It is a strange world out there:
Some folks just love to argue. It happens all the time, and it can result in a lot of bad outcomes. Yet sadly there are also people who claim to be Christians who are in this camp – they can be so very carnal and fleshly. We all have had to deal with them, and it is so grievous to see it happening.
For example, you can be sharing wonderful and powerful biblical truths and one of these folks will come along all bent out of shape, completely missing out on what the Spirit of God is seeking to achieve. One especially finds this on the social media.
One major form this carnality takes is that of bickering, arguing and quarrelling over biblical and theological matters. Some folks just seem to thrive on picking fights and starting arguments. Never mind all the biblical warnings against this, such as 1 Timothy 6:4.
There Paul says that we must avoid those who have “an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension…” Such folks need to be reminded “not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers” (2 Timothy 2:14).
And again: “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” (2 Timothy 2:23-24). Yet some believers seem to absolutely love to argue.
Just hours after I posted an article yesterday titled “You Might Not Be a Christian If…” I got someone on the social media saying something so silly and unedifying and so carnal that I could easily have added it to my article as another indication of where a person is at spiritually. I could have said this: ‘You might not be a Christian if want to start a war over a basic biblical truth.’
Another way of putting it would be this: ‘You might not be a Christian if while all others are spiritually blessed and encouraged, but you are not.’ Or this: ‘You might not be a Christian if you want to pick a theological fight over something that every other Christian is being fully blessed by.’
I have written on these sorts of things before, calling it an example of ‘leaning on the arm of flesh.’ Let’s say you are at church and a powerful and anointed sermon is being preached. Everyone there is being blessed and encouraged and spiritually ministered to. But one guy is sitting there all grumpy and ornery, missing out on what God is seeking to do and say.
He would rather find fault with something than let God’s Spirit speak to him and convict him. In that situation he is simply living in the flesh. He is being carnal, and not spiritual. At that point he is so far from where God wants him to be. Sadly I encounter folks like this far too often.
Consider one recent example of this. I had posted a terrific meme about prayer on the social media. Who could get upset about that? Indeed, never in a million years would I have imagined that anyone could possibly take offence at it or want to pick a fight over it. Yet sure enough, that is just what happened.
The meme itself was as harmless and as fully Christian as could possibly be. It was simply a quote by the great Baptist preacher C. H. Spurgeon. It said this: “Pray for your children. Wrestle with God for them night and day.” Amen. Absolutely. Who could find fault with that? Who could not agree with that and take it to heart? Indeed, plenty of people shared it.
But some guy came along and said this: “Why bother if God already determined the outcome before the foundation of the world?” Oh dear! Really? He wants to pick a fight over a call to prayer for our children?! Incredible. But he did. Given that this guy had done similar things before on my site, I wanted to nip it in the bud straightaway.
So I said: ‘Idiotic comment, and no more such will be allowed here.’ I went on to explain: ‘Anyone who makes such foolish remarks knows absolutely nothing about Spurgeon or Reformed thought, or just arrogantly has a theological bee in their bonnet that they need to ease up on. The remedy for this is to stop spouting off brainless remarks in knee-jerk fashion and actually do some study on what they have taught – end of this thread!’
This guy just had a hatred of certain theological points of view, and he insisted on fighting it out, even when the intent was to get us to pray for our kids! When I post a spiritually vital and serious call for parents to pray for their children, but someone comes along wanting to start a theological fight, I am NOT impressed!
Good grief, talk about walking in the flesh. It really is mind boggling. ALL Christians, regardless of their theological views, will of course pray for their children. For a ‘Christian’ to come along and want to start a war about this is just bizarre.
And this is not some unbiblical thing to affirm. God frequently commands us to pray. And it is clear that he is also sovereignly working out his purposes. Both of these truths are taught 100 per cent in Scripture. While we may wonder how the two cohere, we should certainly accept both, and we should leave it at that.
Wanting to start yet another foolish theological war over something as basic and crucial as interceding for our children is just so nutzo. Folks like this do my head in. If they have genuine questions about all this and are humble enough to want to learn, that is one thing. I have no problems with that.
But sadly this guy had been a serial offender at my site, picking fights when there was no need to do so. When that is the case I have no reason to let them carry on and derail what is being said – in this case, to pray for our children! I was willing to give him one more chance, but sadly it was not to be.
This guy actually came back wanting to argue even further! And he used the same old tired ploy I get so often, that I am stopping debate or seeking to censor other points of view. Um, no. So at this point I just let him go, with the ‘three strikes and you are out’ rule coming into play.
People like this clearly have issues. But instead of dealing with them, and spending time with God on their knees, they prefer to act as attack dogs, going after anyone who dares to say something a bit different from their own pet beliefs. Talk about arrogance. Talk about walking in the flesh. Talk about carnality.
Now it needs to be said that we ALL have our moments of selfishness and carnality and fleshly-ness. But some people seem to live in this sort of world 24/7. It is the air they breathe. They are routinely missing out on what God is trying to do because they are obsessed with arguing with others and proving that they are always right and the other guy is always wrong.
As the texts I mentioned above make clear, we must avoid such people. There is little we can do with these folks but keep them in our prayers. And that I shall do. But it is always such a sad thing when folks like this come your way, all guns blazing.
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