Destructive Debate

Have you ever got into a debate over doctrine so that you could feel your pulse racing and anger seething just beneath the surface?  That happened to me more often as a young person than it does now, perhaps because I had more energy.  But it was not pleasant even then and did not bear any spiritual fruit.  There are those who take joy in wrangling up the emotions of others.

Paul warns such debates only prove to destroy, not only participants but onlookers (2 Timothy 2:14).  The doubt infested by empty debate spreads like a cancer causing individuals to lose faith.  We must resist the temptation to join in the fray.  If someone is asking us an honest question, we gladly share with them the truth.  But if the goal is merely debate, we avoid getting entangled in the trap.

Rather, we study God's Word so that we rightly understand what scripture is teaching.  Then when we share with others, we will be sharing life, not death (2 Timothy 2:14-18).