Discord among the Brethren

[Mama Etna]

And no I am not talking about the chat server. Churches and even internet forums have individuals that are confrontational. There are individuals that enjoy being combative, calling others names, and in general being nasty. The Bible doesn't have much nice to say about this kind of behavior. This is what the bible says about this kind of conduct.  The bible associates discordant conduct with other bad fruits.

9 But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.

10 A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;

11 Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.--Titus 3:9 - 3:11

On a personal level, I tend to disassociate myself from people that bicker and pick fights. I will not add such a one to my circle of friends. There is a scriptural precedent for this.

24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

25 Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul. -- Proverbs 22:24 - 22:25

It has been my observation that individuals that engage in pugilistic dialog also tend to be unorthodox.  It is not always the case, but I find it to be frequent.  Scripture bears this out. The sewing of discord is listed among the things God hates.

16 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,

19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. --Proverbs 6:16 - 6:19

It is better, I believe to agree to disagree on matters that are of no importance when it comes to one's relationship with God.  Bickering and divisiveness is part of the human condition and we need to put it under the Blood of Christ.  One way to combat this tendency to put God first and put others before self.

Edited November 7, 2021 by Mama Etna

[Hopefully]

Amen!!

[The_Patriot21]

Nonsense. Such is the words of legalistic heretics that shall not be allowed to church dinner because they always eat all the deviled eggs!

Lol ok im being ornery, please forgive me I have a twisted sense of humor. It is indeed a well written post and it is a sad state of affairs when you see a church split over non salvation issues. 

People no longer know how to disagree with love. Two people can disagree with each other and still be friends, but it seems people have forgotten that.

For example, in the CoC movement there is instrumental and non instrumental CoCs. One group likes instruments in worship, the other doesnt. Scripture doesnt specify one way or another, it just says worship God, it doesnt specify whether to use instruments or not. 

Now I can see two different churches, thats not a bad idea, more churches more people we can serve, one having instruments one not, that way people can choose. The problem is however, those two churches wont talk to each other. Even though instruments are the only difference. A more Christlike approach would be for the two to work together, share resources and be one body, with different services. But yet they instead ignore the other completely because of this issue.

Im not picking on the CoC here i just bring it up because its something that ive seen and its an easy example. Every denomination has their issues. My town had at 1 time 5 southern baptist churches, and not a single one would talk to the others. Over trivial stuff.

We do need to learn to work past or work around our differences. Agreeing to disagree sometimes works, but just as often not because agreeing to disagree doesnt actually provide a solution to the problem and can lead to hard feelings.

Learning to work with disagreement with love is very important for believers. If its a salvation issue, yeah you need to stand firm but you still need to do it with love. If its something unimportant like say, instruments, then find a solution with love. It may involve agreeing to disagreeing. It may involve one party sucking up their pride and moving on in order to keep the peace. It may involve both parties working together and compromising to find a solution that works for both of them. But it should always involve Christs love and shouldnt involve unhealthy division.

[Starise]

One of the challenges for a board such as Worthy is that ANYONE can join. It takes two to tango. If you ignore them or place them on ignore then it isn't a problem for people like this. If you want to debate them go ahead. Ask yourself what your expectations are in the beginning. 

I keep my expectations low if the goal is to convince anyone of anything. I generally just give my views and why I have them according to the bible if asked. Keep your expectations low and  you won't be disappointed. Remember we are all fallible human beings with opinions that come from different life experiences.

If no one had anyone to argue with that fire would die suddenly. You can't argue at a wall without someone to disagree with you. If everyone ignored  trouble makers it would make the mods job so much easier.

There is a difference between disagreeing on what seems to be solid ground and simply looking for a fight. We can always disagree cordially. If we feel the other opinion is not agreeing with the Bible we can show them in the bible where the problem is or why we have a different view.

What I have noticed here that really bothers me is sometimes a person will have an opinion based on a party line or denomination agenda and won't part from it come hell or high water, no matter how much info you show them to the contrary. The best thing to do is peacefully walk away. No point in pushing it. They seem to hold the views they do based only on that their denomination teaches. For me personally, I would want to find out for myself. Then where ever the chips fall is where they are. I know I am still learning about many things. I think it's always healthy to look at where we are and reevaluate it even if we don't think we need to do so. If the christian walk is progressive, then it only stands to reason some of our ideas might be progressive over time as we get new information. We learn more as we go and adjust accordingly.

Some things we will never know fully until we are in glory. There are those who attempt to explain in no uncertain terms those things we have no concrete answers for. This is a road that's really a circle. If you stay on it long enough you'll get dizzy and eventually die trying to find the end. There will be those who distort, hopefully unintentionally. There are usually people here who will help them clarify a view that runs away from biblical truth.

So far though @Mama Etna, this has been a surprisingly great place to be and discuss all the things believers like to discuss. Welcome! If we don't go looking for trouble maybe there will be less of it?

[TheBlade]

Hmm.. it is very says to take some "text" the wrong way.. its just text. We can't see nor hear the person typing. Maybe see the good in it first? We don't have to are not forced to read anything in a bad light. Take it in a good light. Each one of those verses has something above it and below.. some were never talking about "Christians" some were talking about the world.. 

[Sower]

On 11/7/2021 at 12:46 PM, The_Patriot21 said:

Nonsense. Such is the words of legalistic heretics that shall not be allowed to church dinner because they always eat all the deviled eggs!

Patriot! Is that any way to treat a new member here, Mama Etna, who's only trying to make things better. And I know your quote is not true. Because if there's any deviled eggs, I will definitely get them first.

( you had me going for a minute there brother :)

[Starise]

9 hours ago, Sower said:

Patriot! Is that any way to treat a new member here, Mama Etna, who's only trying to make things better. And I know your quote is not true. Because if there's any deviled eggs, I will definitely get them first.

( you had me going for a minute there brother :)

True story- I made like 4 dozen deviled eggs for our last Church lunch. There was so much food and because others made them too I had left overs. I would have gladly given them to you guys. As it turned out I was forced to eat the rest of them. I couldn't stand to see them go to waste. It was a bitter sweet time. Hello Pepto Bismol.

[Mama Etna]

One of my unfortunate vices is deviled eggs..

[Sower]

29 minutes ago, Mama Etna said:

One of my unfortunate vices is deviled eggs..

You could always switch to angel food cake...

[Mama Etna]

Nah.  Maybe I am not sweet enough.  Sweet food isn't really my thing.  I like salty food.