Contention is a work of the flesh. It is bred from a superior mindset. I-know-better-than-they-do. So isn't it something we should avoid at all costs? (Galatians 5:19-21)
How do we do that when there are so many different viewpoints? personalities? emotions? mindsets?
I've always had an aversion to contention and conflict. It stems from all the conflict I witnessed while growing up. I often find myself swallowing my words and praying away my thoughts...sometimes not nearly as quickly as I would like to avoid an argument.
Lately, I have less and less desire to read posts or news reports filled with contention. You see, I think contention breeds contention, begets contention. In time, contention flows into a cesspool of stagnation. The pool fills with anger, bitterness, animosity, division, strife, and pride.
It's becoming a deep conviction for me that as long as there is contention in my heart or mind, then it will travel out my fingertips and onto the monitor of potentially millions of people. I don't want that. I don't believe God wants that.
It seems that all contentious elements about a particular topic need to be addressed with the utmost care and concern for those who observe us--for those who read us. I do not want to add to another's ire with ire of my own. Do you?
I have less and less desire to write about things I disagree with. Brothers and sisters in Christ must tread far more carefully than the world when discussing differences. Since 2006 when I first began blogging, I have seen more contention between Christians than I did in my entire 23 years in ministry. It seems that the internet has provided a venue for venting that exploded into a venue for polarizing brothers and sisters.
Does this bother you?
This is cannot be the fruit of the Spirit. We can rationalize it four-thousand ways to Sunday, but in the final analysis, contention is contention. It is fingerpointing from any direction the hand is extended.
Is it quarrelsome when one knows in his/her heart that they do not "like" another individual they intentionally engage on a subject? Is it quarrelsome if a person thinks for one second that their comment one-ups another in a discussion. Competition in the mind of man on wholesome, spiritual and biblical topics is just as vulnerable to the expression and birth of jealousy, envy and pride as arguing over who is the worst sinner at the altar of God. Do we even recognize our desire to contend is perilous in the family of God? To our own growth as a Christian?
I wonder if the race for more page views, greater readership, or more commenters illustrates a seed of idolotry growing in one's heart. Do those thoughts breed the germ of lust--lust for recognition--the approval of man, the validation from man?
No matter how we wrap it up in ribbons, contention is sin. It's a sin born in pride. It is ego on steroids, running a race to the next "Amen" and "hoo wah". The fist-bumps, the chest-thumps, the thumbs-up can be all the reward we need in life--and all the reward we receive in eternity. It's up to us. For me? Well...
"It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife." Proverbs 21:9
So I think I'm going to crawl into the corner of my housetop and pray a bit more about the direction of my reading habits and writing. Meanwhile, let me recommend a few excellent articles:
