Debate

The Wisdom of Solomon gives us two steps to turn heated debate into solid answers.

The lips of the righteous know what finds favor, (or know what is acceptable-most other versions) but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse. Proverbs 10:32 NIV

The first step is this. Know that It is not skillful, eloquent, or learned people who say things that find “favor.” It is righteous people. Anyone, without regard to background, culture, or learning can decide to be that. The word from the Hebrew for “acceptable” can also mean being “delightful” or “helpful” (BDB/Strongs). The sense is that when a righteous person speaks, they will say things people would want to hear. One would think that someone who is somehow righteous would be forward, in-your-face and quick to lecture the rest of us to straighten up and fly right. This verse says the opposite is true.

The second step talks about what kinds of people say “perverse” things. The term “perverse” means that something good is now being used in an evil way it was never meant for. A hammer that can drive a nail, is now being used to break a a bone. Words that could explain are being twisted to confuse and mislead. When we hear them, we should rightly conclude, with great harshness, just what kind of person said them.

So 1) be someone who can be counted on to tell the truth. Find and support others who do the same. And 2) label those who subvert honest discourse (and of course don’t be one yourself). They are not the same as those with whom we just disagree. These two steps will help any debate to go forward.

Someone once asked Ruth Bell Graham, the wife of evangelist Billy Graham, if she and her famous husband ever argued. Her reply was, “If two people agree on everything, one of them is unnecessary.”

Delightful.

My blog: nextdaychurch.org