Bickering and Arguing

"I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints." Jude 1:3

While browsing a Christian forum, I came across a post titled, "Christians, WHAT are you doing?" The author of this post writes, "Christians spend too much time bickering about tradition and arguing theology...while the world is dying for Truth around us. If you don't believe me, sit back with a bag of popcorn and peruse the comment section on this site...or any site where a group of "Christians" gather. Christians in their heads only (CITHOs) need to be careful and re-examine lest they hear the words, "Depart from ME, I never knew you." It's not about what you think you know, it's about Who you know you know." On the surface, I can sympathize with their sentiment about bickering among the Church. However, I won't go so far as to say that those bickering are necessarily in jeopardy of not going to Heaven, as is implied by their "Christians in their heads only" comment and warning that Jesus may say He never knew them. The salvation of a Christian is not determined by how much or to what extent they are "bickering about tradition and arguing theology." Their salvation is solely based on what they do with Jesus Christ and if they are born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Him. With all that being said, however, is bickering about tradition and arguing about theology any different now than it has always been?

Faith and Works

One of the most famous examples of "bickering and arguing over theology" can be found in the disagreement between Paul and James over how a Christian lives their life. Paul said, "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28)." James said, "You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone (James 2:24)." This led to at least one confrontation in the early Church between Paul and Peter (Cephas). "But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews (Galatians 2:11-14)?” To this day, Christians are still debating what Paul and James meant about faith and works.

Different Gospels

In 2 Corinthians 11:4, Paul wrote, "For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough." There are groups of people, claiming to be Christians, who believe that Jesus is not God, that Jesus is a separate god than God the Father, that Jesus was not the Messiah, that Jesus was just a man, etc. Therefore, whatever 'gospel" they teach as a way to get to heaven cannot be trusted and is definitely not in line with the truth of the Bible. The true Gospel that Jesus is God in the flesh who came to live a sinless life, die a death He didn't deserve and be raised from the dead to restore the Holy Spirit to mankind, must be fought for.

Apollos

In Acts 18, we are introduced to a Christian named Apollos. "Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.  He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:24-26)." Here we have a fellow Christian who is said to be eloquent, competent in the Scriptures, fervent in spirit and who spoke and taught accurately. Yet, he only knew the baptism of John. In other words, as great as he was, he still did know the full Gospel; most likely he didn't know about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it took Priscilla and Aquila to explain "the way of God more accurately." Is not that why people bicker about tradition and argue over theology; to try and explain the way of God more accurately to each other as best they can?

Christian Living

If there is one topic that probably divides the body of Christ the most it is how we are to live as Christians. In chapter 3 of his letter to the Galatians, Paul, basically, unloaded on them. "O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh (Galatians 3:1-3)?" How would you feel if you were called a fool for how you were living the Christian life? No doubt this would lead to some bickering and arguing.  I am of the opinion that Paul is not calling them fools for the sake of name calling and to put people down. Rather, like Apollos, he is fervent in spirit and his passion for the subject of grace manifested itself in some rough language. When you believe that people should know better, but choose to act and live in a way contrary to their stated beliefs, it can lead to confrontation. Sometimes, that is the best way to get a point across as divisive and unloving as it may appear.

These are just a few examples of what could be considered bickering and arguing over matters of the faith; i.e. tradition and theology. In my experience, I have been apart of verbal sparring matches that turned into proverbial bloodbaths when it came to the topic of faith. It is unfortunate that this happens, but when you combine the importance of a particular topic with the human element, you can have some heated conversations. But, that is just the way it seems to have always been. The pages of scripture are a testimony to that fact. While it may be unfortunate that bickering and arguing take place, God can and has used it. So much so that He left it within the pages of His own written Word. This validates the Bible in my opinion because it is human nature to leave out our flaws when it comes to things that will be consumed by the public. Add to that the passion people have for their beliefs, the arrogance of mankind that says we must always be correct and the human pride that prevents us from admitting we may be wrong, and you have the recipe for conflict. However, as Jude reminds us, we are to contend for the faith that was delivered to us; the saints of God in Christ Jesus. The differences we have that lead to disagreements can be used by God to continually get us to draw nearer to Him so He can teach us and grow us in His truth. This is how we determine what exactly is the faith we are bickering and arguing over. God does have an opinion on the things He has written for us in His Word. It is up to us to allow Him to tell us what that is and then share it with our brothers and sisters in Christ and the world at large.