The Narrow Path Ministries

Why do you think that fellow believers, united in Christ through the Holy Spirit, get so worked up and heated with each other when discussing polarized viewpoints on secondary issues (eschatology, Calvin vs Arminius, church government, etc)?

Also, how can it be avoided personally and collectively?


Dave

Hi Dave,

I hate to be over-simplistic but...

Prov 13:10
10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
KJV

Christopher wrote:I hate to be over-simplistic but...

Prov 13:10
10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
KJV

Any strategies for identifing and removing our inherent pride?


Also, do we place to much emphasis on the knowing instead of the doing?

Steve once made a little list about why Christians disagree. I re-worded it and added to it below:

Why we disagree
1. Some people just don't remain teachable
2. Denominational loyalty can surpass loyalty to the text
3. Addiction to certainty excludes thoughtful consideration
4. Some only defend beliefs, they never question them
5. Sometimes it really is just semantics
6. Maybe it's not a different belief, it's a different emphasis
7. Beliefs look different at different stages of understanding
8. Some lack hermeneutical skills
9. Some lack historical knowledge
10. Pride interprets passages toward self
11. Loyalty to theological systems and labels

As far as why we upset over secondary issues, I'd guess the following are often the reasons
1. Pride- (as Chris said) Some can't understand why anyone wouldn't agree with them
2. Boredom- Some have kept too much of God's time. Arguing is something to do
3. Rashness- Some don't think or pray before they talk. And they don't consider the other person's perspective.

Hi Dave,

Also, do we place to much emphasis on the knowing instead of the doing?

I think it is most often the case that knowledge exceeds (and precedes) wisdom. I can say that from personal experience anyways.

Any strategies for identifing and removing our inherent pride?

Matt 26:41
41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
NKJV

I've stayed up all night before praying and wrestling about my stupid pride and then in the morning listened to a lecture called "A sense of the holy" by AW Tozer. It could've just been the lack of sleep, but it worked. That lecture put me on my face that morning.

It's not pleasant, but I think, more than any other sin, pride needs to be fervently fought at all costs.

If any serious student of the bible thinks he/she is immune to it, Paul would say...

1 Cor 10:12
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
NKJV

How beautiful and desirable would the church be if pride were eradicated from her?

Is list-making a spiritual gift?

There are 2 possibilities regarding the issue of whether list making is a spiritual gift.

1. Yes
2. No

Christopher says:

I've stayed up all night before praying and wrestling about my stupid pride and then in the morning listened to a lecture called "A sense of the holy" by AW Tozer. It could've just been the lack of sleep, but it worked. That lecture put me on my face that morning.

And why is it that we, as Christians, are bothered when we see we have been prideful? It is because we love one another. Our pride always gets in the way of our love for each other so when we sin by being prideful it in turns affects our relationship with each other (not to mention our relationship to God).

mattrose wrote:There are 2 possibilities regarding the issue of whether list making is a spiritual gift.

1. Yes
2. No

You forgot:

3. It was in the early church, but is obsolete now that the canon of Scripture has closed.

Actually, in all seriousness, that was a good list of pitfalls to be aware of.
Thanks.

Christopher wrote:It's not pleasant, but I think, more than any other sin, pride needs to be fervently fought at all costs.

If any serious student of the bible thinks he/she is immune to it, Paul would say...

1 Cor 10:12
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
NKJV

I think out of all the sins that plague me, pride is the sin that lurks closest, always slipping back into my attitude and affecting my relationships with others and Christ.



However, it seems that the more I deny myself rather than cater to my wants (and even needs), my pride seems to lose its strength in the same proportion.