The antithesis between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is as strong as ever. Believing image bearers cannot look for common ground with unbelievers with as much hope as they could a short while ago. As the familiar math word problem put it, two cultures departed the train station in Chicago, and the one steaming to the left is moving a thousand miles an hour. It also jumped the rails and headed over the cliff. Only the offspring of the serpent would think that getting more of its own kind on the death train is winning. Making death legal, or moral sounding or using medical jargon does not make it something other than death.

We live in such a culture/nation/time of lies and self-love. Christians should not be surprised. But what should we be? We should be despising the vile persons and honoring the righteous ones as we saw in Psalm 15:4. The same characteristics that God requires of those who would dwell with Him are characteristics lived out among men. The light shines when we speak truth, in our own hearts, to our neighbors, and about one another (15:2-3). The light shines where we sacrifice our lives, when we die to bring life to others: neighbors, wives, children, even enemies. Little acts of true love may seem like a pebble tossed into the ocean of unrighteousness, but enough pebbles thrown in the same direction might lay a bridge for us to walk across.

We are not the first, let alone the only, generation to live among liars and self-servers. We are also not left on our own to figure out a plan. Jesus came into the world at a time when the religious people were horrible, and the ruling pagan Romans couldn’t wait to award inventors of evil. Paul preached the gospel to that sort of people, and he trained Timothy how to pastor in it.

Since it’s the summer and since I’ve already taken a break from Genesis, I want to look at some instructions that Paul wrote to Timothy in his second letter. The first target of his counsel was meant for Timothy, but Paul himself extended it to every “Lord’s servant” (2 Timothy 2:24), a title for all ministers and preachers. It also has application for every Christian.

I grew up in a theologically weak church. I didn’t know it at the time of course, because that was all I knew. My pastor preached 20 minute messages, most of the time referencing at least a few verses. Our youth ministry was more of a social hangout where good behavior for Jesus was encouraged but there wasn’t much depth beyond that.

I remember the first time I ever read a book about theology. It was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college. By chance my mom had the book The Sovereignty of God by A. W. Pink on her shelf. Luckily I took it down and read it. I devoured that book. Since then I’ve loved theology, reading it, hearing it preached, talking about it, even arguing about it. I’ve also been in places where—as far as I’m concerned—I’ve received the best teaching from those concerned to interpret Scripture accurately. Since that summer over 20 years ago my life has never been the same. Some of the reason is because I’ve increased in my knowledge of God, Scripture, truth, and theology in ways I never could have imagined. Some of the reason is because, at least at times, I’ve been a real jerk.

You can smell the aroma of a doctrinally arrogant person as soon as they walk in the room. It oozes out everywhere. It comes out when you’re evangelizing. You start to think the world deserves God’s wrath (and it does) but you forget that the only reason you aren’t still in that position is because God was gracious to you, and not because you deserved His grace. It also comes out when we interact with other professing believers in the community. We assume the role of heresy hunters and we’re ready to contend for the faith even when the issue has nothing to do with faith. It even rears its ugly head in how we treat others in our own local body. Those who don’t know all the right cross references or who use the wrong translation or who wear something different, we jump all over. We fight and bicker with each other. We say it’s because we’re passionate for the truth, but we’re apparently not passionate for people.

That said, things are actually bad. Do we not live with 2 Timothy 3:1-5 stickers on our collective cultural bumpers? How did Paul tell Timothy to handle it? Already Paul told Timothy not to be fearful (2 Timothy 1:6-7), not to be ashamed (1:8-14), to expect to be alone (1:15-18). He knew that Timothy needed strength (2:1-7), that there was much to endure on behalf of the elect 2:8-13), and that word-fussers and irreverent babblers lead people into ungodliness (2:14-17). “Indeed, all who desire to to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived” (3:12-13). What are we supposed to do?

I thought it would be profitable to study 2 Timothy 2:22-26, a passage that requires us to correct error and battle opponents in a way that is consistent with the doctrines we defend. This paragraph teaches us how to fight for the truth without being mean, rude, and obnoxious. It demonstrates how to hold the right beliefs with the right attitude. I’ve summarized Paul’s commands under four ways to correct opponents with gentleness. So here is how to correct others in a culture of lies and self-love so that we might fight the good fight (Paul’s own language in 2 Timothy 4:7).

1. Cultivate the right character. (verse 22)

We start by considering our own hearts. God uses instruments, and while He can use even a donkey, He calls those who would be well used instruments to a life of public quality.

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (verse 22)

In order to be the right person with the right character, we must flee youthful passions . Timothy was probably around 40 years old, so youthful has bearing for many of us. Based on the context, youthful passions (“youthful lusts,” NAS) probably doesn’t have as much to do with sensual lusts, boy/girl relationships or romantic interests as much as it deals with the tendency of young people to get fired up and fight. We’re short-tempered and self-assertive. There is something about youth that makes us think we know better and in a moment we’re locked and loaded for battle. (Like the sign in my Junior High English teacher’s room: “Hire a teenager while they still know everything.“) Those with more experience and maturity are less likely to rush ahead, though old heads can still be hot heads. We’ve got to flee, to be aware of this tendency and run away from our youthful eagerness to stir things up.

Then we must cultivate virtues. We are to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace . These are the personal things we must run after and give our whole attention in the hunt. These are the qualities that must mark us before we are ready to battle for truth in an appropriate manner. Before being known as truth warriors we should be known by our righteousness , our holy obedience to God’s standards. We shouldn’t fight for something in Scripture, let’s say something such as Calvinism, if we’re willingly not obeying another part of Scripture. We should be known by our faith , as those who trust and rely on God more than ourselves. We should be known by our love , after all, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” And then we should be known as people of peace . Christ has made peace between us and the Father, now we are to be ruled by the peace of Christ and peacemakers in a hostile world.

Do others know us as unrighteous, unloving, mean-spirited fighters? It is unconvincing to listen to a proud person. All you can hear is their arrogance, not their arguments. It’s like trying to listen to someone who’s constantly poking you in the eye. But when we cultivate this Christian life in the soil of Christian truth, God may be pleased to win our audience and start persuading them before we even say a word.

Character is less like a weapon and more like a platform. Would you rather make your karate kick from the middle of the floor, or from a post sticking up in the ocean, or while you’re treading water in the ocean? A man without character may think he’s fighting but it looks more like flailing.

Opponents may be right about where we’re wrong, not about the content of our arguments but about the inconsistency of our conduct with our arguments. Be like a teflon pan. It doesn’t mean people won’t crack eggs on you, but it will mean the yolk won’t stick.

How sad it is that we are eager to identify errors in others before we examine our own sins and shortcomings. We’ve got to start with ourselves. And we shouldn’t do this alone; it should be along with those who call on the Lord form a pure heart . Those who call on the Lord are those who worship God; those who align themselves with the Lord. We should be cultivating these virtues in a community of people who will help knock off our rough edges. All our great theology—apart from a local body—is dangerous. Lone Ranger doctrine defenders are often the most arrogant because they are isolated from others who can help them develop character before fighting. Be the right person, cultivate your own character first. God (typically) uses high quality instruments.

2. Pick the right battles. (verse 23)

Discernment is a very important part of orthodoxy because sometimes we just need to keep our mouths shut.

Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. (verse 23)

Verse 23 provides an imperative with a reason. The command is have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies (“speculations” NAS). Some battles are silly. They don’t matter. They are foolish (μωρὰς) and ignorant (ἀπαιδεύτους). These conflicts have nothing to do with Christ or helping someone become more like Christ. These debates don’t deal with Scripture, salvation, or sanctification, or in our day things like the sanctity of human life and the sanctity of marriage. Certain kinds of controversies come when uneducated and immature people try to prove their point no matter who gets in their way. They’ve got to be proven right. They’re proud. Paul says, have nothing to do with those quarrels. Stay away. Don’t even get close.

The reason is because you know that they breed quarrels . They are soil from which strife grows. Like irreverent babble they lead people into more and more corrosive ungodliness like gangrene (2 Timothy 2:16-17).

Religious battles may look different in our day, but they are no less fierce. If you are complaining about high fructose corn syrup with the same vigor that you’re campaigning against Planned Parenthood, your scale is out of balance. Defunding GMO companies is not the same as defunding murder companies. Obesity, as defined by our medical professionals, is not the same level of problem as homosexuality, as defended by our judicial officials. Taking to social media to protest that your Comcast Internet is down (again) or that your flight was delayed because of airline dereliction may be the modern way to do business. There is a story, though, about a boy always whining who didn’t have any help when the actual wolf came. Make choices, but fight the right battles, on Facebook, Instagram, in the office, etc.

We all know some people who like to argue for fun. They’ll debate no matter what the topic. I know. I was one of those. I was voted most argumentative of my class in high school. And though I participated in some decent debates, a lot of my arguing was foolish and ignorant. We must make sure we choose the right hills to die on. God (typically) uses wise instruments.

Conclusion

Just as God revealed what we must believe, He revealed how we must communicate what we believe. Our understanding of truth should be accurate, our proclamation of that truth cannot be arrogant.

We should know our stuff (think 2 Timothy 2:15, 3:16-17). We must care about the truth and the people. We must be willing to have and identify opponents. We must sit out of stupid shouting matches and stand on a platform of honor with others. We’ll see two more ways next Lord’s day.

I saw a tweet this morning, “If you’re afraid to offend people, don’t be a preacher. If you love to offend people, don’t be a preacher.” This goes for all disciples of Christ.