This saying is trustworthy: For if we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself. 14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to fight about words. This is useless and leads to the ruin of those who listen.
I was wondering the same. It's a bit unrealistic to think that all Christians will agree at all times on all matters...
It's not that we'll all agree, but when we disagree we don't have to talk to each other with so much animosity.
I'd still like to know what the fighting about words is though. I mean I can see that two Christians arguing over stuff, especially if they are not behaving politely and graciously, would be a definite turnoff for those outside the faith (and that is certainly a reality these days).
Hey! This is a church website. We'll have no commercial ats or percentage signs or dollar signs or octothorps or exclamation points!!!!
I'm not going to bother reading the full chapter of Timothy to get the context. I'm just going to assume there's something larger there than just "don't argue over words". Words matter, and incalculable amounts of damage are done to cultures that forget this. I present Exhibit A - wherein all but two people could acknowledge what "True" actually means. Nov 24th, 2009 - My last day as a Christian. For larger scale examples, look at the emergence of Antifa: An entire generation raised to believe that words & ideas are indistinguishable from violence. Therefore, their application of force is completely justified in their minds as self defense. Further, they are committed to war, since their antagonists *won't stop thinking offensive things*. This is because we never held ground on words like hate, crime, freedom, and speech. If I was still a believer, I would be standing in the streets in a sack-cloth robe screaming that we are in the midst of a second Babel event.
Belonging to groups isn't anything new. Getting an arrest record is pretty normal these days. Doing actual community service (not because one is arrested and fined, but to help others) may seem boring in comparison.
I think more context is required to get us going on this one. For example, what was the word '' words'' really referring to?