I recently had a friend post on social
media asking for scripture about a certain topic. I should have realized that for her it was a
joke and she did not expect anyone to respond to the challenge. I saw it had a straightforward answer so I
took the bait. I’ve been in intensive
Bible studies for the past 10 years. I
don’t know everything, but know how to find scripture on lots of topics. I love discussing scripture with other
believers. That’s how you learn more. I understand that all verses of the Bible
matter and that we cannot pick and choose which verses we want to believe/obey
and which ones we want to ignore if we are to follow Christ. I took
the time to look up some verses for her, explain them in context only to be met
with the argument that a lot of the Bible is irrelevant and denial that the
verses really meant what they said. This
person even told me that one of the books I quoted from did not exist in her
Bible? Huh? At this point, the topic of our discussion
didn’t matter, and really doesn’t matter now.
I won't mention her name out of respect for her. She asked for verses and I gave them to her. But she wasn’t looking for the truth. She suggested that I examine this
other verse, which dealt with judging others. I
said something like if quoting scripture is being judgmental, then so be it. Again, some not-so-nice reply from her, and a
couple of other people chimed in with their opinions. I said something like, “you asked for
scripture, I gave you scripture. Don’t
attack the messenger, meaning don’t get all mad at me for quoting the truth
from the Bible. I’m doing what you
asked. I didn’t write the Bible, God
did. Those are His words not mine.” Of course that got me called “ignorant” by
this person I thought was my sister-in-Christ.
So my “friend” for whatever reason shut down the whole thread after
telling me I was judgmental and ignorant.
She has the right to delete whatever she wants from her page. I was not finished with our discussion. I’m sure the others were not finished
commenting and expressing their opinions either. I didn’t even get to
read their opinions because she shut down the thread so fast and erased everything that was written. But when someone you are having a lively discussion
with resorts to name-calling, you know they have nothing else. They’ve played all of their cards. And that’s a shame. The old saying comes to mind: Ignorance is
bliss. These days ignorance or calling someone ignorant is an insult used to quickly end a discussion.
