“Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels” (2Tim 2:23).
Rude attacks. Cheap shots. Disgusting vulgarity. Sleazy rumors. Shameless lies. They’re everywhere you turn. Network newscasts. Your Facebook feed. The Twitterverse. The customer line at your local overpriced coffeehouse.
And just when you think this latest campaign couldn’t slide any further down the sewer pipe, there’s another soundbite, another commercial, or another slimy allegation. Is it any surprise that one of the debates was the same night as a WWE pay-per-view? Don’t think it didn’t cross Vince McMahon’s mind to combine the two.
Cool your jets. I’m not gonna use the Bible to endorse or condemn anybody. But if you or either of our presidential candidates are willing to listen to timeless truth, the Apostle Paul has has some incredibly wise words. “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels” (v23). Don’t get sucked into ludicrous debates that don’t make a difference. Nobody wins. Everybody loses. These arguments just give birth to more battles.
A couple of thousand years before America was a twinkle in the founding fathers’ eye, Paul is behind bars and in chains in Caesar’s SuperMax (2Tim 1:16, 2:9). He knows full well that he’s doing his final days on Death Row in Rome (2Tim 4:6-7). The man from Tarsus scribbles down what will be his letter to his protege Timothy with two purposes. One, he pleads with Tim to come see him one last time (2Tim 4:9, 21). Two, he desperately passes the torch of spreading the message of Jesus to the young pastor (2Tim 2:1-4:5).
What a powerful reminder of the original purpose of what we call the New Testament. It’s really a collection of documents. Some are short bios of Jesus. Most of the others are letters. This is the latter. A letter from one real person to another real person. If we’re going to get a grip on how we’re to read and apply it today, we need to get a handle on what was going down when it was written in the First Century. In this case, it’s one last letter from a mentor to his spiritual son with their eyes locked on Jesus (2Tim 1:1-2).
Before we dig into this verse, let’s go back up the page just a bit. We see this is actually Paul’s third warning in chapter two against getting sucked into a war of words. Call it Word War III. It’s not a prophetic warning about the presidential campaign of 2016. Well, at least I don’t think so. The apostle sounds the first alarm when he tells Tim to make sure folks don’t start a War of the Words which that leaves the church look like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. (2Tim 2:14).
We see the second alert right after that when Paul instructs him to steer clear of “irreverent babble” which not only drives people away from Jesus but spreads like a cancer (2Tim 2:16-17). A couple of knuckleheads named Hymenaeus and Philetus have turned the lives of believers upside down by telling folks they’ve missed the resurrection of the dead.
Which brings us to warning number three. Right after Paul instructs Tim to put on his big boy pants (2Tim 2:22), he cautions him a third time, “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies” (v23). A closer look at the original language reveals the verb παραιτεομαι (paraiteomai) which means to beg off, reject, or refuse to listen to someone. It carries the idea of declining an invitation and intentionally ignoring what’s going on. In other words, make your RSVP clear. You are are NOT going to be part of that scene.
Back in his first letter, the apostle tells Tim to decline every invitation when someone wants to peddle any message that’s not grounded in reality. “Have nothing to do with” (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai) irreverent, silly myths” (1Tim 4:7). Jesus compares our refusal to God’s kingdom to a man who throws an awesome party but people continually RSVP with regrets. “But they all alike began to make excuses (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai)” (Lk 14:18). The writer of Hebrews warns us not to ignore Jesus’ invitation and “do not refuse (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai) Him” (Heb 12:25).
It’s like those times we’ve been chatting with someone who suddenly sends the conversation somewhere we want nothing to do with. Rumors start to spread. Reps begin to be ruined. That’s when you hit them with,“Oh, no you di’n’t! Don’t go there!” And from what I’ve seen on Jerry Springer, it’s always more effective if you wag your head with your hands on your hips as you say it. Excuse yourself from the discussion. Make it clear that you will not join in their ridiculous reindeer games. Decline their invitation immediately. RSVP ASAP.
What kind of invitations are we to turn down immediately? Paul describes them as “foolish, ignorant controversies” (v23). Foolish” (Gr. μορος/moros) means something stupid, intellectually weak, irrational, rude, crude or with no respect for God. It’s where we get our word moron. Jesus says any doofus stupid enough to hear His words and fail to apply them is “like a foolish (Gr. μορος/moros) man who built his house on the sand” (Mt 7:26). Christ calls the religious bullies of Israel “blind fools (Gr. μορος/moros)!”
