Giving Directions

2Timothy 2

²³Have nothing to do with stupid and senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴And the Lords servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, ²⁵correcting opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, ²⁶and that they may escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

It is very tempting to get into the type of theological debates whose main purpose is to shame the opponent into some new understanding of the Bible or Christianity.

One of my favorite stories about the Church Fathers is of Augustine, who was called "the child of many tears." He received this moniker from an encounter between his mother and the great Bishop Ambrose.

Augustine, for many of his younger days, was a pagan (a Neo-Platonist). His father was also a pagan; but, his mother was a devoted Christian who desperately wanted to convert her son.

Knowing her son's love of rhetoric, she was able to convince him to go listen to Ambrose speak. After the sermon, Augustine's mother begged Ambrose to debate him until he was convinced of Christianity's truth. Ambrose replied to her that such a tactic never works; that, instead, he must come to doubt his current beliefs before he could be instructed...otherwise he would just be defensive. In closing, though, Ambrose reassured her that, "surely a child of so many tears can not be lost."

Obviously, he was not lost...Augustine went on to become one of the greatest Christian leaders in the early Church. It is important to note that the passage from Timothy at the top of this blog is, of course, also from a late convert...namely, Paul...through whose work many of the Gentile nations received the word of God.

It is a careful balancing act between representing the Christian truth, and simply being either annoying or dismissive. I know I haven't found the perfect balance (thank God Jesus saves imperfect sinners!); but, I do feel it is important that we strive not to fall into two categories:

1) Separating ourselves completely from those who are not believers...eschewing people of other faiths as friends and colleagues.

2)Refusing to say anything contrary to lies/false witness.

Like Ambrose, we must be patient and wait for questions to come. We must also deal with those questions humbly; we may have a guidebook, but, we didn't write the guidebook. We are on our faith journey as people forgiven and blessed undeservedly...we should be ready with compassion, respect, and support when others come to us for guidance.