Bellicose Believers

Few Christians enjoy fighting, but among the ones inclined to warfare, the Bible inspires with stories of battles and other military feats. The Old Testament is filled with warriors so there’s plenty of fodder to feed the hearts of Christians who love a good fight. From Abraham’s war against the five kings to David’s defeat of Goliath, the fighters among us have plenty of justification for a militaristic outlook on life.

The fighters among us feel vindicated by Christ who gave the order:

… he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one (Luke 22:36; NKJV).

We also feel vindicated by Paul who used boxing as a model for the right Christian outlook on life. He affirms how important it is to “land your punches.”

Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air (1 Corinthians 9:26; NKJV).

Paul was certainly a fighter. His life was a struggle against false doctrine and false brethren. Peter was a fighter too, and although he was not a false brother, when he met up with Paul, sparks could fly. When they were together, iron sharpened iron.

When Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.

The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, ‘You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?’ (Galatians 2:11-14)

The Bible on Non-Aggression

As the saying goes, “everyone loves a good fight.” But that saying is the perspective of a spectator. Most of us don’t like to be involved in a fight. We don’t want to get caught in the melee. Watching a fight is one thing, but most Christians are averse to participation in arguments—and with good reason. There are numerous Bible passages that exhort against arguing.

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute (Proverbs 15:18).

Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife (Proverbs 26:21).

It is better to live in a corner of the roof than in a house shared with a contentious woman (Proverbs 25:24; compare with 21:19).

It’s three strikes and you’re out if you’re a factitious man in a Christian church:

Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them (Titus 3:10).

Paul gave a famous warning about the deeds of the flesh, a list which stands in stark contrast to the fruit of the Spirit. The list of the deeds of the flesh shows us the things that will hinder us from entering the Kingdom:

The acts of the flesh are obvious… hatred, discord [sometimes translated strife], jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions [sometimes translated contentions], factions…  and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21).

When the Fight Comes to You

So, Christians cannot be contentious people, but what do we do when the battle comes to us? We fight. We'll fight, but we'll have to pick our battles wisely. One that’s always worth fighting is the battle for the Faith—the fight for sound doctrine. That's why the apostle Jude encourages us to contend for the Faith.

I considered it a necessity to write to you to encourage you to contend for the Faith delivered once and for all to the saints… (Jude 1:3; LEB)

How do we do this—contend for the Faith? We can go to Jesus as an example. Jesus spent a great part of his teaching ministry sparring with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and scribes—lawyers of God’s Law. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the leading teachers of God’s Word in the Jewish community. Jesus sparred with them, leaving us an example of how and with whom to debate.

Jesus never shied away from a debate, and neither should we. We need to be ready and willing to contend with anyone who comes at us with tough questions. We need to be familiar with popular theologies and denominational tendencies so that when we come into contact with them, we can destroy them with the Word of God.

Look at Paul's perspective on arguments:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

The Content

What should the content of our debates be? What should we argue for? The Faith, pure and simple. We argue for the basics, the sound doctrine of the Apostles as reflected in the New Testament. Paul did this.

Notice what Paul preached as he went to synagogues and other public forums. He would engage the Bible teachers and philosophers of his day in conversation, and what did he talk about? The Resurrection, the Messiah, the Message, the Good News about Jesus, and the Kingdom of God—the basics!

When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the Dead.

‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,’ he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women (Acts 17:1-4).

… the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the Message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men (Acts 17:10-12).

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him.

Some of them asked, ‘What is this babbler trying to say?’ Others remarked, ‘He seems to be advocating foreign gods.’ They said this because Paul was preaching the Good News about Jesus and the Resurrection. Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, ‘May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean’ (Acts 17:16-20).

Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them.

He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the Word of the Lord (Acts 19:8-10).

Create a Forum

With these passages, the lesson we learn from Paul is that if you can’t find a forum to discuss the Bible, create one. Share the message in a mall, a park, a college campus, a hotel conference room, a street corner, or a community center. Paul would always first direct the Gospel to synagogues, but he didn’t stop there. If he got kicked out, he just preached somewhere else. You likewise, should not give up when they reject you.

If Paul was rejected in a synagogue, he would go to lecture halls, market places, and even the famous Areopagus in Athens. Why go to the Areopagus? It was a place of debate. History’s most famous Greek philosophers would discuss their ideas at the Areopagus, so why shouldn’t history’s most famous missionary contend for the Faith there?

And what about us? In which forum will we fight for the Faith to save our generation? Whether it’s the Internet or a live location, let's proclaim sound doctrine! Let's contend for the teachings the Apostles handed down to us.

... contend for the Faith delivered once and for all to the saints (Jude 1:3; LEB).