On Not Talking Back

A number of years ago my wife assigned one of our kids to read the book of Philippians. There had been some gruntlement, Philippians has a lot about joy, so it seemed fitting. When the kid finished, Mo asked what the kid thought, and got the answer, “Well, I agreed with most of it.”

Apparently we hadn’t communicated about how to receive the Bible. We don’t choose which parts to agree with or not. We don’t judge with what to agree, it judges how we agree.

Even those of us who have the doctrine of verbal, plenary inspiration nailed—that each word is God’s Word and is without error—sometimes still argue.

One of the virtues Paul commends for slaves is that they are “not argumentative” (Titus 2:9). They don’t speak against or contradict their masters.

We are not slaves of men, it’s true. But we are both God’s sons and His slaves. When we know what He has said, we are not given the option if we want to accept it, let alone oppose it. When He assigns you a job, don’t talk back. Resist the internal resistance. Repent, if you need to, from a rebellious spirit.

“Now that you have been set free from sin and become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:22)