who had been an insurrectionist but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/Prisoner.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17550,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/from-bad-to-good\/","url_meta":{"origin":87695,"position":2},"title":"From Bad to Good","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mike Johnson Text: Philippians 1:12-14 Paul wrote the book of Philippians while in prison. His trial had probably already taken place, and he seemed to be waiting for the verdict. It appears he expected to be released but was uncertain about it. Paul, no doubt, did not enjoy being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0018-12-300x288.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63507,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/stand-up-stand-up-for-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":87695,"position":3},"title":"Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Download Audio by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 10:32-39 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Allen Webster tells the following story, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe municipal auditorium was full. The speech by the noted atheist was powerful. After a bombardment of the Bible, there came a moment of choice. If you still believed in Jesus Christ as the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/calm-under-pressure\/","url_meta":{"origin":87695,"position":4},"title":"Calm Under Pressure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dennis Stackhouse How can a person remain calm even when he or she is under pressure, sometimes immense pressure?\u00a0 Perhaps we should ask if it's even possible to remain calm in this pressure-cooker world we live in?\u00a0 When we view this from the spiritual perspective we can say that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/PressureCooker-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-say-he-left-titus-in-crete\/","url_meta":{"origin":87695,"position":5},"title":"Why did Paul say he left Titus in Crete?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 16, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just discovered your website after searching the Internet for \u201cPaul\u2019s letter to the Laodiceans\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Your explanation\u00a0is very interesting and has merit.\u00a0 Thank you for providing answers to so many questions that arise from time to time. Now that I think about it, I have a question:\u00a0 How do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87695\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}