Paul tells the incredibly dysfunctional Corinthians how God loves to purposely picks knuckleheads and “what is foolish (Gr. μορος/moros) in the world to shame the strong” (1Cor 1:27). In other words, He loves to show off by using morons like you and me to embarrass the best and brightest. You see, Jesus and His team of ragtags, losers, and goofballs will beat a roster full of five-star recruits and first-round draft picks every single time. And if we’re going to be morons, let us be “fools (Gr. μορος/moros) for Christ sake” (1Cor 4:10).
The apostle goes further to tell Tim to avoid invitations to discussions which are “ignorant” (Gr. απαιδευτος/apaideutos). This is the only time we find this word anywhere in the entire Bible. I don’t have to tell you that this term paints a very unflattering picture of someone or something stupid, uneducated, untrained, rude, or crude. One commentator named Parry calls it “speculations of a half-educated mind.” In other words, these dipsticks know just enough to be dangerous. (Insert your favorite political joke here!)
What makes these discussions so moronic and dangerous is that there’s conclusion to them. The ESV uses the word “controversies,” which is the Greek noun ζητησις (zetesis). This term doesn’t just describes a heated discussion or dispute, but a forceful expression of differences of opinion with zero chance of seeking a solution. You won’t find anybody willing to agree to disagree. Listen, we all know someone who will argue about anything and everything, including the color of the sky. (If you don’t know someone like that and totally disagree with me, it’s probably YOU!).
Check out how the writers of the NT use this word. John remembers the time folks tried to stir up a fight between John the Baptizer and his cousin. You may have heard of Him. His name is Jesus Christ. “Now a discussion (Gr. ζητησις/zetesis) arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification” (Jn 3:25). John didn’t take the bait. He drops the mic when he tells everybody that his rep own must be reduced while the Son of God’s must continue to grow (Jn 3:30).
The term shows up a couple of times in Paul’s prequel when he orders Tim to shut down anybody who teaches goofball doctrine because all they do is “promote speculations (Gr. ζητησις/zetesis)” and drive people further from Jesus (1Tim 1:4).
Rude attacks. Cheap shots. Disgusting vulgarity. Sleazy rumors. Shameless lies. They’re everywhere you turn. Network newscasts. Your Facebook feed. The Twitterverse. The customer line at your local overpriced coffeehouse.
And just when you think this latest campaign couldn’t slide any further down the sewer pipe, there’s another soundbite, another commercial, or another slimy allegation. Is it any surprise that one of the debates was the same night as a WWE pay-per-view? Don’t think it didn’t cross Vince McMahon’s mind to combine the two.
Cool your jets. I’m not gonna use the Bible to endorse or condemn anybody. But if you or either of our presidential candidates are willing to listen to timeless truth, the Apostle Paul has has some incredibly wise words. “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels” (v23). Don’t get sucked into ludicrous debates that don’t make a difference. Nobody wins. Everybody loses. These arguments just give birth to more battles.
A couple of thousand years before America was a twinkle in the founding fathers’ eye, Paul is behind bars and in chains in Caesar’s SuperMax (2Tim 1:16, 2:9). He knows full well that he’s doing his final days on Death Row in Rome (2Tim 4:6-7). The man from Tarsus scribbles down what will be his letter to his protege Timothy with two purposes. One, he pleads with Tim to come see him one last time (2Tim 4:9, 21). Two, he desperately passes the torch of spreading the message of Jesus to the young pastor (2Tim 2:1-4:5).
What a powerful reminder of the original purpose of what we call the New Testament. It’s really a collection of documents. Some are short bios of Jesus. Most of the others are letters. This is the latter. A letter from one real person to another real person. If we’re going to get a grip on how we’re to read and apply it today, we need to get a handle on what was going down when it was written in the First Century. In this case, it’s one last letter from a mentor to his spiritual son with their eyes locked on Jesus (2Tim 1:1-2).
Before we dig into this verse, let’s go back up the page just a bit. We see this is actually Paul’s third warning in chapter two against getting sucked into a war of words. Call it Word War III. It’s not a prophetic warning about the presidential campaign of 2016. Well, at least I don’t think so. The apostle sounds the first alarm when he tells Tim to make sure folks don’t start a War of the Words which that leaves the church look like a post-apocalyptic wasteland. (2Tim 2:14).
We see the second alert right after that when Paul instructs him to steer clear of “irreverent babble” which not only drives people away from Jesus but spreads like a cancer (2Tim 2:16-17). A couple of knuckleheads named Hymenaeus and Philetus have turned the lives of believers upside down by telling folks they’ve missed the resurrection of the dead.
Which brings us to warning number three. Right after Paul instructs Tim to put on his big boy pants (2Tim 2:22), he cautions him a third time, “Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies” (v23). A closer look at the original language reveals the verb παραιτεομαι (paraiteomai) which means to beg off, reject, or refuse to listen to someone. It carries the idea of declining an invitation and intentionally ignoring what’s going on. In other words, make your RSVP clear. You are are NOT going to be part of that scene.
Back in his first letter, the apostle tells Tim to decline every invitation when someone wants to peddle any message that’s not grounded in reality. “Have nothing to do with” (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai) irreverent, silly myths” (1Tim 4:7). Jesus compares our refusal to God’s kingdom to a man who throws an awesome party but people continually RSVP with regrets. “But they all alike began to make excuses (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai)” (Lk 14:18). The writer of Hebrews warns us not to ignore Jesus’ invitation and “do not refuse (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai) Him” (Heb 12:25).
It’s like those times we’ve been chatting with someone who suddenly sends the conversation somewhere we want nothing to do with. Rumors start to spread. Reps begin to be ruined. That’s when you hit them with,“Oh, no you di’n’t! Don’t go there!” And from what I’ve seen on Jerry Springer, it’s always more effective if you wag your head with your hands on your hips as you say it. Excuse yourself from the discussion. Make it clear that you will not join in their ridiculous reindeer games. Decline their invitation immediately. RSVP ASAP.
What kind of invitations are we to turn down immediately? Paul describes them as “foolish, ignorant controversies” (v23). Foolish” (Gr. μορος/moros) means something stupid, intellectually weak, irrational, rude, crude or with no respect for God. It’s where we get our word moron. Jesus says any doofus stupid enough to hear His words and fail to apply them is “like a foolish (Gr. μορος/moros) man who built his house on the sand” (Mt 7:26). Christ calls the religious bullies of Israel “blind fools (Gr. μορος/moros)!”
Paul tells the incredibly dysfunctional Corinthians how God loves to purposely picks knuckleheads and “what is foolish (Gr. μορος/moros) in the world to shame the strong” (1Cor 1:27). In other words, He loves to show off by using morons like you and me to embarrass the best and brightest. You see, Jesus and His team of ragtags, losers, and goofballs will beat a roster full of five-star recruits and first-round draft picks every single time. And if we’re going to be morons, let us be “fools (Gr. μορος/moros) for Christ sake” (1Cor 4:10).
The apostle goes further to tell Tim to avoid invitations to discussions which are “ignorant” (Gr. απαιδευτος/apaideutos). This is the only time we find this word anywhere in the entire Bible. I don’t have to tell you that this term paints a very unflattering picture of someone or something stupid, uneducated, untrained, rude, or crude. One commentator named Parry calls it “speculations of a half-educated mind.” In other words, these dipsticks know just enough to be dangerous. (Insert your favorite political joke here!)
What makes these discussions so moronic and dangerous is that there’s conclusion to them. The ESV uses the word “controversies,” which is the Greek noun ζητησις (zetesis). This term doesn’t just describes a heated discussion or dispute, but a forceful expression of differences of opinion with zero chance of seeking a solution. You won’t find anybody willing to agree to disagree. Listen, we all know someone who will argue about anything and everything, including the color of the sky. (If you don’t know someone like that and totally disagree with me, it’s probably YOU!).
Check out how the writers of the NT use this word. John remembers the time folks tried to stir up a fight between John the Baptizer and his cousin. You may have heard of Him. His name is Jesus Christ. “Now a discussion (Gr. ζητησις/zetesis) arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification” (Jn 3:25). John didn’t take the bait. He drops the mic when he tells everybody that his rep own must be reduced while the Son of God’s must continue to grow (Jn 3:30).
