‘A gentle answer makes anger disappear, but a rough answer makes it grow. Listening to wise people increases your knowledge, but only nonsense comes from the mouths of fools.’ Proverbs 15:1-2

I wish that I understood the bible more. There are some things that even though I read time and again I just don’t seem to understand. That is why it is good to talk with other likeminded individuals who share the same Christian view. Even so, once I have a fixed idea unless you can show me the context and not just the text, I will stubbornly not move my stance until I have prayerfully considered it and enquired God for his intervention. Scriptural disagreements do not always have to be bad as long as you remember that God is love and everything should be done in order that his love still shines through.

I was shock to read then about a 67-year-old retired pastor who reportedly shot a fellow retired pastor when the two got into an argument about the Bible in the senior home where they both lived.

According to ChristianToday.com, 67-year-old wheelchair-bound Ted Merchant shot 80-year-old Allen Smith twice in the head, killing him immediately after the two men had a disagreement about the Bible. Residents of Senior Suites of Rainbow Beach in Chicago where Merchant and Smith lived reported that the two former pastors often debated about the Bible out on the complex’s back patio.

I really feel for the family of both men especially that of the deceased. More than that I feel sorry for the damage this has done to the Christian community. Since the bible times there have been religious wars and these continue even in recent times. They paint a picture of God who is purely a God of war and does not give us the option whether to love him out of choice. This is not true of the God that I love and serve.

Christian community we have a responsibility to share a true picture of God through the lives that we lead, in the conversations we have about him and also how we share him.

Let us think before we speak.

CeCe Winans sings ‘Alone in his presence’. Click on the picture to listen.