“Holiness Avoids Foolish Arguments” -- 2 Timothy 2:14-19, 22-26

When Ted Turner introduced the world to 24-hour news coverage, he also ushered in the golden age of talking heads. With the need to fill every minute of every hour of the day with news, CNN had to bring in people who were said to be experts on various matters to talk about and give their opinions on a wide range of topics from climate to the military to politics and beyond.

As the 24-hours news channels introduced us to 24-hours sports channels, the same thing happened. Hours upon hours of time on ESPN and Fox Sports are spent with experts giving us opinions on our sports, both professional and collegiate level.

The internet has exasperated the matter. As we expand our ability to communicate, we need to fill the void that would be there is nothing was programmed. We are now so inundated with information, both informative and inane, both accurate and seemingly fantasy-based, that it’s hard to think over the noise that fills our airwaves and cables.

Sadly, noise and misleading “experts” are nothing new. The Bible tells us that the problem has been around for longer than we can realize. In recognizing the problem, the Bible also shows us how a person seeking to live a holy life can deal with idle chatter.

Background

Almost from the time Jesus began His earthly ministry, there were those who were trying to define Him and His message. From the opposition of the religious leaders of His day through the early days of the Church and in to our world today, there have been those who have twisted Jesus’ words and actions and tried to make them “more or less than they really are.

To be sure, there is always the need to interpret the Gospel. As the Spirit leads us in our Bible study and in our worship, we learn from Him the truths, and we seek to apply those truths to our individual lives. As each of us are dealing with issues somewhat unique to ourselves, we can find different meanings from the Word as we seek to live it out.

And there’s no harm in this, as long as we are in agreement on the basics of our faith. We can find different ways of looking at things without going off the rails. We can agree on the things that are consistent with the Gospel—that God sent Jesus to die for our sins; that Christ rose to give us eternal life; that salvation comes only through faith in Christ and that that salvation is a gift of God; that the Holy Spirit is an integral part of the Gospel, indwelling us, teaching us, leading us and correcting us. We believe correctly that the Bible is God’s inspired word and that we find our most accurate understanding of God within the pages of the Bible. We know that Scripture always points us to Christ but that it can also be horribly misused by those who want to take out of it that which is not there.

In writing this passage to Timothy, Paul sends us a warning that we who are called to serve Christ—who are called to be disciples—have a responsibility to avoid the insignificant things of this world and focus on what really matters.

The way we’ll be looking at these verses is to point out the negatives and stress the positives. Paul wrote it in this way for the most part, and it makes sense to continue in this vein.

Central Truth: The holy life is grounded in correctly handling the word of truth.

To avoid foolish arguments, we must:

1. Present ourselves to God (14-19)

Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God’ solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness” (vs. 14-19).

Have you noticed how some people like to argue for argument’s sake? There’s an old Monty Python skit where a man goes into an agency in order to “purchase an argument.” He enters the office of a man who begins to contradict everything being said. The argument devolves into a “Yes, it is” and “No, it isn’t” being said over and over again.

Some people like to point out certain words or phrases and look into the hidden meaning or significance of those particular words. Paul tells Timothy and us to avoid such people. Paul tells us that such things are of “no value and only ruins those who listen” (v. 14b). Paul later describes such idle words as “godless chatter, and those who deal in such words will only spiral down into an ever more ungodly lifestyle (cf. v. 16). The apostle goes on to mention two men who are familiar to Timothy. The heresy these men preach—their godless chatter—is that the resurrection has already taken place. Paul writes that the effect of their baseless words is that it is destroying the faith of some who listen to them.

Unlike the old children’s rhyme, the reality is that words can harm us. We can use words to abuse others, to destroy other people in ways that can’t be seen but can create damage that lasts a lifetime. Jesus tells us that we will give account for every thoughtless word we say. Knowing this, Paul here reminds us that we have a duty to focus on the things that reflect our commitment to Christ. We do this in three ways, all interconnected.

First, we present ourselves to God as one approved. The idea here is similar to a person who submits his work to a master in order for the master to give it a seal of approval. This should not be understood as telling us that we must work to earn God’s approval. Instead, the idea here is to submit ourselves to God in order be in a position to be doers of what God has already approved. The way we do this is that we give ourselves to Him, becoming a branch completely dependent upon the Vine (cf. John 15:1-8), as one who has died to Him in order that He can live through us (cf. Galatians 2:17-20). In other words, we place ourselves under the One who is already approved—God’s Son in whom He is well pleased.

Second, we serve Christ as a workman who is proud of his or her craftsmanship. A craftsman who takes pride in his or her work is one who uses only the best materials and who takes the time and effort to make sure the task is done to the best of his or her abilities. In the same way, the holy person commits himself or herself to the task of being about God’s will, seeking to do that which he or she hears from the Spirit of God as He guides us each day.

Third, we correctly handle the word of truth. It’s easy to think that the “word of truth” refers to the Scripture, but Paul uses the phrase to refer to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Granted that the Scripture contains the Gospel, but here Paul is referring to having a clear awareness of what the Gospel is about, and of the importance of the Gospel not only in our personal lives but how it can change our world. The one who correctly handles the word of truth is open to the Spirit’s leadership and is ready at every moment to share his or her testimony, seasoned with salt and shared with grace and respect.

