You’ve probably heard that sage advice that discourages one from attempting to ‘argue with a drunk person’. It is, at best, and exercise in futility to do so.

Paul, in his writings to Timothy does not mention those in particular who are ‘under the influence’, or are inebriated, but he does point out a particular mindset of people that Timothy would do well to avoid wasting time arguing with, and it’s those who teach Bible doctrine that does not lead to godliness (1 Tim. 6:3).

Reading on in the next verse, one gets the idea that pride tends to rise up in such people unwilling to hear God’s word when it doesn’t agree with their ‘take’ on various matters. It can quickly escalate to disputes and arguments leading to envy, strife, reviling, etc. (4). Paul’s advice? – “from such withdraw yourself”. He would warn Timothy in his second letter that a time will come where people are no longer interested in, nor desire to hear truth and sound doctrine, and instead will flock to those willing to ‘tickle their ears’ with things they want to hear, as opposed to the things they ‘need’ to hear (2 Tim. 4:1-4). If you care to know more as to how God will deal with such people, you might turn and read 2 Thess. 2:9-11.

As Paul wraps up his first letter to Timothy though, he closes out once again with the need to ‘guard what was committed to his trust’...and to ‘avoid the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge’ (1 Tim. 6:20). As I mentioned yesterday, Paul points out twice in that same chapter...how people will ‘stray from the faith’ because of such issues (10,21), ‘piercing themselves with many sorrows’. And while he might have refrained from uttering such words, Paul most likely would agree with that common phrase we hear tossed around today: “You can’t fix stupid!”

But notice what Timothy is admonished to pursue first and foremost: “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience...and gentleness” (1 Tim. 6:11).  To 'pursue' means to be active in doing.

I have learned over the years how easy it can be for those of us who make a practice of reading/studying our Bibles...to just skim over such passages as we nod our heads in agreement, without ever really taking the time to dive in and let such advice take root in our hearts... especially when we are so close to finishing another chapter we can ‘check off’.

If a new convert asked you what does it mean to ‘pursue righteousness and godliness’, do you have a solid and helpful reply to give them? How would you even define those two words? But there was another word in that list of character traits Paul mentions that caught my attention: ‘gentleness’. It is actually one of the nine ‘fruits’ of the Spirit as pointed out in Gal. 5:23; and Paul is suggesting we need to be pursuing that to manifest in our lives, especially when it comes to dealing with those who tend to be combative and resistant to hearing truth. I think that word really stood out to me because of another passage found in the second letter to Timothy, and if you would...please take a moment to read there in chapter 2:22-26.

Again, Paul exhorts Timothy to pursue these same traits first and foremost (22) and to ‘avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing they only generate strife’ (23). Then he (and we for that matter) are reminded that a “servant of the Lord must not quarrel but ...be gentle to all...”. There is good reason for this. Being patient and humble with such people... there is a hope that “God will grant those people repentance, so that they may know the truth, and come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” (25-26)

Would you take another moment or two and read over those last two verses again? If we really desire for God to step in and intervene, we need to focus on doing our part first, and demonstrating patience, humility, and ‘gentleness’ is imperative. But please make note of the ‘root issue’ here with such people: because who ... have they been taken ‘captive’ by?

We are not dealing with intellect, or common sense, or reason...or ‘flesh and blood’ for that matter. Ephesians 6:12 tells you exactly what we are contending with in such situations. So getting loud and boisterous and bold and cocky with your fine sounding ‘counter-points’ does little in helping people in such a predicament. But being patient and humble and gentle...seems to carry more weight and influence. So the question we need to ask is this: Are you more intent on proving your point and winning an argument...or being able to express ‘truth in love’ so that the one who has been deceived and ‘taken captive’...can find genuine, lasting freedom?

Do you recall one of the utterances of Jesus while He hung on that cross? He prayed: “Father, forgive them...they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). Care to guess why that was the case? Take a look at 2 Cor. 4:3-4 and you will clearly see why they ‘didn’t know’ ...and were ‘blinded’.

Nope....arguing with a drunk accomplishes little if anything that helps anyone; nor does getting loud and angry with someone under the influence of ‘other outside forces’. If we truly want to see people helped, maybe working on ourselves might go much further. I mean, Jesus did encourage us to deal with those ‘specks and planks’ in ourselves before we tend to those around us (Matt. 7:3-5).

It is never lost on me when I fly...when I hear the preflight instructions as to what steps we should take if/when the oxygen masks drop down mid-flight...that we put our own mask on first before assisting a child or other person in need of help. I’m not really sure why that is, but maybe it is God inspired? Are you feeling exasperated trying to deal with various people in your life that just don’t seem to ‘get it’? Take a deep breath...and refocus your own heart on the One who will provide and produce in you...patience, humility, and gentleness. (Gal. 6:1).