Wrangling over Words
Words of Faith 7-18-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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2 Timothy 2
[14] 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.

After reminding Timothy how to get his bearings in life (v. 11-13), Paul called on the young pastor to lead people in two ways. Remind them of these things and tell them to stop quarreling about words.
These words were not just "nice thoughts," like something sweet we might read on a greeting card or post on the refrigerator. These were words of profound truth summing up the Christian life-- the True North of our spiritual compass-- We are to die with Him, and in doing so, we will also live with Him. We are to persevere with Him so that we will reign with Him. We are in no way to disown Him in our daily lives. We are to trust Him with our deep questions and doubts.
Persevering means getting beyond the struggle and setting aside the little stuff. Squabbles and arguments are a distraction. Endurance requires us to focus on the bigger picture rather than quarrel about minutiae. The big vision of God in Christ is to reach the world with the Gospel! The big picture is to call people to liberation found only in the death and resurrection of Christ! The larger scope is to celebrate life in Christ and the encouragement that only He can give in life's most challenging times.
The problem is that we get stuck in our words. We stumble upon disagreements about words and how they are applied. Rather than walk with the WORD-made flesh, evident and active within us, we tend to quarrel about the details of what we are saying.
The point here is not to bash theology. That is an easy out these days. The truth is that we all have theology. We all profess a theology. We all embrace certain theologies. "Theology" simply means "words about God"-- theos-logos. Even if you reject "theology," that IS your theology! Those are your "words about God"! Paul was very clear in writing to Timothy and Titus to say that you must be careful to teach and adhere to correct doctrine and sound theology.
But we are not to quarrel. The word used here is not the one related to "heresy"-- hareisis-- used in other places. This particular word appears only here in the New Testament-- logomachia. It means to wrangle, strive, or fight over words. It means to trifle or dispute over the most minor things rather than see the largeness of our God.
If we think about it, we know exactly what this is. We, humans, are prone to fall into pride. We like our words. Sometimes we even fall in love with our words. We love to hear our words and even our voices. We sometimes talk of the "pride of authorship," which resists editing our words, but this is really much more.
In our Christian thinking, we often get stuck on a particular set of words or a specific way of describing things. Every stream of Christian thought has its own language and set of words. The "Christianese" of the day is constantly changing, but there are also "words" that form a sort of turf identification and protection. There are various denominational languages, but there also are a myriad of non-denominational languages.
Over the years, I have been amazed to observe those who are either enthused or "set off" by certain words. Does not the Spirit within us give witness to the Cross of Christ? Sometimes a visitor to church will come with a specific question that has nothing to do with the big picture but includes specific buzzwords that are apparently important to them. These words are often not clearly defined, but we still use them. "Are you a 'spirit-filled' church?" "Is this a 'full-Gospel' church?" "Are you dispensational?" "Non-denom?" "Arminian?" "Calvinist?" and the list goes on.
The Apostle Paul of the first century saw it coming for Timothy. Warn them not to quarrel about words. Don't wrangle over nomenclature. Don't posture for turf-- walk in the Truth! Major on the BIG stuff, like what it means to die with Christ daily. Have you done that adequately? When you have mastered that, we can talk about wording.
Why the warning? Because such wrangling is of no value and only ruins those who listen. Those seeking to find new life will walk away shaking their heads. Do you want to drive off those trying to come to Christ? Then go ahead and argue about words and labels. Do you want to endure and be used to bring life to a lost world? Then learn to correctly handle the Word of truth. That is next.

Father God, keep me focused on the big stuff. Keep me clear of the minutiae. Keep me from arguments about words and labels. Keep me focused on the Truth of Jesus. May I find my bearings in the Cross of Christ? In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.