daily java

Daily Java:

Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools,
    or you will become as foolish as they are.
Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools,
    or they will become wise in their own estimation. (Proverbs 26:4-5).

Someone once said that the Bible is full of contradictions and used this verse as one. And it is a contradiction. However, it is so because there is no real way to deal with a fool.

Whatever you say to a fool, whatever you try to counter his arguments with, he will find another place to go. His argument is liquid and one trying to argue with him cannot ever get a real hold on anything.

He will jump around to illogic, to outright falsehoods, to arguments ad hominem, to whatever he can use to argue with you. And the facts don’t really matter. All he wants to do is win.

On the other hand, you hate to leave his contradictions and his foolishness unaddressed. You want to try to answer what you hear and know to be plain lies and stupidity masqueraded as philosophy or wisdom or in some instances just plain information. You know it is not and that it is leading people astray and you want to challenge it.

But arguing with a fool is like trying to keep the ocean back with a squeegee. It just doesn’t work. The minute you get on one track, the direction changes and you end up looking foolish.

So what do you do? There really isn’t much you can do. You answer him and you look foolish because you have stooped to their level. You don’t answer him and you look like you are afraid and the misinformation remains out there for someone to believe.

It is a conundrum and there isn’t a lot you can do. You can try, but make sure you do not sink to their level.

When Jesus was faced with a fool, he said nothing. At his trial in Luke 23, we read this:

Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. (Luke 23:8-11)

Jesus knew that all Herod wanted was a show and declined to be the entertainment. He never said a word until finally it made Herod mad and he began to show his true colors. Jesus knew it would do no good to say anything.

So you address what you can when the fool speaks, but in general it is better just to shut up and let him blather. Talk to people afterwards after the fool has gone home to his hovel. Then you will have a certain measure of decorum and common sense.

It is a hard thing to know when to talk and when not to talk. The problem is that fools are often better at it than you.

daily java

Daily Java:

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority. When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.  (Mark 8:11-38)

There are times that you get so tired of some people. They are constantly on your case, constantly trying to make you irritated – and succeeding – and just want to keep things in a turmoil.

With them is no peace, so they will not allow peace with you either. Everything you say is “hurtful” to them, or they see hidden agendas or impure motives.

Their problem is that they hate themselves so they transfer that hatred to you. They are looking for a reason to be angry at life, and you are handy.

The Pharisees were a bitter bunch. It is obvious from their lives. They were lives of constant arguing and posturing, preening and jockeying for position. They were not happy and were always looking for someone else to make them happy by giving them honor or preeminence.

Jesus refused to do this. He just did his job (seeking and saving the lost – Luke 19) and refused to play games with them. Since life to them was all games, it made them angry. And if they were angry, someone else was at fault. God wanted them to be happy and prestigious and someone was stealing their glory.

So every time Jesus saw them, they wanted to argue. They came out with a list of stuff that they didn’t like about him and began to complain. They demanded over and over that he show his authority and power to them so that they could have some control over the situation. But Jesus refused.

And there came a time when he was tired of them and their constant arguing. So he told them to go away and leave him alone. They didn’t, of course. People like that never do. They did what they did best: character assassination.

When they could not completely impugn his motives or his background, they decided to kill him. Their last ditch effort was to get rid of him. If they could not control him, they would get rid of him.

Churches are like that today, unfortunately. There are some in the church that are empowered by personal status or the fact that the church has never disciplined them who make it their job to try to control the preacher. When they can’t, they drive him off. They do it to preacher after preacher and no one stops them. And no one understands why the church won’t grow.

These men and their ancestors did this to every prophet who came to them. And they thought it was normal.

What a shame to treat the kingdom of God like your own power conduit.

daily java

Daily Java:

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.

arguing on facebook

How wonderful and pleasant it is
      when brothers live together in harmony!
For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
      that was poured over Aaron’s head,
      that ran down his beard
      and onto the border of his robe.
Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
      that falls on the mountains of Zion.
   And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing,
      even life everlasting. (Psalm 133:1-3 NLT)

I was discussing with a couple of friends the other day about what we wear to church.

It had begun oddly enough with a picture of an Easter Parade in New York City in 1904. I commented that it seemed like a different universe.

The response was odd enough and became what could have been vitriolic enough that I took the post down.

I said that I had worn a suit Easter morning. One person said that he felt it best that we dress as best as we can. The other seemed to say that we had an obligation to not make people feel uncomfortable when they came.

The two had what seemed like an online argument over what to wear. I stepped in and said that I had not intended to make any judgments, but that I just commented on what I wore. One of them made another comment and I took the post down.

I think they were arguing apples versus oranges, respect versus culture.

It made me feel slightly embarrassed. It wasn’t my fault, but it is hard to know what to put up and what not to.

Yesterday, I made a recommendation of a movie about Alice in Wonderland, a 1985 TV miniseries that I liked. Someone else had to make a comment about the prevalence of homosexuality in modern America (or at least it seemed to be).