When we seek to live a life committed to and submitted to Christ, we find ourselves being removed from that which can lead us astray and lead us toward holy living.

2. Call on the Lord out of a pure heart (22-24)

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful (vs. 22-24).

I read several months ago that we are generally not the same person we were when we were younger. Over the years, we grow and learn, we discard and pick up new ideas and new ways of seeing our world. Though there are certain aspects of our personality that stay with us from youth, many of our ways are transformed as we live our lives. We become different and the same.

In the negative found in these verses, Paul warns us against the evil desires of youth, and tells us not have anything to do with “foolish and stupid arguments, because they produce quarrels” (v. 23).

It’s amazing who churches can be torn apart over seemingly silly things. When I was at Port O’Connor, I used to tease them that I was going to win the Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes and become a millionaire. I told them how I’d use the money. After I said that, one of the long-time members of the church told me about two women in the church who actually got into a argument about that very same thing. They both thought they’d win and they both thought they had better ideas of how to use the money and their generosity. The argument became so heated that it cause a rift between the two women that took some time to heal. Talk about foolish and stupid arguments!

To overcome this negative attitude, Paul reminds us that we are to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, keeping fellowship with others of like mind and heart. The idea of righteousness in this context is a call to holy living, which is demonstrated by our faith in Christ, our love for Him and others and the peace that arises out of our relationship with Him, a peace that is grounded in God and that surpasses all understanding. We find such pursuits strengthened as we fellowship with those who also are calling on the Lord out of a pure heart.

The use of the words “flee” and “pursue” reminds us that these commitments are conscious choices on our part. It is not something that is automatically instilled in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is something we commit to with the help and guidance of the Spirit, but it is our choice. And the idea of fleeing and pursuing brings to mind a strong desire in both avoiding the bad and seeking after the good. When we were children playing a game of tag, we fled from the one who was “it,” and when we became “it,” we chased after others to tag them. It’s the same idea here. Running from evil and racing toward that which is good is what holy living is about.

Paul tells us the reason we avoid foolish and stupid arguments is that we have no business quarreling with others. No one is ever argued into a right relationship with God. The way to win the lost is to reflect Christ in our world, and the way we do that is to be kind to everyone, able to teach and not resentful. The only way we will be able to teach is to actively walk with Christ and know His word—in this case, be familiar with the Scripture—and not resent that others may not see the need for Christ as we do.

3. Stand up to opposition (25-26)

Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (vs. 25-26).

Earlier this week, I had to get the oil changed in my car. I know it can take some time to get the job done, and I always take reading material with me. One of the things I read first is the newspaper. As I was reading the paper, a man sat down, looked at what I was reading and said that the Waco Tribune-Herald had really gone down in quality. I agreed with him that it wasn’t the paper it once was, but that it was still a very good newspaper for the market size and the changes that are taking place in the newspaper industry. I mentioned the seasoned and stellar reporters that have been with the Trib for decades, both reporters and sports reporters, and how the editors had years of experience. I was respectful and informed in what I was telling him. He told me that everyone has the right to their opinion. We agreed and left it there.

That attitude is what Paul is talking about in these last two verses. “Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” The whole point of these two verses is to show us how and why we deal with potential conflict with those who disagree with us, particularly the lost.

Gentle instruction is the ability and the commitment to not back down from the Gospel message, but to know how to address the person who disagrees with the Gospel. We can disagree without being disagreeable. And we cannot instruct others gently if we don’t have a working knowledge of the subject at hand. I didn’t tell the man at the oil change place that I used to work for the newspaper or that I still work there each Saturday night. But I did use that to help me in telling him why I disagreed with his assessment of the paper.

In the same way, there are those in our world who have no clear idea of what the Gospel is about. They see how some who profess to follow Christ sometimes twist and warp the message. It is up to us to gently instruct them in the truth, not getting bogged down in needless arguments over irrelevant things. We cannot and should not chase rabbits that distract from the message. Instead, we must stay on point.

The reason we gently instruct is in order for God to use the moment to lead them to repentance and freedom from Satan.

This is true of those who profess Christ but have allowed themselves to get bogged down in quarreling about words, who indulge in godless chatter and who become involved in foolish and stupid arguments. Such people have not chosen to flee the evil desires of youth and pursue the good that comes only from God. In gently instructing our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can help them to escape from the trap of the devil.

Conclusion

Each of us are passionate about somethings. For some, it’s a sports team. Others are passionate about music or food or politics. Passion often leads to spirited arguments. In this passage, we are not being told to not have opinions about things nor are we being told to avoid good-natured discussions on matters that may not be all that important.

What we are being told is that we need to keep in mind that such things as sports, music, even politics are not that important in the grand scheme of things. In the final analysis, God isn’t going to care whether we rooted for the Cowboys or the Texans, whether we preferred George Strait or Garth Brooks, whether we voted Republican or Democrat.

What matters—and what the Bible is telling us—is that we understand the truly important thing is living a life that is consistent with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and that our words and actions reflect that commitment above all others.

If we will live holy lives, we must, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

Is that your commitment today?