2 Timothy 2:23-26 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
The world of social media produces a constant flow of profound debates. For example, last night a decorated journalist on Twitter offered a joy-rave that finally, dogs live in the White House again. Earlier rants about ice cream or the color scheme of Air Force One have now yielded to the political significance of pet dogs!
This produced in me a strong temptation to publish a rant about the pathetic nature of journalism today... but right before I hit "enter" the Lord gently whispered, "Avoid foolish and ignorant controversies..."
Thoughtless, yet heated words on social media and elsewhere (including far too many church meetings) stir the flesh and produce useless arguments, cynical rants, hurt feelings, wasted time and energy, and worst of all a lost opportunity for real, edifying communication.
When Paul penned this advice to Timothy it was written from a Roman prison to mentor the young pastor concerning foolish, ignorant controversies. Critical doctrine aside, Paul’s instruction warned Timothy and all serious believers to recognize superficial conversations that pretend to be significant but serve to generate quarrels. Wise people will stay out of such conversations. Nevertheless, they will also learn to recognize when a controversy contains important spiritual issues, and when it does, they will carefully and patiently express the truth without quarreling, fully confident that God's Holy Spirit alone is able to effectively persuade those in error. Love and gentleness have a way of expressing truth powerfully, and kindness may endear even nasty political enemies.
So, stay out of foolish and stupid controversies — because they will generate quarrels. Learn when a real opportunity to express truth appears, and then, just speak the truth in love.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Our life, the life of faith, is pervaded by paradox. Life faces us with apparently irreconcilable conditions and realities that we struggle to understand and integrate, sometimes throughout an entire lifetime. The Lord himself exemplifies this reality in his dual identity as the expressed image of God and a fully human male who suffered the worst consequences of sin...without deserving them. We live daily within the paradox of God's perfect holiness and our fundamental human imperfection, constantly needing to accept His grace as we strive toward His perfection.
During 1941 the United States and Japan were in negotiations to resolve their difference as the rest of the world was at war. The special delegation of Japanese ambassadors, ostensibly sent on this “peace” mission, arrived shortly before the massive surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in which 2,403 Americans were killed, 1143 were wounded, eighteen ships were sunk or grounded, and 300 planes destroyed or damaged. President Franklin Roosevelt called it a “date which will live in infamy.”
The world these days is full of bad news, with tensions growing in the Middle East, economies on the brink of collapse, and nature constantly adding to the chaos with one disaster after another. It's a time of trouble all right, and for us believers it may sometimes be hard to believe – but it never is as bad as it seems. Let me illustrate with a joke I like to share with my messages.
When I’m dealing with what is beyond a normal, average trial, I need to muster a more militant attitude, and I remind myself of this promise; the Lord has given me authority to TREAD upon the enemy … to walk in His victory over every trial and tribulation that life brings.
Moses was used mightily by the Lord, yet we all know he had his inadequacies and limitations too. Still he was the vessel through which God chose to work through as He carried out the plagues over Egypt, divided the Red Sea and miraculously led and fed the children of Israel for forty years. That's pretty big stuff. Can you imagine having to be Moses' successor after all that? That's exactly what Joshua had to do. I can't even begin to imagine what Joshua was thinking at the time -- How can I possibly live up to Moses? But the Lord comforts and reassures Joshua and says, "as I was with Moses, so I will be with you!"
An artist went searching the streets of New York City for a model to pose for a portrait he wanted to call -- 'The Prodigal'. One day was passing Central Park and saw an impoverished beggar lying on a bench and thought: 'He's perfect! That man would represent the prodigal son beautifully in my painting.' He asked the beggar if he would be willing to sit for his painting and he would gladly pay him for his time. Naturally, the beggar agreed.
"If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer..... but our greatest need was forgiveness, so God sent us a Savior."