Arguments

           Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.  Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. (II Timothy 2:22-26)

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, (I Peter 3:15)

When I was in college, my radio alarm clock was set to a Christian radio station. I enjoyed much of what I heard but there was something that grated on my nerves with a coarse file: the soft, sweeter-than-honey, pleasant tones of the DJs, especially the women. It seemed to me that there wasn’t a real bone in their bodies. I’m not suggesting that they should have been rude and crude, wiping their noses on their sleeves so that we’d hear it happen, or talking like a proverbial stevedore, or about fainting if they saw something obscene. But in some ways, it was just as overdone. They were nice. They were polite. It was cloying.

Today’s passage reminds me of those women, because when some people read it, they get this idea that Christians are supposed to be like that. It goes beyond fleeing from evil desires and pursuing righteousness. It focuses on the idea of “never argue” and “never quarrel.” We’re supposed to be n.i.c.e. We’re supposed to just float along on our clouds without a thought in our heads, strumming idly on our harps. La-de-da, la-de-da…

The problem is that such behavior is not consistent with Scripture. Jesus was loving, joyous, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled, but He told the Pharisees and Sadducees what-was-what. He cleared the Temple twice. He told Peter “Get behind me, Satan.” He pronounced woes on several cities. He explained to people that because of Him, mothers would be set against daughters, and daughters against mothers. We are supposed to be nice, but there’s a difference between being nice and being vapid.

Peter stood up before the people of Jerusalem and told them that they had kill the Messiah. When the apostles were told to stop preaching in Jesus’ name, they asked whether they were to obey men or God. Then they said that the were going to obey God, not the people who told them to stop preaching. Paul spent a lot of time arguing with people – sometimes in court. Peter told us to be prepared to answer others about what we believe.

This suggests that there’s a difference between “arguing” and engaging in “quarrels” and strongly expressing an opinion and providing reasons and answers as to why that opinion is valid and worthy of consideration. Similarly, being gentle doesn’t mean using a feather when a foot is needed. It refers to using no more force than necessary and (I submit) to doing so without malice or hatred.