Let’s Argue!

Arguing just to be right is pointless. Arguing for what’s right is important. How we do it, though, is critical.

I tweeted these words a few days ago.

I had been in a ‘discussion’ with someone that had been going on for a few days… yeah, a few days.

Finally, I had had enough. The truth was, neither of us was probably completely right. We both probably had only a partial understanding of what we were discussing. We could have argued for days. It really would’ve had no bearing on anything if I would have ‘won’ the argument. So, I just quit.

You see, as Christians, we’re often good at arguing to be right.

Sure, we camouflage it as arguing important doctrine or arguing for biblical accuracy, but many times, I’m afraid we just want to prove that we’re right.

We do it in our relationships too. I can’t tell you how many times my wife and I have been arguing and I realizeD 2 minutes in that it WAS pointless and not worth the arguing time. Instead of just saying that it’s a waste of time or apologizing, I continued to argue. Why?

Because I’m determined to prove I’m right… I’m prideful enough that it’s worth the pain to prove it… at least in that moment.

On the other hand, there are certainly times where we have to stand for what we believe in. Ask anyone that knows me and they’ll tell you that if you touch something i’m passionate about and that is valuable, I’ll fight over it.

How you and I fight over those important things is important. You see, I’m afraid that we as the Church have been fighting over the important things all wrong as well. Instead of arguing from a place of love and grace, we come from a place of condemnation and hate. Instead of gently convincing someone of Christ’s love, we beat them with their own sin.

What we argue about is important.

How we argue is critical.

Am I arguing over the right stuff?
Are you?

Your thoughts?