I like Facebook and I like the online conversations we have. I have also made some friends that I either didn’t know before or hadn’t seen in years. I like that.

But I do not like the need to argue that can sometimes affect Facebook users.

We have become an argumentative society, a society that seems to want to have the last word. rarely do debates solve anything anymore.

I am not really sure they have accomplished much in the past one hundred years, but that is another question. They used to be an integral part of our culture before the days of mass communication, when people would use them to argue their points of view.

In those days, they were done civilly and usually put in print afterwards for others to read. It is a fact that many time, in the print version, the losing side would win the debate. The oral debate was won too often on ability to speak rather than organization and effectiveness of thinking.

I could not have known that such an innocuous picture as one of an Ester Parade one hundred years ago would engender such a strong debate.

And I didn’t like it when two friends and brothers argued so bitterly.

daily java

Daily Java: 

 Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. (Philippians 2:14-16)

We have become a complaining society. Everything offends us and nothing seems to be right. In the right circles, complaining can stop progress in its tracks.

At the mall, listening to people talk, much of what they say is complaint. Much of what I read online is complaint. At church, there is often a culture of gentle griping. Nothing big, no real insurrections, just the tone that nothing is right.

After a bit, it erodes the soul.

I had a fairly decent job back in the early 70’s, selling advertising for an FM radio station. That was back when FM stations were rare and for the most part played easy listening, or Muzak kind of music. Strings, orchestras, Montavoni plays the hits of Frankie Laine – that kind of thing.

In fact there were only 3 FM radio stations in all of Odessa, TX, a city of well over 100,000 people. And one of those was a college station that played oddball rock, different stuff.

The other of the three played modern rock (now classic oldies), but the owner didn’t like it, so his morning show consisted of him griping about what he played. He especially hated Frank Zappa, for some reason.

The sales job I had wasn’t bad, but I did work for a guy of questionable ethics. The other salesman constantly pointed that out and before long, I lost the job. Basically, he griped me out of a job. That was because the more he griped, the more I looked at what he was griping about. Before long, I saw nothing good in the job.

At church, when people complain, it kills the church, just like it kills society. People cannot handle negativity.

The same goes with arguing. I have always hated it when people say that they are going to play the Devil’s Advocate. No, thank you. That never does good. Take the opposite side if you want to, but the one thing I do not want to be identified with is the devil. After all, the name Satan meant obstructer or opposer (Numbers 22:22, 1 Samuel 29:4, Psalms 109:6).

And the apostle Paul said plainly to stay away from foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels (2 Timothy 2:23). He also said, in Titus 3:9: avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
In other words shut up the complaining and the arguing. There is little that hurts a minister and his work more than that. As Paul says in the verse above, complaining and arguing are not only counterproductive, but it also undoes all the pastor or teacher is trying to do.

I have decided in my life that I will not argue or complain. There are too many other good things to do.

There is an old song that says, Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with you. Let the complaining and arguing stop with you.

answering fools

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.  (Proverbs 26:4-5)

That’s the problem with talking to an idiot. If you answer him, you descend to his level. If you don’t, his stupidity goes unchallenged.

So what do you do? It seems that you cannot win either way.

When Jesus was faced with this problem, he did different things. At times, he would look at the people who said incredibly ignorant things and he would say, Have you not read? He made them look even dumber. Of course, they had read. They had triple doctorates in religion and theology. They knew a lot. So for this unschooled son of nobody to dare to ask them if they had read was more than they could handle.

The fact that he was right was even worse. Nothing is worse to an expert than to question his expertise, especially if he is wrong. It will infuriate him because it touches at the core of his self-image. It makes him sound like a new Bible student just come into Bible college. Guys with a lot of degrees hate to be shown up by someone with less schooling.

But what happens if you don’t answer him? When Jesus was faced with King Herod of Galilee, he said nothing the whole time, he just plain refused to answer. It made Herod so angry because he figured since he was a king and an Important Person, Jesus would be happy to show him whatever he needed to know. And when he did, it would be really interesting. Jesus would do some stuff and everybody would clap.

Instead, Jesus did nothing, said nothing, did no miracles. In fact, he just stood there. It infuriated Herod.

And then one time, when they asked him for his authority, he asked them a question about authority. When they wouldn’t answer, he said, too bad. He wasn’t going to answer them either.

So what do you do? answer or not.

If you answer, many times you get into an arguing match. It quickly devolves into stupidity and everyone looks dumb, including the smart people. But if you don’t answer, it sounds like you give tacit agreement with the fool. So people think you aren’t smart enough.

It is a situation where you are damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.

I have had like situations and sometimes both approaches worked. And sometimes they didn’t.

No one can give you a one-size-fits-all answer. Each time is different.

It is getting to be the political season and you hear a lot of fools arguing. And it gets old. The world would be better off without fools.