Divisive. That seems to be a key word in the past couple of years. Politics, masks, vaccines, policies, schooling, and countless other details of life are places where we can make our stand, have our voice heard, and prove our point. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. We need to be able to take a stand for right, to uplift the downtrodden, and to spread the gospel of Jesus. Yet when I see people taking a stand, there seems to be some missing ingredients.
We get so hung up on our opinions, on the facts and data, on being right, that we forget that there is a person on the other side of our argument. People fling hateful words around criticizing and condemning people who don't think exactly like them forgetting that their words hurt. It's easy on social media and the internet to be anonymous, to not have to see and confront the hurt our words have caused.
The Bible is clear on how to handle these issues. "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." (2 Timothy 2:23-26) Kindness. Gentleness, Patience. Not easy, no, but as children of God we should be producing this fruit as evidence of the Holy Spirit. It is only through the Spirit that we can produce these traits especially when we are facing difficult times. There's a purpose to it though. Our main goal should not be to win the argument, to prove that we are right and they are wrong, but our goal should be that they will have a "knowledge of the truth" and "escape from the snare of the devil".
In 1 Corinthians 13 we see another missing ingredient. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3) Love. You can have tremendous spiritual gifts, amazing talents, but if it's done without love, it's worthless. After all, the two greatest commandments according to Jesus are to love God and love others. Are we loving those on the other side of our argument or do we hate them? Are our words filled with love, or are they meant to hurt and cause anger?
If in this world filled with malice, spite, anger, and arrogance, we as Christians could lean into the Holy Spirit and exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control we would stand above the others as beacons of light - a city on a hill. Can you imagine what a difference it would make? What if instead of firing off verbal shots aimed to hurt, we treated those who disagreed with us with patience and kindness? What if instead of retaliating, we exhibited self-control? What if we were able to calmly explain our position with gentleness? What if in the midst of the chaos we had peace and joy? What if as others yelled hateful things at us, we showed them love beyond comprehension? We can't do it on our own. We need God's help, and then He would be glorified. Our goal in the middle of all the disagreements in this life should not be to win the argument. It should be to bring others to know Christ.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
