There in Psalms chapter 2, and if you would, actually just keep something there, we'll
get back to it, but I'm going to remind us of what the Bible says here in Romans chapter
2 verse 8 where the Bible reads, But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey
the truth, but are of righteous indignation and wrath.
So there in Romans chapter 2 it says, But unto them that are contentious, and do not
obey the truth.
So the problem with these people in Romans chapter 2 is not that they're contentious,
but it's that they're contentious and do not obey the truth.
So it's not just being contentious, because a lot of times people say, you know, if that
person's contentious, or to be contentious in any way is a negative thing.
The Bible's showing us there in Romans chapter 2 that being contentious and not obeying
the truth is what the problem is.
There's two different types of contention, and that's what I want to preach about
tonight.
Right and wrong contentions, right and wrong contentions.
There are good forms of contention and then there are bad forms of contention.
And of course, contention is anytime we are contending with somebody, obviously, we would
think of, you know, you could think in the boxing world, somebody's coming up to
the ranks is going to contend for the belt, what are they going to do?
They're going to challenge the other one.
They're challenging the champion.
So that's really what we mean by contentions, it's when people are challenging another
person, when they're resisting, when they're opposing, when they're arguing, when
they're going against somebody else's will or whatever it may be, that is a form
of contention.
And what we want to determine tonight, what is the right kind of contention and what
is the wrong kind of contention.
So it's up to us really to understand the difference.
We have to go to the scripture and we have to look at the Bible in its entirety
and say, what is a good contention and what is a bad contention?
What makes them good and what makes them bad?
It's important to understand because we all kind of are by nature contentious beings,
some of us more so than others, but we all kind of have a self-will about us, we all
kind of want things our way and sometimes that might go against the grain, it might
go against what another person in our life, whether it's in a home or a business situation
or even in a church or whatever it might be, our will might go against somebody else's
and it might turn into a form of contention.
The thing about contention is that they have consequences.
You know, if we have contentions, there's consequences for better or for worse.
And it's important that we understand the difference between a good contention and
a bad contention because of the fact that contentions cause conflict.
I mean, that's the very nature of being contentious, you know, there's some kind
of conflict taking place.
So we need to understand that contentions have consequences and that they cause conflict
between good and bad, between the righteous and the wicked, between saved and unsaved.
They cause conflict between friends, between family members, between co-workers, church
members, spouses, children.
So it's important that we understand the difference between a good contention and a
bad contention.
And the Bible shows us the difference here.
If you would, you're there.
Well, just keep something in Psalms 2 for a moment here, but we're going to look first
of all at bad contentions.
What is a bad contention?
Well, what we see here in Psalms chapter 2 is we see an example of bad contention
in the wicked contending with the righteous.
The wicked contending with the righteous.
This manifests itself when people are resisting and opposing God's word, when they're
opposing the preaching of God's word, the commandments of God's word.
That is a bad contention.
That's not something we want for ourselves, we don't ever want to be found to fight
against God.
And there's a lot of this going on today, and it's nothing really new.
The Bible says there in Psalms chapter 2, in verse 1,
Why do they hate and heed the rage?
And the people imagine a vain thing.
The kings of the earth set themselves together, set themselves and the rulers take counsel
together and against the Lord and against his anointing, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.
So he's saying there that breaking the bands asunder and casting away the cords and
taking counsel against the Lord and against his anointed, what does God call that?
He calls that a vain thing.
It's a vain thing to contend with God, because it's a losing battle ultimately.
We might think that we're getting away with it, and the world might think today
as they cast off biblical doctrine, as they might cast off biblical principles and resist
God and resist the Bible, they might think that that's a good thing, but God says it's
vain.
And one day they'll understand why it's vain, because God ultimately is going to
win.
But we see this throughout scriptures, the Pharisees, they often contended with Jesus
by trying to catch him in his words, and ultimately went to the end.
