Read with Me
2 Timothy 2:23-26 (HCSB)
But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they breed quarrels. The Lord’s slave must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient, instructing his opponents with gentleness. Perhaps God will grant them repentance leading them to the knowledge of the truth. Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been captured by him to do his will.
Listen with Me
Even as Paul acknowledges that there are some in the Church who were spreading false and even damaging doctrines, he did not advocate confrontation and arguments as the way to deal with them. That is not because the issues were unimportant, but because those kinds of attacks did not usually lead to solutions. They only produced arguments by creating divisions because they forced people to take sides.
Instead, Paul’s method, which he prescribes for all those in leadership in the church, is gentle instruction. Whereas a harsh rebuke and shouted arguments tend to close both eyes and hearts, a gentle loving word of instruction can soften hearts, open ears, and change minds.
Paul understood that the real fountain of these false teachings was not the minds of the men themselves. They had been deluded, and snared by the trap of the devil, and they had been led into a false way. Thus, correcting their false theology was more than simply corrective. It was a positive rescue mission.
Paul draws not only from the teachings of Jesus and the apostles for this instruction, but from his own experience. As a Pharisee, Paul had participated in the long rabbinic discussions on theological issues that were the traditional means of resolving disagreements. But to any outsider, those looked like arguments rather than civil discussions, and they often became heated. (See Acts 23:6-10 for an example.) And Paul knew that those discussions, especially when they became heated, did little to sway anyone, instead producing more heat than light, and entrenching both sides in their positions.
So, when theological divisions arose in the Church, Paul did not recommend that tactic. Instead, he recommended the much more loving, much more effective path of gentle instruction and prayer for open eyes.
Pray with Me
Father, we could definitely benefit from this shift in tactics today. It is easy to get drawn into heated debates on emotional issues, debates that can easily devolve into ad homonym attacks. And in the process people are not moved at all. They only become more entrenched in their positions. And in the eyes of outsiders, no one wins. Help us all, Lord, to approach any disagreements with kindness, love, and much prayer, so that errors are effectively corrected without sacrificing the people in the process. Amen.