S74P8 – When fools rush in: fruitless arguments result
Pro. 26:4
Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.
He prided himself on being the devil’s advocate and pushing people’s buttons just to see them get riled up. When I first met him, I thought he genuinely wanted to engage in spiritual discourse regarding the things of God. I quickly grew frustrated having these discussions with him because it seemed like I was the only one trying to learn from our chats. He would not necessarily argue what he thought or believed, but he always argued the opposing point under the guise of trying to make people think. What he ended up doing time and again was creating arguments and turning friends into enemies. Time that could have been spent growing in spiritual maturity was spent causing division and foolish arguments.
If we look at our time here as a precious and finite commodity, which it is, then we will want to use it as effectively as possible for the kingdom of God while we have it. Part of that equation is doing our best to make sure that our time is spent growing in the Spirit. Of course our Father in heaven wants us to grow in wisdom and knowledge instead of regressing into foolishness. For that reason, He gives us discernment to know when foolishness is influencing us more than our wisdom is influencing the fool. The purpose of our telling others about our faith and our Lord is to bring them closer to him. When the conversation turns and makes us speak outside of the wisdom and knowledge God gives us, then we must be discerning enough to end it there.
Everything God does serves a purpose; no effort is wasted. As we walk the Earth desiring to please him we also should be focused on being as spiritually efficient as He is. The only way that we can do this is to discern when it is wise to speak and when it is wise to shut down the conversation. It is a matter of understanding when God wants us to engage someone regarding things of the Spirit because we have an opportunity to add value to that person. When we do this in line with the Spirit we will see that our audience grows and we grow as well. That is the goal. Father, help us to discern when we are being pulled into foolish arguments that we would know to simply walk away.