To Fight Or Not To Fight

Jude 1:3-4 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Sometimes, in the Christian life, we are called to fight. Sometimes we have to earnestly contend for the faith. “Contend” means to fight. Sometimes, the Faith “once for all handed down to the saints” is called into question. Sometimes, the truth is attacked, souls are at stake, the church is assaulted and we have to fight spiritually for the sake of all that is right and the protection of truth and the souls who would be lost, if the truth is maligned.

I believe we must contend for the Faith. I am grieved by those cowards who refuse to stand for what they know is right. I am also grieved by those who claim to contend for the faith but in reality are not. Rather, they are really fighting because it gives them some twisted pleasure which they derive from controversy. They find some sick joy from trying to win pointless arguments. We must contend for the Faith but we must not be contentious. Some people want to fight for fighting’s sake alone. They are the professional wrestlers of Christianity. They set up “straw men” to wrestle and fight in fake scripted battles. The battle is not about persuading men to the truth but rather making themselves smarter than everyone else. They are haughty, proud and loud. They come to church and they are “READY TO RUMBLE!”

Jesus said in Matthew 5: 3-12, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Notice, the “blessed” people are the pure in heart. They have no pride to defend, no axe to grind, and no pound of flesh to get. It also says the merciful are blessed. Many times, people who claim to be defending the Faith are just defending themselves. By taking out some twisted form of tongue thrashing justice upon their “enemy,” they feel justified. What is the purpose? Jesus teaches us that we should be “peacemakers.” Is it to bring people to peace with God or to look good winning an argument? Is it to defend the faith or defend your pride? When you fight, it should be for the pursuit of peace, not personal vindication.

Proverbs 26:4 teaches us, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.” But then in verse 5, the very next verse, God teaches us to, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” This is one of the hardest things to figure out. There is a time not to answer a person, because what they have said is so ridiculous, it is not worthy of a response. In this case, if we answer them then we sink down to their pathetic level. On the other hand, sometimes we must “answer a fool according to his folly” because his listeners actually believe what he said and it needs rebuked. It’s a hard to always know what to do. If we pray to God for the wisdom, he promises to give us the wisdom we need to know what to do. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

When we contend for the faith, there is a time to answer a fool and a time to say nothing and let the fool’s folly expose him. One thing is for sure, pride is the source of all fighting. Contention comes from pride. If there is strife, either one of the individuals or both the individuals have a pride problem. Proverbs 13:10 explains, “By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.” The pride of not admitting you are, when wrong or not wanting to look bad spawns most disagreement. That is why some people like to fight. They live under the same immature philosophy that they can build themselves up by tearing others down. They stomp around like bullies in a playground. If there are no fights, then they pick on people and create one. Proverbs 26:21 says, “As charcoal is to burning coals, and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife.”

Fools want to fight. The righteous realize they have to fight to defend the souls of the lost and defend the truth that saves, but they don’t want to fight. Proverbs 18:6 tells us, “A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calls for blows.” A fool enters into contention and looks for a fight and then walks right into it. A fool likes to fight. A fool calls for contention and calls on you to exchange blows. Remember the bullies in school? They would pick on those they thought they could beat. They haughtily pranced around seeking a fight. They would say things like, “bring it on” or “come on hit me you chicken.” Or they might say, “You’re just afraid to fight.” Full of pride themselves they tried to appeal to the pride of others to induce their fights. Name-calling was their favorite tactic. Then, if someone would reciprocate, they would use that as the excuse to justify their further attack and escalation of the conflict.

Bullies would fight for any reason and were always looking for a chance to seem dominant in front of the other kids. The good kids would only fight when they had to. They tried to make peace first. They only fight when they have to defend themselves or others from these provoking bullies. The pathetic thing is how many theological bullies there are looking for a fight in the church. When there is no doctrine to fight over these bullies invent new doctrines and thus introduce heresies in order to have new ground to battle over. They want to look wise to the others whom they hope are watching. They are name callers who are full of pride and try to appeal to the pride of others to escalate their contentious wrangling.

So how do you handle people like that? I pray for wisdom and remember Proverbs 22:10 which says, “Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease.” There is a time to walk away from the contentious. There is a time to separate yourselves from contentious “brothers” and not fellowship with them. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:23-26, “Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

Paul commands the evangelist in Titus 3:9-11, “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.” Some people you don’t have to condemn because their teaching and pompous prancing condemn them for you. Sometimes the way to handle a contentious person who loves to use their peculiar goofy doctrines to bully people, is to just ignore them and walk away. Give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves. Proverbs 20:3 says, “It is honorable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel.”

So there is a time to fight and a time to walk away. When truth needs fought for and souls are in the balance, we must stand up for God’s Word. But don’t fight unless you have to. Seek peace and you’ll be like God. Too many people desire debates for selfish reasons. Sometimes you walk away from the bullies and leave them to their name calling because their bark is worse than their bite and they are just noisy boasters whom we should not give a platform to espouse their folly. Sometimes it would be easy to rip a contentious Christian to shreds with words but what good would that do? Is that the mercy Jesus has shown us? If we want mercy, for when we are fools, we must show it to others when they are. We should seek peace. Sometimes, we have to fight for what is right but it should be a fight for peace.

“Wisdom is proved by her actions.” If you stand for the truth and don’t involve yourself in the proud controversy of the contentious, your peace and truth loving ways will speak volumes to the sincere seeker. James 3:13-4:1 “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”

So let the wise show their wisdom by their good conduct. If you claim to know the truth you should show it in meekness and self-control. Bitterness, envy and pride are not the wisdom that is from God. Wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, and full of mercy. You can’t be that way and be contentious. A wise man doesn’t want to fight and only does so when he has to. It’s the proud fool who says, “Bring it on!”

So the way to handle the contentious is to not associate with them. Let their foolishness be evident to all. Just patiently teach and preach what is true and silence the contentious by doing good. The outspoken apostle says in 1 Peter 2:15, “For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”