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ARGUING ABOUT ARGUING

In his memorable book, What's So Amazing About Grace?, Philip Yancey puts his tongue in his cheek and relates the following story courtesy of one Mr. Samuel Clemens:

"Mark Twain," he writes, "used to say he put a dog and cat in a cage together as an experiment, to see if they could get along. They did, so he put in a bird, pig, and goat. They, too, got along fine after a few adjustments." So far so good. "Then he put in a Baptist, Presbyterian, and Catholic; soon there was not a living thing left."

Well, we're probably adult enough that we can smile over that; after all, we all know that the denomination we're in doesn't agree 100% with all of the other ones listed in the Yellow Pages. We don't exactly chew each other up, maybe, but there's certainly plenty we can disagree about. And the spiritual dilemma we want to explore this week is this: what do we do about the fact that it's actually fun to filibuster? We enjoy debating and arguing; so often, especially within the Christian faith, we seem to emphasize and endlessly exacerbate and celebrate, not the great pillars we have in common, but the smaller, gnat-sized areas where we don't agree. Or maybe they look like Mount Everests instead of mosquitos.

We used as a kind of advertising line for this radio series the following observation: "We argued about women's ordination and the duration of ‘hell' for 40 years!" And the question comes: "Make any progress?" "Uh, not really." Forty years of spinning our wheels. Forty years of shooting arrows of argument past each other. Forty years on a merry-go-round of debate, and when you got off, you were still stuck in the same playground, without any progress made toward the kingdom of heaven.

So that's a sobering reality in many of our "Crossfire" encounters with people of other persuasions. But there's a more disturbing reality that you and I need to consider. And that's this: the Word of God, which we all take as the textbook, whether we're spiritual Republicans or Democrats, commands us NOT to debate and fight over ticky-tack points of truth. Did you know that? Especially in the book of First Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes about the temptation you and I face today to engage in endless discussions and shallow arguments. "Vain jangling" is the King James description. Early in the first chapter, he writes about the positive goals of the new Christian church, the necessity of standing in unity. And then in verse six he adds this:

"Some have wandered away from these" — "having swerved," says the King James — "and turned to meaningless talk."

We've been borrowing quite a bit recently from the popular paraphrase New Testament entitled The Message. Here's that same verse again:

"Those who fail to keep to this point [of simply loving each other] soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven't the remotest idea of what they're holding forth with such imposing eloquence."

That's not exactly Victorian prose there — "wandering off into cul-de-sacs of gossip" — but friend, doesn't that ring a bell? Have you ever personally gotten embroiled in a doctrinal debate with someone, and it just went on and on and on? And after maybe firing 50 shells and mortars and cannonballs, and receiving 50 in return, you took stock and realized that you hadn't budged one inch and neither had your adversary? There might have been a lot of blood on the church floor and pockmarks in the stucco where your bullets had whizzed past, but the two of you weren't any closer to unity.

You're probably thinking right here the same thing we all do. And that's this: "I don't argue about unimportant things. If I share convictions on anything at all, it's because it's something vital and right!" All of us know in our hearts that our own convictions are absolutely correct: not trivial, not debatable.

There was a priceless cartoon in the Winter ‘98 issue of Leadership magazine, which goes out to Christian pastors of all faiths. Jonny Hawkins really captures both our zeal and our blind spots as he shows a church secretary bursting in to tell her boss, the pastor: "According to my horoscope, this is a good week to preach against false doctrines!"
In the introduction to his landmark volume, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis acknowledged that even when dealing with the very pillars of simple religious truth, as in "mere" Christianity, people were going to disagree. And then he made this oh-so-true observation:

"One of the things Christians are disagreed about is the importance of their disagreements. When two Christians of different denominations start arguing, it is usually not long before one asks whether such-and-such point ‘really matters' and the other replies: "Matter? Why, it's absolutely essential.'"

And you know, this is something we have to face every single day here at the Voice of Prophecy. We're a radio ministry, on the air now for seven decades. But what doctrines should we present? What issues should we address? We did a two-week series, ten programs, not too long ago, discussing the topic of last-day prophecies and events. And it's a simple fact that Christians of all stripes debate these chronologies with tremendous vigor. Should we be "pre-tribulation," "post-trib," "mid-trib?" Or maybe "no-trib?" All of those theological positions have loyal followings within the Body of Christ. How about the millennium? When and how and where does it take place? There's very little agreement out there.

And so the issue must be faced: is this or that doctrine important enough to be discussed on 150 radio stations and beamed around the globe on Adventist World Radio? Or will we just be spinning our wheels and yours for two weeks, using up time that could be more profitably spent some other way? Are we participating in some of this "vain jangling" that disrupts our unity and doesn't bring us closer to the kingdom?

ll, friend, the Bible tells us not to argue . . . and yet we're surrounded by arguments. We even argue about what we should argue about. And I don't think there's a Bible topic we could introduce here on the radio where someone won't write or call or e-mail us with three messages. Number one, you're wrong. Number two, you shouldn't have brought that up. Number three, you've caused damage to me or to my church or my faith group or to the entire Body of Christ. This comes with the realm of broadcasting, and it seems to come with the realm of sitting in a church pew and of discussing at a potluck or even across the backyard fence. How then do we proceed?

We have four more days, but I would say this just for now. Friend, we must first know our Bibles and be able to embrace, with the Spirit's help, the great themes. Let me say that again. We must study and pray about and understand the mighty pillars of the Christian faith: Calvary, the resurrection, the divinity of Jesus Christ, His Second Coming, the work of the Holy Spirit, the holiness of God's character and His law, the infinitude of His love. First we have to know these great truths, so that we'll know what the "vain jangling" points are in contrast to those.

Let me share a very personal ministry example. Just a few weeks ago we presented a whole week of programs on the concept of purgatory. Does this place exist? What purpose does it serve? For five days we studied our Bibles and various Christian books, and then shared our perspective.

Now, obviously, there would be Christians who disagreed with our position. Almost immediately, in fact, we heard from several. Two very nice, well-informed believers in the Catholic faith community called us on the phone to take issue. We got two thought-provoking e-mails from well-reasoned people, supporters who have listened for a long time. "We don't see things that way," they all said. In fact, one of them took issue with us from a First Timothy perspective. Why had we gotten into an area like this one, where people are bound to disagree, where we'd probably spin our wheels and do nothing but hurt feelings?

I'll tell you something: that's where the rubber meets the road around here. What a challenge! What a time to pray! But then I have to say, with all the humility I can possibly express, we felt we simply had to open up the Bible and go into that minefield. Why? Because the doctrine of purgatory is directly linked to a crucial point of the Christian faith: the effectiveness of Calvary. Does the blood of Christ cleanse a man or woman of all sin — completely cleanse that person — or do the flames of this intermediate state do part of that work? And because this teaching goes to the very core of vital Christian doctrine — we endeavored to shed some light.

Having said that, let me share this very necessary P.S. All through First and Second Timothy there are these warnings about picky-point arguments and endless debates. Straining at gnats to swallow camels.
But then this, over a few pages in Titus:

"Avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him."

And friend, we need to paste that verse in our Bibles and for sure on the field of theological battle. Notice: we have to shun division, avoid division, fight division. Do you have a spiritual conviction that a certain point is major, worth discussing? Fine. Pray hard — and then bring it up. But we must not divide. We must not split up the church. Have your say; listen to your opponent, your brother in the faith. And then move on together, on your knees, closer and ever closer to the level ground at the foot of the cross.