Desert Echoes #3: Argument

An elder said... And if anyone speak to you about any matter do not argue with him.  But if he speaks rightly, say:  Yes.  If he speaks wrongly say to him:  You know what you are saying.  But do not argue with him about the things he has said.  Thus your mind will be at peace.  (From The Wisdom of the Desert, by Thomas Merton, saying, X)

Over the last few years, my way of thinking has changed.  I have stepped back from some of the strong convictions held by many in my (Evangelical) tradition, including friends and family.  With that change, I have discovered the importance of choosing carefully when to speak.  I wish I had learned it sooner.  I wish I was better at it even now.

Argument is one of the all-time great human pastimes.  Ranked among the favorite themes is religion.  Religious history is replete with rabbis, philosophers, church councils, priests, popes and preachers vying with great fervor for their many different doctrines and convictions.  

In the presence of all those conflicting ideas, some must be accepted and some rejected.  Survival of the fittest, as they say.  The battle for whose opinion will be victorious is fought in living rooms, bars, coffee shops, schools and - unsurprisingly - the church.  Everybody thinks they know something about God.  Some are determined that everyone else should agree with them.  They're usually the loudest.  Many Christians I know seem convinced that they aren't faithful unless they correct everyone for everything said or believed in opposition to their own doctrine or morality.  Anything less is perceived as compromise.  Apparently, people must be told they are wrong.  Is that the heart of faithfulness to Christ?

The Desert Fathers felt otherwise.  They realized that they were responsible for their own faith and obedience.  The rest of the world was in God's hands.  They played their part in building the kingdom.  They allowed others to play their own parts as they were led, trusting that God was in control.  There was no point in arguing.  God has the final word, and that word was Jesus.  What arrogance to think that we can change a heart!?

Scandalous!  What about evangelism?  What about missions?  What about morality?  What about justice?

Evangelism and missions were accomplished through proclaiming the good news of Christ.  Not wrangling over it.  As for morality and justice.  What does humanity know about them?  We trade in injustice - damning one wrong with the same breath we justify another.  That doesn't give us an excuse to do nothing.  But what injustice was ever stopped by argument?  The Desert Fathers lived out their love for God and their love for people as an example.  After all, which is the better testimony?  A lecture?  Or a life?

Side Note:  It is amusing to notice the contemporary lack of confrontation in the apparent tone of the elder's suggested response of disagreement:  "You know what you are saying."  How uncomfortably politically correct this will seem to those of us brought up in the mindset of confrontational Christianity.