And they were so contentious with the Lord that they even ended up crucifying him.
They arrested him, they lied about him, they tortured him, and then they crucified
him.
Contention, in a bad form of it, is when we see people that are resisting God, resisting
God's word, resisting the clear teaching of God's word.
That is a type of bad contention.
Now if you would, turn over to Proverbs chapter 28.
When you get something in Proverbs, just keep something there, because we're going to spend
a lot of time in Proverbs towards the end of the sermon.
There's a lot that the Bible has to say about contention in the book of Proverbs.
So we see here that, you know, contention is something that can be bad when it's a contention
against God, against the Lord.
And what makes it especially bad is when the righteous do not fight back.
I mean it's bad enough when you have wicked people contending with the Lord, with his
anointed and with his people and with his word.
What's really bad is when the righteous just roll over and let him do it, and they
don't stand up.
The Bible says in Proverbs 28 verse 1,
The wicked flee when no man pursue it, but the righteous are as bold as the lion.
We're going to see here in a minute that a form of good contention is to stand up
for the faith, to stand up for the word of God.
I mean, yes they're being contentious with us, and a lot of people seem to have adopted
this notion of pacifism as far as, spiritually speaking of course, we're not advocating
physical violence for anybody, but they just roll right over for these people that
are coming against God and resisting him, and contending with God, and they just think
that somehow they're going to win them over by just rolling over on their back and
belly up.
But that's just not the case.
The Bible says the wicked flee when no man pursue it, and it's a sad thing today
when God's people are fleeing from contentious, ungodly, heathen people.
Here there in Proverbs, look at Proverbs 28 verse 4,
They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law, contend with them.
So here now we're getting into a good contention.
That's a good contention right there, when people are contending with those that are
wicked, with those that are forsaking the law.
And we see that today, we see people who are forsaking the law, and what do they
end up doing?
They forget the law.
And they even get to the point where now they're even praising and condoning the wicked.
And the Bible says here that such as keep the law, those that understand and know God's
word, they contend with those people.
And that is a spiritual contention.
Again, we're not saying that we need to take up arms and go out and resist people
physically, but by all means we need to be contending against the wicked in the pulpits
of America, at the doorsteps in America, and in every place that we can make our voice
known and heard, we ought to be contending with the wicked, and letting them know that
the wicked are wicked, and calling them out for it, and saying no, we're not going
to stand for it, we're not going to go along with it.
We might not be able to change it in the short run, we might not be able to do anything
about it, but that's no excuse to just turn and flee, and end up in a position where
we're actually going to end up praising them in a way.
So it's a spiritual contention.
If you would, look at 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 Timothy chapter 6, again keep something
in problems, point of meeting.
The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 6, beginning in verse 10, For the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have earned from the faith and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience, meekness.
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold unto eternal life.
So a fight is a contention, a fight is when you're bringing it to somebody else,
you're not just running away trying to save your skin, you're not just trying
to keep your hide from getting any scars or battle wounds or anything like that, it's
the complete opposite of what Timothy is being admonished to do here.
Timothy is told to be contentious, to go out and fight the good fight of faith, to
go out and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Those are all great, nice, gentle things that we like to, you know, you'll see
on, you know, somebody's grandmother will, you know, knit that on something, you know,
or have a little, what are they called, cross stitch, you know, they'll put that
part of the verse on there, and hang it up, and have a nice little scene, because
that sounds real sweet, it sounds real nice, doesn't it?
Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness, and those are great things,
those are things we want for our life.
But let's not forget verse 12, it says right there, fight the good fight of faith,
there ought to be a fight in us, there ought to be some contention in God's people
today that stand up against the wicked and fight.
Goes on and says there in the later, in verse 13, I give the charge of the sight
of God who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before a point just
pilot witnessed a good confession, that thou keep this commandment without spot,
unreputable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we're to keep
that, we're to contend, and that is a commandment to fight the good fight of faith.
