Marsha's Musings: Pooling of Ignorance & Misuse of Scripture

My Quiet Time

If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself. (I Timothy 6:3-5 NKJV)

Paul says if anyone teaches otherwise....

We are to adhere to the Word of God.  Use it as our measuring stick.  

Those who ignore what the Bible has to say and make up their own doctrine, Paul says, are proud, knowing nothing, obsessed with disputes and arguments over words.

It is interesting to read this.  My husband and I had experience with this in a church we attended in the past.  The pastor wanted my husband to lead a small group Bible Study.  Knowing what we do know, he would never do this again.  He was supposed to be more of a facilitator and ask questions to get discussion going.  The teacher's guide had the questions.  

They were open ended questions which encouraged, as we call it now, the pooling of ignorance.  There was no real doctrinal teaching going on there.  

We came to a verse in one of the Gospels about a man holding a staff.  One of the members of the group pointed out that in another Gospel it said it was a stick.  So he started a big discussion that almost turned into an argument about whether the man was holding a stick or a staff.

Disputes and arguments over words. That is what these people will do that Paul is talking about.  Many today will take verses from the Bible and twist the words to mean what they want them to mean so they can justify what they want to do.  Sadly, this the case in many churches.  

They will take statements that Paul said, such as,  "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some."(1 Corinthians 9:22 ESV) and they say it means that we need to make our church services look like the world in order to attract the unsaved to them.  They will argue about the words of Paul to push their agenda for the church through.  Read the entire chapter and you will see Paul was talking about how he lived and was paid as a minister of the Gospel.  It had nothing to do with compromising the church's standards to attract the unsaved. 

Paul's statement at the end of this passage is sobering.  He says, "From such withdraw yourself."  

Have you had to withdraw from these kinds of people?  I have and it's not easy or fun.  It's heart wrenching.  But Jesus never said it would be easy to follow Him and following Him means staying true to His Word and not twisting it to achieve our own agenda, personally, or in the church.