A Better Covenant

Here are the imperatives:

23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

I remember when I first had the courage to stand up against the Word of Faith movement, came into sound doctrine and the Doctrines of Grace. I would much more resemble a vicious bulldog than a gentle dove. I am a passionate individual. Not to mention my voice is loud and my stature a little big. I remember one time being at a barber shop. I had brought in a Christian Hip Hop CD as a gift to the barber. He put it on and a lot of the younger crowd was in to it. They couldn’t believe that Christian music could appease their taste. I was happy that they were excited and it actually open a door for me to communicate the Gospel to them (this was like 2004 early 05).

However, there was an older gentleman an associate pastor, who happened to err on the side of not liking it. The barber asked why, while I sat back loading my AK 47 back then it had a hair trigger. As he talked more I pulled out a couple of extra clips, it was about to get real bloody and let me tell you many bodies lay dead that day. As he talked I cocked and aim, and then came the sharp armor piercing bullets. And everyone who was in earshot got hit.

That was a day I lost an opportunity to minister the Grace of God through Christ though I communicated the Gospel and the need for evangelism with technical and surgical precision! This pastor was really upset. Upset to the point where he didn’t even shake my hand after I apologized. Man people were impressed with my knowledge. Dude, you should have seen the laughs as I continued and recklessly chopped this fella up. I was proud that I could win an argument with a pastor. I have been told numerous times that I have a “way with words”. I used all of my bible knowledge that day, quoting verse after verse. The people were impressed! I used all of my sarcasm and the people laughed. I was louder, had a quicker tongue, more witty comebacks and I enjoyed every minute of it. I actually apologized but drove off in my car laughing and thinking how smart I was and how dumb this pastor was. Shouldn’t he be able to handle the word better than a young Christian like me. The guy was in his 40’s me in my 20’s and I didn’t even hold a church position.

I boasted to my friends and my wife how I handled this dude. A lot of my friends laughed with me, my wife wasn’t so impressed. Why? Because she had been on the receiving in, to the fact that I couldn’t even discuss the bible with her. She had heard enough about how bad Olsteen’s sermon was, she had enough of me mocking Dollar, Jakes, Parsley, White, Bynum and Price. Every chance I got I provided an unsolicited disdain for false teachers and other great bible facts. I could quote scripture and use it quite wittily.

I was a soldier in a war of words. Loud, obnoxious, ungentle, unkind, impatient, and negative. Most people didn’t want to talk to me and I thought it was because “their” theology was weak, all the long my orthodoxy was weak. Yes I knew a bunch of dead men but I ignored the scriptures. Even in my sharing of the Gospel I was impressed by many of the evangelist who would go out stand on a box and argue with the lost. They are defenders of the Gospel right? That is what Paul did in Acts 17 right? In the synagogues right? I have an obligation to share the “true” Gospel don’t I? Truth is important and it must be communicated at all costs right? We don’t need any jellyback Christians right? Those who are two scared to debate with others about this great faith right? Was wrong with them I would ask! I am right, right? I have the bible on my side right? Wrong!

What is funny is that through all of this, defending Jesus and being like Jesus debating with the Pharisees and being like Paul  at Mars Hill, something became and is still becoming quite obvious. Here it is in writing:

8 And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.

In none and I do mean none of those times I was like that, did anyone ever come to the Lord Jesus. No one ever responded like the woman at the well, or Zacchaeus. After the discussion on Mars Hill (one of the most referenced examples) people actually followed Paul and others wanted to hear again while some rejected. In none of my experiences has any of this ever happened to me. I have closed more doors with the “gospel” then I opened.

So back to Paul’s instructions. He tells Timothy to not be quarrelsome. How are we then to handle our opponents?

1. Gentleness

2. Kindness

3. Patience

And who does the active work of getting individuals to submit to the Spirit and repent, escaping the Devil’s snare? God! Many of the times I have been neither. I immediately think the worst of others. I am impatient, unkind and definitely not gentle. But the qualifications to handle the word of God includes all three. Quarrelsomeness closes doors. It hurts both the Gospel and the testimony of the Church. Peter says the same thing in 1 Peter 3. We are to defend but it is to be with gentleness. A quarrelsome Christian is an oxymoron. I know we applaud those who argue and debate and mock word of faith teachers. Those defenders of the faith. However, if we do applaud them or if we are them then we are disobeying the Holy Spirit. We can’t convince anyone about the Gospel, only God can grant them repentance. If this is the case (which this scripture clearly teaches) then we are to stay within the parameters here. Quarrelsomeness is also a bad mark on the Church. The Gospel is offensive enough, lets not play John Stockton to it, it will do its work. We only need to be gentle, patient, kind and available. God through the Spirit will do the rest.