Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge. Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness. (1 Timothy 6:20-21)The young preacher, not long out of school, stands in front of a group of people. He is the Bible class teacher and he is going to teach them something out of the Bible.
He reads the pertinent scripture and starts to talk about it. He would love some discussion but doesn’t really know how to get it, so he just talks.
A guy near the back speaks up with a contrary opinion. After what almost comes to an argument, the guy says, well, I just wanted to be the devil’s advocate. I really didn’t believe that.
Visions of guns, public whippings, the like come into the new preacher’s head. The whole thing was so useless. All the guy wanted to do was argue.
And each week he does. He has a contrary point to make. After a while you get to dislike him. And he tears up the class.
The apostle Paul says to avoid people like this. He says that there is nothing worse than people who talk for the sole purpose of hearing themselves talk. Their knowledge is not real, their faith is not strong, all they want to do is oppose you and somehow build a following based on their own “wisdom.”
They feel somehow that by opposing everything you say, they seem open-minded. What they are is just opposers. No real wisdom, no real discretion, no real sense of the proper place for this sort of thing.
I’m not sure there is a place for this sort of thing. We did it in school to figure out why we believed things. We would take different viewpoints so that we could try to understand why people thought the way they did. That is a good learning tool if used right.
Debating was big for a while in my world. And I found that I could take a contrary side almost easier than taking a side I believed in. I think that is because the devil likes to confuse things, to make things harder, to stir us up.
The more opposition he can bring in, the easier it is to find someone who will believe one of the oppositional ideas. Before long, people don’t know what they believe.
And it is all because some person (other words come to mind) will decide to be the devil’s advocate.
I may take contrary views in my life to discuss things or to talk about things. People need to know that there is not just one viewpoint on everything. And sometimes it is good for discussion to remind them that they are not the sole repository of all great and wonderful thoughts and ideas.
But one thing I never want to be is the devil’s advocate. That is for sure.
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