The term shows up a couple of times in Paul’s prequel when he orders Tim to shut down anybody who teaches goofball doctrine because all they do is “promote speculations (Gr. ζητησις/zetesis)” and drive people further from Jesus (1Tim 1:4).
A little later in that same letter, he tells the young pastor that any spiritual huckster who peddles a counterfeit gospel is not only full of himself but also “has an unhealthy craving for controversy (Gr. ζητησις/zetesis) and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth” (1Tim 6:4-5).
Paul warns us that these arguments are a real lose-lose proposition. Why? Because “they breed quarrels” (v23). The cycle just spins. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Mudslinging word wars are fertile ground for further conflict. Maybe it’s all the fertilizer (if you know what I mean and I think that you do). Before you know it, you’re in an endless dispute loop. Go ahead and Google “fastest breeding animal.” I don’t care what the interweb tells you. Rabbits, rats, cockroaches, and bandicoots finish a distant second to pointless debates. They give birth to even more battles.
In a note to another one of his direct reports, Paul uses some of the very same language and gives some of the very same orders. He tells Titus, “Avoid (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai) foolish (Gr. μορος/moros) controversies (Gr. ζητησις/zetesis), genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels (Gr. μαχη/mache) about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless” (Titus 3:9). Don’t take the bait. Don’t get sucked into moronic arguments. They are a total waste of time.
So what does this mean for you and me 2,000 years later? It doesn’t mean we just crawl into our backyard bomb shelter and just wait for Jesus to come back. There will be times when we should take a stand for Christ. But we need to remember who the real enemies are. If you need a quick refresher, they are Satan, the world, and our own flesh. Notice nowhere on that list do you see democrats or republicans.
Our Savior came to our rescue so that we be active agents of His love and His light in this fallen world. That’s not simply having a warm fuzzy feeling toward folks. It’s actively loving and serving the people God brings into our path. They don’t have to earn it. Remember, we certainly did nothing to deserve His love (Rom 5:8).
Paul warns us that these arguments are a real lose-lose proposition. Why? Because “they breed quarrels” (v23). The cycle just spins. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Mudslinging word wars are fertile ground for further conflict. Maybe it’s all the fertilizer (if you know what I mean and I think that you do). Before you know it, you’re in an endless dispute loop. Go ahead and Google “fastest breeding animal.” I don’t care what the interweb tells you. Rabbits, rats, cockroaches, and bandicoots finish a distant second to pointless debates. They give birth to even more battles.
In a note to another one of his direct reports, Paul uses some of the very same language and gives some of the very same orders. He tells Titus, “Avoid (Gr. παραιτεομαι/paraiteomai) foolish (Gr. μορος/moros) controversies (Gr. ζητησις/zetesis), genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels (Gr. μαχη/mache) about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless” (Titus 3:9). Don’t take the bait. Don’t get sucked into moronic arguments. They are a total waste of time.
So what does this mean for you and me 2,000 years later? It doesn’t mean we just crawl into our backyard bomb shelter and just wait for Jesus to come back. There will be times when we should take a stand for Christ. But we need to remember who the real enemies are. If you need a quick refresher, they are Satan, the world, and our own flesh. Notice nowhere on that list do you see democrats or republicans.
Our Savior came to our rescue so that we be active agents of His love and His light in this fallen world. That’s not simply having a warm fuzzy feeling toward folks. It’s actively loving and serving the people God brings into our path. They don’t have to earn it. Remember, we certainly did nothing to deserve His love (Rom 5:8).
Just before He headed home to heaven, Jesus gave us one last command. “Love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:34-35).
This is NOT a call to excuse yourself from the political process. Be a good citizen who’s fully involved wherever you live. But when someone invites you to join in a endless argument, RSVP ASAP. Refuse the request quickly and clearly. There are always going to be controversies that are nothing more than vicious cycles. Check out how the Message paraphrases Paul’s words. “Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights” (v23 The Message).
This is NOT a call to excuse yourself from the political process. Be a good citizen who’s fully involved wherever you live. But when someone invites you to join in a endless argument, RSVP ASAP. Refuse the request quickly and clearly. There are always going to be controversies that are nothing more than vicious cycles. Check out how the Message paraphrases Paul’s words. “Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights” (v23 The Message).
Before you get your undies in a bundle one more time, it’s probably time to turn off the debate and turn on God’s love. That message will get Jesus’ vote every single time.
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