Saturday, August 21, 2021

Avoid the Arguer

Torrey Pines, California


"Get away from a man who argues every time he talks."

- Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert


Do not partner with an argumentative person. 

The argumentative person is not to be your companion. 

Love them, but do not get entangled with them.

Let us reason together? Yes. Formulate and evaluate arguments? Of course. 
Argumentativeness? No.

Do not enter into the arguments of the argumentative person. 
They are fishing for a fight. 
Don't take their bait.

What causes fights and quarrels among you?
Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 
You desire but do not have, so you kill.
You covet but you cannot get what you want,
so you quarrel and fight. 

James 4

Relationships in the New Community are not 
like living in a court of law. 
Argue? Yes. Discuss? Debate? Yes. 
Reason together? Of course. 
And. always in love. 
Argumentative? No.

Don't go looking for a fight. 
Wage war against the devil, not people. 
If it has flesh and blood, it's not your real enemy.

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.

Proverbs 4:14-16

Be a peacemaker. 
Lay down your swords. Beat them into plowshares. 
Convert your military weapons into instruments of righteousness and peace. 
Anyone can desire peace. 
Peace-makers are rare, 
are blessed, 
and are called the offspring of God. 

  1. Be at peace with God.
  2. Peace with God brings peace within.
  3. Peace within leads to peace with others.

Or:
  1. Abide in Christ.
  2. Christ gives you his peace, a peace unlike this world gives.
  3. Bring this heart of peace into your flesh-and-blood relationships.
In Christ there is peace (everlastingly so, 
in the Triune Godhead).

 You are in Christ.

Fulfill the prayer of Jesus in John 17 to "be one"
with others, as the Son, the Spirit, and the Father are one.
***
My two books are:



Coming soon - Deconstructing Progressive Christianity
Posted by at