That's not something, that's not optional. God's people have to be
willing to contend today, and specifically contend with the wicked.
That is a good form of contention that we need to have today in our Christian
lives. You know, and knowing the law, knowing the Bible, that's what's going to
help us, because as I said in the beginning, we need to know the
difference between good and bad contentions. And it's really up to us
to take the Bible and know the law, and know when to contend with somebody
and when not to contend with somebody. Now what is an example of bad
contention, or knowing when to contend with somebody? Well, it wasn't very long
ago in this country, when everybody was up in arms about the bags getting
married. They're all up in arms about a bunch of homos getting married. And that
was the big battle. That's not really the battle anymore, is it? Right. And the
battle is much worse than that now. You know, now that's even while
they're adopting. You know, and that's never really been the battle that God
wanted us to fight anyway. You know, the homo-marriage, it's not the
battle. That's not a contention to stand up. That's them
leading you down a different path. That's not what we
need to be fighting over. I mean, as has been so eloquently said by others, you
know, homo-marriage is not a problem as long as it's immediately
followed by a homo funeral. Right. The Bible says in Leviticus 20 13, you know,
if a man lay with mankind, his blood shall be upon him. Romans chapter 1, they
that do such things are worthy of death. That's what the Bible says.
But they want this false narrative. They want this false agenda. They want you to
think it's all about, oh no, they're getting married. You know, oh no, but the
problem is they're breathing. Yeah. But they're still alive walking around.
That's the problem, violating other people, spreading disease. So we need to
learn to pick our battles wisely and contend for the right reasons. You can
see how people can seem like they're contending for the right thing, but
really missing the point. And we really need to know when to
contend and when not to contend. And we need to learn to pick our battles
wisely and contend for the right reasons. Go ahead and turn over to Jude chapter 1.
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, but even after that you had
suffered before and were shamefully entreated as you know at Philippi. We
were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much
contention. So Paul is showing us there that he was willing to suffer
contention, that he would put himself in a place of contention for what reason?
For preaching the gospel of God, for preaching the truth of God. That was
something worth contending over. Look at Jude chapter 1 verse 3. Beloved, when I
gave all diligence to write unto you the common salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you and sort you that you should earnestly contend for
the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men
cryptid unawares, who before old were ordained to this condemnation of godly
men turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only
Lord God and Lord Jesus Christ. So there's a reason to contend today. We
have something to fight over. To fight to speak the gospel of
God with much contention. That's worthy of contending over. Contending with
with those that would come in and corrupt the faith, those that would
creep in, and ungodly men that would turn the grace of God into lasciviousness
and deny the only Lord God. He says there to contend for the faith. So
there's a time for us to contend. There are certain areas
that we should certainly get up in arms and fight over. But we might need to
also pick our battles wisely in the sense that we don't let our contention
with the ungodly get out of hand and become a distraction. Turn over to
Titus chapter 3. We understand that there's ungodly men. We
understand there's heretics. We understand that there's wicked people
out there. And there are certain times that we are to contend with
them. But another way we need to pick our battles wisely and
contend for the right reasons is to not let our contention with the ungodly get
so out of hand that it becomes a distraction. As I alluded to earlier
with the homo-marriage, that was just a distraction from the real battle
that needed to take place, from the real stand that needed to be taken.
It was a distraction and people just let it get out of hand. Look at
Titus chapter 3 verse 8. This is a faithful saying,
And these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which
have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.
These things are good and profitable in the men, but avoid foolish
questions and genealogies and contentions and strivings about the
law, for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretic
after the first and second admonition, reject, knowing that he that is
such is subverted, and sinneth being condemned of himself. So we're
to contend for the faith, but there's also a time to leave off that
contention when we are to walk away from a heretic. After the first and
second admonition, we're contending with him sometimes, you see this
is something you use a lot of soul winning. We'll go to a door,
we'll knock on a door, we'll start to give somebody the gospel,
and they'll say, yeah, but, and they'll have an argument.
