“I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;”
1 Timothy 2:8 ESV
A good way to define wisdom is to see it as the specific skill of knowing how to live logically and well. A wise person understands how to live properly and productively. The key to wisdom is the knowledge of the Lord and that’s because the earth literally is the Lord’s. A mechanic working on a Ford doesn’t use a Toyota manual, right? To understand ourselves, others, and the world around us requires that we understand the manual given to us by our Creator, which is the Bible.
This is the context of Proverbs.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
Proverbs 3:5-8 ESV
But what to do with Biblical knowledge? How are we to apply it to our everyday lives? What does knowing about Abraham and Moses have to do with our personal relationships, vocations, recreation and all that? Everything! You see, the Bible alone explains life – its origin, purpose, and end. It’s a set of divine principles through which we can make sense of the particular facts of everyday life and history. A principle is basically a huge category that subsumes lots of lesser facts. Thus, skillful living (wisdom) is found when we rightly identify and submit to the Biblical categories of life. The work of sanctification (growing progressively in Godliness after our conversion) is, therefore, the work of the mind!
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:1-2 ESV
Once we’re saved by grace we’re blessed to engage real life – that is, the life of applying the principles of the Spirit over every single area of our lives. This is God’s will for us, not that we drift along, driven by illogical doctrines and emotion. God’s will is clearly stated: that we be conformed to the image of His Son by thinking clearly and biblically and then acting in accord with the truth. The Christian life is the life of the mind. The old way of living was in assuming one’s supremacy over life and categories. The new way seeks the truth in God, not self. The old way presumed one’s transcendent right to have no ultimate authority over them; the new way of the Spirit is to be led by the life-giving principles of God’s truth found only in Scripture.
In our present day the rebellion against God is so vast that our war against reality is growing ever more insane. As seen here, the Bible flatly states that there are men and women. Those are the categories of gender and there are no other. God made us male and female and that’s it. There are, of course, many shades of personality along the way. Some men are more aggressive by nature than others, but this doesn’t alter the fact that men are men and not, in fact, women.
What’s interesting about our verse today is that the Holy Spirit makes a point that men should be praying without anger and quarreling. Why this distinction? Well, because men have a tendency to be competitive and if this gets into our theology then we’re not going to be very loving…nor truthful. If the goal is “winning” a debate then it’s not Christ and the cross. The logic of the verse is that Paul “charges” Timothy to fight the good fight of faith, to contend for the truth over against imposters, liars, and those who are simply mistaken. This said, men must be reminded to be gentle.
A Christian man who sees the struggle for truth as unloving is misreading Scripture and may, in fact, be a coward. He should check himself in prayer. True love is fidelity to sound doctrine because true love can’t be in disagreement with the Lord, right? So a godly man must be prepared to confront error with truth. Just as well, he must do this without quarreling. The best way to think of this is in the following question.
When we think of Scripture and theology, are we more often than not thinking of how our enemies are in the wrong than we are seeking God’s wisdom? Do we go to Scripture angry with those who disagree? Is that our primary motive, our dominant emotion? Do we seek fuel for a fight to beat down others, to prove our rightness and their error, or are we humbly, in spirit or body, on our knees before Him? In short, are we puffed up with knowledge? Christian men must be ever watchful for this particular sin. Men are prideful. Men are combative. And the Devil will invariably use this against us unless we are constantly in the training of grace. If a Christian leader, husband, or father is not constantly before the throne of grace himself his tendency will be to win arguments rather than lead others to Christ and that same grace that should fuel him.
If you’re a man, you need to hear this. I need to hear it…not merely read it. And, yes, if you’re a woman with the same issue, this would apply to you too. All who serve the Lord should and must learn the lessons of humility because that’s the truth. We’re saved by grace and a spirit of anger or dominance is evidence that we don’t fully comprehend the enormity of our salvation. A man who contemplates the righteousness of his eternal damnation for his sin is a man who falls completely and unhesitatingly upon the grace of God. It’s only this man who can contend for the Lord, and fight the good fight, without anger and quarreling. And it’s only this man who can read aright the upcoming verses in which the Spirit teaches us about men and women, deacons and elders, and the fight of faith.
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