WHEN SHOULD WE TALK AND WHEN SHOULD WE NOT?
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from Afrikaans: Wanneer praat ons en wanneer nie?
Translator: Robin Barker
I would like to share the following thought with you that came to mind after something I read.
What I am now going to talk about in this writing is certainly not about someone who has a mental problem or who is illiterate.
You must never argue a point with a ‘fool[a]’. Because he will distract you and draw you down to his/her level and then he will win the debate, because he/she has more experience on that level and you do not.
PRO 26:4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him.
So, my friends, if you debate with a ‘fool’ as they say in English: “You are cruising for a bruising.”
PRO 10:14 The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
Look at how serious our Lord feels about debating with a fool:
PRO 17:12 Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.
As I have mentioned on occasion, I say again: The reason why a trapped bear with her cub is less dangerous than a ‘fool’, is in my opinion the following: A bear can and will rip your body apart, but a jerk/fool can and will break your spirit.
So, be friendly and proclaim the Gospel to everyone but choose your friends with great care.
Just for interest sake: The Dictionary says the following about the word ‘fool’ and 'jerk'
a Fool – a person who acts unwisely or imprudently; a silly person.
a Jerk – a contemptibly foolish person.
So my friends, consider what you have just read while you also remember Jesus’s advice He gave to us:
MAT 7:6 Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Let you and I proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ as He commanded us:
MAT 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Then, if someone reason with us about what he or she might understand, tell them how it should be understood from the Word. If they then start with an argument, excuse yourself because:
1COR 11:16 If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.
Instead of reasoning to try and convince people that want to make a mockery of the Gospel, we can testify to them how we came to repentance, giving honour to our Lord Jesus.
We can encourage people, share our hearts with them, and tell how our Lord helps us in His goodness and faithful love.
As His children we must live JESUS's love.
Do you remember the occasion of the man who was full of evil spirits and then was healed by Jesus, just as you and I were saved by Jesus – and there were also people present who did not really want Jesus in their lives?
Notice verse 17 as you read it and I conclude with the following words of Jesus:
MARK 5:15-20
15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.
17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.
19 And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."
20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Greetings,
Sakkie