During the morning prayer meeting, these verses were read from 2 Timothy 2:23-26: "But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. 24
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25
in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26
and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." When we hold to a biblical position in this world, strife is something we Christians can count on. Yet we are not called to lash out or squabble with people who do not agree with us. They might mock or slander us, but we must exhibit self-control and remain gentle. God has taught us the wrath of man does not accomplish the righteousness of God (James 1:20).
Men who are humble before God do not need to shout to be heard, for their meek conduct speaks volumes. Jesus is the epitome of a man who was gentle, patiently taught, and corrected the errors of those who challenged Him. When His shouting accusers sprayed lies before Pilate and Herod, He opened not His mouth. It is nigh impossible for a man in the heat of betrayal and false accusation to remain silent, but Jesus had already committed His life into the hands of His Father in heaven. He knew those who accused Him did not realise what they were doing. They had been deceived by lies. They had been taken captive by the devil to to his will. Judas, one of Christ's disciples, had been filled with Satan himself! Jesus remained compassionate towards His enemies even after being nailed to the cross and cried out, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
The thing which struck me from the passage in 2 Timothy is we can think as Christians because we are stewards of the truth of God it is up to us to bring people to their senses. When we are met with opposition or our efforts do not seem to be achieving our desired effect we might increase our volume of speaking or intensity of argument. Instead of patiently defending the truth we can start attacking others in an unloving manner. If all who have chosen this course would honestly consider the results of this approach, all would agree it tends to generate much strife but very few - if any - transformed hearts. Our role as Christians is to speak the truth in love from God's Word and to pray for people to come to their senses. We aren't to look for fights or to insist on having the last word. Beat people over the head with your Bible if you wish, but it will never manage to sow God's truth in a receptive heart. There are two general responses to an attack: fight or flight. Either way the defenses are immediately up and we hinder Christ's cause to bring them to their senses and escape the snare of the devil. It was not his loving father or self-righteous brother which caused the Prodigal Son to see the folly of his ways. After being left alone with the pigs for awhile the man started listening to the sensible reasoning of his own conscience. His awful situation brought him to his senses.
God has given every human being a conscience and they are in all sorts of conditions. The Bible refers to a good conscience, a seared conscience, evil conscience, and a pure conscience. Regardless of the state of a person's conscience, the Bible is the appropriate tool to cut to the heart of the matter. The way we wield the Sword of the Spirit - God's Word - is very important. Jesus told His followers to gird on their swords on the night He was betrayed. When Jesus and His disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane and saw men coming to arrest Jesus Luke 22:49-51 reads, "When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this." And He touched his ear and healed him." Peter had the sword and felt threatened. He asked a question of Jesus but never waited around for the answer! He started swinging the sword and a man was horribly maimed from the attack. When we handle the Word of God like this we can unnecessarily wound others. Praise God Jesus is a healer of wounded souls, but let us not be guilty of generating strife through useless quarrels.
Men who are humble before God do not need to shout to be heard, for their meek conduct speaks volumes. Jesus is the epitome of a man who was gentle, patiently taught, and corrected the errors of those who challenged Him. When His shouting accusers sprayed lies before Pilate and Herod, He opened not His mouth. It is nigh impossible for a man in the heat of betrayal and false accusation to remain silent, but Jesus had already committed His life into the hands of His Father in heaven. He knew those who accused Him did not realise what they were doing. They had been deceived by lies. They had been taken captive by the devil to to his will. Judas, one of Christ's disciples, had been filled with Satan himself! Jesus remained compassionate towards His enemies even after being nailed to the cross and cried out, "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do."
The thing which struck me from the passage in 2 Timothy is we can think as Christians because we are stewards of the truth of God it is up to us to bring people to their senses. When we are met with opposition or our efforts do not seem to be achieving our desired effect we might increase our volume of speaking or intensity of argument. Instead of patiently defending the truth we can start attacking others in an unloving manner. If all who have chosen this course would honestly consider the results of this approach, all would agree it tends to generate much strife but very few - if any - transformed hearts. Our role as Christians is to speak the truth in love from God's Word and to pray for people to come to their senses. We aren't to look for fights or to insist on having the last word. Beat people over the head with your Bible if you wish, but it will never manage to sow God's truth in a receptive heart. There are two general responses to an attack: fight or flight. Either way the defenses are immediately up and we hinder Christ's cause to bring them to their senses and escape the snare of the devil. It was not his loving father or self-righteous brother which caused the Prodigal Son to see the folly of his ways. After being left alone with the pigs for awhile the man started listening to the sensible reasoning of his own conscience. His awful situation brought him to his senses.
God has given every human being a conscience and they are in all sorts of conditions. The Bible refers to a good conscience, a seared conscience, evil conscience, and a pure conscience. Regardless of the state of a person's conscience, the Bible is the appropriate tool to cut to the heart of the matter. The way we wield the Sword of the Spirit - God's Word - is very important. Jesus told His followers to gird on their swords on the night He was betrayed. When Jesus and His disciples were in the Garden of Gethsemane and saw men coming to arrest Jesus Luke 22:49-51 reads, "When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, "Lord, shall we strike with the sword?" 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus answered and said, "Permit even this." And He touched his ear and healed him." Peter had the sword and felt threatened. He asked a question of Jesus but never waited around for the answer! He started swinging the sword and a man was horribly maimed from the attack. When we handle the Word of God like this we can unnecessarily wound others. Praise God Jesus is a healer of wounded souls, but let us not be guilty of generating strife through useless quarrels.