We cannot teach a fool, and we shouldn’t engage argumentative people in conversation. Yet some people camouflage their arguments so that we fall into their traps, the way Eve did with Satan. Whether they speak to us via social media or in person, some people want to confuse us, steal our joy, and cause us to sin. They may use anger, fear, or other distractions. Once we join them in conversation (or via reading what they wrote), we fall into sin. Unlike Eve, we must avoid these tempters. Please join me as I look at Scriptures warning against interacting with these people.
Even mythology warns against listening to Sirens. These were murderous mermaids who sang enchanting songs that caused sailors to sail close to the rocky shore, crash and drown. These fictional sirens deceived the sailors for cruelty’s sake, just like some real people do.
Satan was just as sneaky and cruel when he pretended to be an innocent animal who asked Eve a question. By implying God had forbidden Eve to eat any fruit, Satan made God sound stingy (Gens. 3:1-6). Eve did not recognize Satan’s cunning. She did not sin by engaging an innocent looking animal in conversation, but she was unwise. Remember, Eve was called Adam’s “Ezer” which means a military ally and is a term used to describe the Holy Spirit too. Sadly that strong term has often been relegated to the term, “Helper” as if the wife is only a domestic servant, and not the strong ally in spiritual warfare that she is.
Eve knew she had been formed to help Adam in spiritual battles, yet she was not alert for the fight. Instead she engaged the shrewd liar Satan, disguised as a serpent, and soon she would regret this.
Eve knew God had given her everything she needed for a complete life. She answered Satan, defending God’s provision, but she also added a rule God had not given her—that she must not even touch the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gens. 3:3). God had never told Adam or Eve a rule about not touching the tree, just about not eating its fruit. When Satan lured Eve with the promise of being wise as God (Gens.3:5), she fell for it, even as the unwise sailors crashed on the rocks the sirens lured them to.
Many Christians know God’s prohibition against spending time with angry or argumentative people (2 Tim.2:3-4, “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they cause quarrels.”) In Titus 3:9, Paul warns Christians to avoid “foolish debates [that are] unprofitable and worthless,” and he adds in verse 10 to “reject a divisive person.” In 1 Tim 1:4 Paul also warned Christians to avoid those who “promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.” In Titus 1:10, we are warned to silence “rebellious people, full of empty talk and deception.”
That last word, “deception,” is where many Christians fall into the trap. When people are obviously angry, we recognize and avoid them, as Proverbs 22: 24-25 says, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person; do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.” We realize we must avoid these angry people, but that last word, “ensnared” may evade our attention. Whether people act overtly angry, or use subtle ways as Satan did with Eve, we must not become ensnared.
Remember, in Gals. 5:1, Paul warned us, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery.” Many Christians resist obvious temptations, so Satan switches to using quiet trickery instead of blatant temptations. We need the Holy Spirit living in us, and we need to take our time and consider what we are reading and who we are listening to. If we walk away feeling hurt, angry, afraid or so confused that we want to act out in spite, we may have fallen into a tempter’s subtle trap.
Even if we don’t sin, these tempters can ruin our moods. But often they will tempt us to sin with feelings (even words) of hatred, gossip, division, jealousy, slander, evil suspicion and more.
Our pride tells us we can face any fight, any argument. Yet perhaps we cannot. Remember, Eve thought so too, and she (a perfect human) fell into sin. Only Jesus (the perfect man and God) could face Satan’s most severe temptations and not fail (Luke 4:1-11). So we must let the Holy Spirit fight for us, since Jesus modeled success against Satan’s arguments. Remember, the perfect woman (Eve) and perfect earthly man (Adam) could not resist Satan’s trickery, and we are not even perfect but born in sin. Only when we let the Holy Spirit fill us, can He guide us and help us to avoid Satan’s subtle tricks.
This means that we must pray before we interact with certain people and before we listen to, watch, or read any media we know has tempted us unto sin in the past. There is a good reason why the term “rage-bait” exists. We begin to read something but then it enrages us before we can pull away from the written or spoken words. We must pray before we interact with difficult people who tempt us into quarrels and before we pursue media that upset us in the past (including things that frighten us into worried fretting). Proverbs 17:19 says, “Anyone who loves to quarrel loves to sin.”
I could use countless other Scripture references, such as Romans 16:17b-18 “Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people.” Also Jude 18b-19“…scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.” Over and over the Scriptures warn us about these people.
If you are truly strong enough to not grow excessively angry (or fretfully worried), and if you feel confident enough to not fall into quarreling with divisive people, then you can engage them and read their writings (or listen to the pod-casts.) But if these people and organizations have caused you to fall into sin in the past, please stay away from them. Some people will not teach us, and they do not really offer us news but slanted and hateful opinions. When they do this, we may not be strong enough to not let them upset us so much that we sin, even as Eve sinned in eating a forbidden fruit.
God wants us to love others and talk to them, at times even correct them. But Proverbs 26:4 warns, “Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are.” We must discern whether we should interact with some “fools” (as God sees them). At times, he will let us know we should avoid them, even as Jesus said to Satan, “Begone Satan,” Matt. 4:10. We may claim we are not sinning, but if our hearts harbor bitterness and spite, we have sinned, even if we do not say a word to another person, as seen in Psalm 19:12-14 “How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins. Do not let them control me. Then I will be free from guilt and innocent from great sin. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Jesus also confirmed the hidden sins of the heart when he compared lust to adultery in Matt. 5:28, “But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Jesus says that the wrong things we think are still sins, even if we do not speak them aloud to another person. So if we are tempted to think sinful thoughts (with unkindness, spite, etc.) we have sinned, and we are better off avoiding those people and their words, whether spoken or written.
Like Eve, we must avoid the subtle tempters. She was perfect yet fell into sin, therefore we sinners cannot resist the same temptations unless we allow the Holy Spirit to fully fill us. Some of us should still flee the temptation to listen to those people and not feel ashamed of needing to flee, because the Lord said in 2 Tim.2:22, “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” If we feel we cannot resist, God will honor our flight from the temptations. He will not shame us when we acknowledge things that tempt us too much.
I pray I’ve encouraged you to stand strong in your faith but also given you permission to flee from any written or spoken words that enflame your sin nature. Everyone has limits to their patience, and we must realize this and know when to listen and when to walk away. Thanks for joining us. Have a blessed week!