I was recently speaking to a good friend, who told me they were engaged in an extensive and heated discussion about the merits and demerits of a particular school of scheduling a baby. They said it seemed to be getting nowhere.
I shared with them a verse that is very helpful.
Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. (2 Timothy 2:23 ESV)
That's a very strong exhoration. Whatever Paul is forbidding it is absolute. It is "do not entertain" these items for discussion. Do not take steps into these debates or controversies.
But what is he referring to?
I think he is talking about theological or practical matters for which there is either no possible resolution or no possible unanimous agreement -- debates about the best theory of scheduling a baby would be one of those.
The list of topics is long: health food or organic food? home school vs. public school? Add to that the "right way" to schedule a baby, the practice or non-practice of Halloween, the evils of rock n roll, whether a wife can ever work outside the home, should girls go to college, appropriate hemlines for women, total abstention or drinking in moderation, should drums be played in worship, the superiority of natural child birth, the inferiority of bottle feeding, and the list goes on world without end, ad nauseum.
Foolish, ignorant controversies that breed quarrels do so because there is not sufficient clarity in the Word to come to a set conclusion for all. There will be disagreement in the end. Quarrels will abound.
Paul says have nothing to do with these endless debates.
But why?
First, this is so much fuss and feathers, a diversion from what God has called us to. We are to flee from it. Clear enough? Here is why I say that: Paul, writing to Timothy, warns of getting pulled into these cesspools of debate about things that simply are not going to be resolved.
What is it about "nothing" that is hard for me to understand?
Second, our hearts (my heart) are drawn to be passionate about things that do not matter and sleepy about things that do. After 4 years of blogging, I can assure you I know how to generate blog traffic. It is not by speaking of the steak with baked potatoes and a salad truth of Scripture. It is by dealing with topics of contention. If you want to generate a crowd, start a fight.
We love a fight because we 1. love being right in our own eyes, 2. love convincing others we are right, 3. love thinking that this sidebar issue is really so very very important. In other words, we love to strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.
It is not just on moral issues either. There are theological subtleties in sufficient number to bring us all to contention.
Third, there is not one whit of nourishment for our souls in these sidebars. Jesus did not save us to make us all Halloween non-observers, or rock n roll haters, or whole grain advocates. Here is what he saved us for:
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17 ESV)
I have seen those beautiful graces in abstainers and partakers, nursing moms and bottle feeding moms, homeschool and public school families -- but I have never known or seen those graces in people or families who make those issues the center of their souls.
Romans 14 gives us simple direction:
1. Do not judge and do not despise those with whom you have differences in these matters.
2. Welcome those with whom you differ as your brother or sister since Christ has already welcomed them.
3. Do not welcome them for the purpose of disputing these things.
4. Keep you convictions to yourself. God is pleased that you have them and you live by them. He is not pleased when you make them points of contention or self-assertion.
5. Serve each other in love despite these differences.
6. Be of one mind about the main thing!
Let us flee from tangents and sidebars and pursue agreement on the main thing.
Excellent article, thank you!
Posted by: Chuck | October 10, 2010 at 09:53 PM