Finding The Right Hills To Die On

Not all arguments are worth our time.

Facebook is always asking us, “What's on your mind?" as humans with a mind, we always have something. We have an opinion on everything. We can’t even say we don’t have an opinion. For most of human existence, having an opinion was not the problem. Expressing it was the problem. In the 20th and 21st Centuries, we developed technologies that allowed us to express these opinions without limits. For the first time in human history, the human mind can be poured without limitation. All you need is a Facebook account, a smartphone, and an internet connection.

There is a great positive to this. We can share ideas at a pace that makes change possible and transformation faster. At the same time, there is a great downside to this. We are saying everything about everything, including the things we don’t know enough about.

If you follow social media conversations today, we’ve all become experts without any expertise. We are all experts on the Ukraine war, even though we don’t know where Ukraine can be found on a map. We are all experts on the Sudan War, even though we don’t know about the Head of State of Sudan. We are all experts on the Israel-Palestine War, even though we don’t know about the Oslo Accords. We are all experts on COVID-19, even though we don’t understand how the virus spreads. We are all experts on Charlie Munger, even though we don’t know about Berkshire Hathaway. You see, we are all experts without expertise. The result is debates that are often unnecessary and unhelpful.

This is where this book is essential. Finding The Right Hills To Die On is a book about hills. It was written for a Christian audience and focused on Christianity. It advocates that Christians must be wise enough to realize there are some hills we can die on and there are others that are not worth dying on. For instance, one can die on the hill of salvation by faith alone, but one needs not die on the hill of what day to worship – Saturday or Sunday. Gavin Ortlund does an excellent job of separating doctrines in Christianity into three essential types. The primary doctrines, the secondary doctrines, and the tertiary doctrines. He shows that the primary doctrines are ones we cannot afford to compromise upon.

Primary doctrines are essential to the gospel. Without these, we don't have Christianity. An example is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can’t say you are a Christian if you don't believe in these. The secondary types of doctrines are important and add to how a Christian should live. These doctrines are not necessary, but they are important. The tertiary doctrines are neither important nor essential; they are just basic wisdom for living.

Reading this book, you can disagree with Gavin's classification of primary, secondary, or tertiary doctrine. You can rearrange the doctrines in a way that fits your view. However, his categorization of doctrines into three different types is something we can apply in our social media interactions.

Not all arguments are worth our time. Not all errors are worth correcting. Not all battles are worth fighting. We are burning our energies fighting battles that will not benefit the war. It is far more critical to lose some battles and win the war. As I read this book, I reflected on friendships I’ve lost because I was obsessed over an issue that was not worth it. I felt pains of regret. Those were not hills worth dying on.

After reading this, it became clearer to me what hills I wanted to die on. Surprisingly, the hills that were going to be worth my effort were very few.

Gavin Ortlund wrote this book for Christians, but any reader will find some essential insights that you can use for life. I hope you give it a try.