Right fighters

        Some Christians want to argue about everything when it comes to the Bible. They feel it's their job to tell everyone how incorrect their theology is, whether it's more grace or less grace, pharisee this or pharisee that and blah blah blah, it's always something. They are simply allowing the enemy to use them as a distraction. If ministries spent time defending themselves against each and every Christian like this they'd do nothing else because it would be a full time job. Plus, these people usually argue over scriptures they've taken out of context and bring a spirit of confusion into every debate. No one could possible have it right, except them.
           The Bible itself is not confusing, it's written at a 4th grade reading level. It says what it means and means what it says. We make the Bible confusing by adding and taking away what we want to fit our own theology. Instead we should allow the Bible to form what we think, not use the Bible to prove what we already think.
           When we use scriptures out of context and have a "take this verse but not that verse" mentality it's usually because we are trying to defending something in our own life. Whether we are living in open sin, or want to be right in some area, we ignore scriptures that challenge us and embrace those that accept what we love.What's the point of living this way? Following Jesus is all about transformation, new birth, new life, redemption. If we only want to embrace scriptures that defend our old ways, what's the point?
            Let's read the Bible with an open and honest heart. Let's see it for what it is and allow the Holy Spirit to do whatever work in us that He wishes.
            There was this one guy that would always try argue about scriptures. It seemed any scripture with the slightest hint of correction was considered a "Pharisees" verse to him and he'd dismiss it completely and argue with anyone that mentioned it, even if the verse was from the New Testament. The thing is he lived in all sorts of open sinful behavior with no desire to change. He'd cause these huge debates, and confront anyone who embraced a verse he didn't simply because he was on a mission to prove his way was right in order to sooth his own conscious.
         What is the point of trying to defend or explain your views to someone like this? It's really not about you, but his heart. You could debate until you were blue in the face it wouldn't make a difference. That's why ministers can't debate everyone that rises up against them, because many times it's not about the ministry, it's about the other person's heart. They are trying to find peace within themselves about their lifestyle.
              The New Testament is full of scriptures about living holy and grace. You can't eliminate one or the other, but those who want to debate are usually those who have chosen one or the other. I really don't understand it. Wouldn't you want to know God for who He is, not just who you want Him to be? I do. Why is holiness such a bad thing? Why is grace so scary to some people? Both are amazing. Both are needed and both are true throughout the New Testament.
                If we find that we disagree with someone's ministry it's best we settle in our hearts to "agree to disagree". Arguing and debating only brings out the ugliness in both sides and is a huge disservices to the body of Christ. Plus it's a waste of time because neither of us are truly trying to understand the other person's point of view, we are only trying to "win".
                  When I was younger I'd debate with people a lot. I thought it was the right thing to do until I believe God showed me the very thing I'm sharing in this blog.  It's better to ignore or separate yourself from people that have a need to prove something all the time. It will consume your time, energy and emotions and stop you from being productive in the area of ministry God's placed you. 
              Don't mistakenly make the focus of your ministry about fighting everyone else - trying to discredit other people. On the other hand, if you are the one coming under attack don't wast your ministry by defending yourselves to everyone who rises against you. God lifts up and pulls down. We should focus on doing what He's called us to do with integrity and leave the rest up to Him.