“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.” – 2 Timothy 2:22-23

Wouldn’t it be great if God called you to serve in a ministry that involved no human interaction whatsoever? You may be waiting by the phone for quite a while before you get that call. God has called us to be His representatives to all people. Each person is also given a specific gift with which to minister to the body of Christ and, when used correctly, can be a great benefit to the body as a whole.

Unfortunately one of the biggest distractions in ministry, and overall deterrents from people serving, is other Christians. Whether it’s through dissension or maybe through an inappropriate relationship, the enemy will use anything as a snare to get us off track and render us ineffective in ministry. Christians often get involved in petty disputes like what type of praise music is appropriate or how people should dress; all the while the enemy takes pleasure in a job well done. When we’re quarreling with each other we are not tending to the greater things of God, and we neglect His calling. I’ve heard countless stories of “church-splits” over things that are laughable. And Satan is doing just that, laughing at the so-called “Saints of God” as they argue about the color of the carpet in the vestibule.

I’ve seen pastors have to referee between squabbling congregants, which takes them away from equipping the Saints for ministry. If that’s happening then it’s easy to see why Paul encourages Timothy to be someone who “rightly divides the word of truth.” When Christians are distracted from their calling and are not diligent in the Word they can easily be led astray by any “new thing” that sweeps through the Church. Whether it’s by pursuing a bad relationship or fighting with someone who doesn’t see eye to eye with our views, the ultimate result is that we are ill-equipped, immature Christians. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus told the disciples to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Instead we have a church full of people who are as mindless as sheep and as stubborn as donkeys. Meaning they easily stray from the truth and put up a fight when you try to get them back on track. People become more interested in proving their point than in pointing people to Jesus.

If the enemy can’t get you distracted by other people, he may be able to distract with a single person. You and I both know what I’m talking about. It’s so easy to take our eyes off of God to do one of those “I wonder if my future wife/husband is here” scans of the congregation every Sunday. Maybe you don’t even bother to put that “consecrated” spin on it. Maybe you just say “I need a girlfriend/boyfriend right now!” We have God given desires that He wants to fill for us in His time but the enemy would have us fulfill those needs ourselves. Our desire to pursue God’s will and share it with others often takes a “backseat” as we pursue others to share our backseat with.

Paul encourages Timothy to live a life free from distractions so he can lead people to Jesus. He said that people would know we are His disciples by the love that we way have for one another. If unbelievers see Christians fighting then we aren’t doing our job. God did not call us to win arguments; He called us to win souls.

 

“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and [that] they may come to their senses [and escape] the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to [do] his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:24-26