Then you'll take the Bible and correct them on that point.
Then they'll still not get it. You'll have to go somewhere else.
That's two admonitions. And the Bible says it's better for you
to leave off that contention, to not contend with that person,
and to just move on. Why? Because avoiding foolish questions
and genealogies and contentions, why? Because they are unprofitable
and vain. The Bible says it's a vain thing, and that it's unprofitable.
So we need to learn that, yeah, there's good contentions and
there's bad contentions, but even within that realm of what makes
it, when it's right and proper and righteous and holy to contend
for something, even sometimes, even within that, we need to understand
that we can get caught up in something that's just going to waste our time.
And learn to pick our battles wisely and contend for the right reasons.
Another thing we need to not contend, is to avoid contention
amongst brethren. I mean, nothing can slow down the work of
God more than when God's own people within a church start to
contend with one another. And they start to have strife
amongst one another. And now it just becomes about some
drama in the church that they have to straighten out that
never should have been there, just because some people were
contending for the wrong reasons. Because they didn't understand
right and wrong contention. And where the battle really needs
to be fought, where the contention really ought to be.
Who it is that we really should be contending with.
So a form, another form of bad contention is when you see
the righteous contending upon another. Turn over to 1st Corinthians chapter 1.
1st Corinthians chapter 1. The Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter
1, Now I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, that there be no
divisions among you, that ye be perfectly joined together in
the same mind and the same judgment. For it hath been
declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are
of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
So Paul here is beseeching them that they speak the
same thing. That there be no divisions. Because that's
what contention brings, it brings division. It's people going
against each other. He wanted them to be perfectly joined
together in the same mind and the same judgment.
Because he wanted to be able to accomplish the work
for God that God had for them to do. And what was the
problem? Why is it that he had to exhort them to be
of one mind? That there be no divisions. Because there were
contentions among them. And that's what can really slow
down the work of God. That's where people can, churches
can get out of sorts is when they start to allow
contention to creep in. And they get contentious with one
another over things that are unprofitable and vain.
And really contention is something that stems from
carnality. I mean if you find bad contention, the wrong
kind of contention, whether in a church or elsewhere, I
guarantee you there's carnality involved. We're
going to start to look at that. But go ahead and turn
over to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. The Bible says in
Proverbs 13, only by pride cometh contention, but with
the well advised there is wisdom. So the Bible says only
by pride cometh contention. You know, there's been a lot
of contentions this month. And what month is it?
Pride month, right? Well, who's, so who's, there's
pride involved, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's
always on both sides. You know, there's pride within
every contention, but maybe there's only pride on one
side. And yeah, we're contending with the wicked
today during this pride month. But the pride is all
on their side. We're standing up for righteousness and
holiness and godliness and the word of God. And
they're standing up for filth and iniquity and
everything that is vile and disgusting that God
hates. They're standing up for everything that God
hates. Why? Because they're full of pride. They're
proud. They're carnal. And it's really easy to get
after them. And we have a good time doing it. But
here's the thing. A bad form of contention can even
creep into our own lives. Pride can creep into
our own lives and we can be content with one
another. That's what was happening here in First
Corinthians. That's why Paul had to beseech them to
be perfectly joined together because there were
contentions among them. Look here in First
Corinthians chapter three, verse three. For ye are
yet carnal. For as there is among you, envying
and strife and divisions, are you not carnal and
walk as men? For one sayeth, I am of Paul and
another, I am of Apollos. Are you not carnal? So,
you know, they have envying and strife and
division. That's something that all comes from
contention. Those are all forms of contention. And
what was the contentions? One saying, I'm of Paul,
I'm of Apollos. And they're each making their
case for their man. And there's this big division
there. And Paul says that when he observed that,
he called him carnal. He said, ye are yet carnal. So
whenever you see contention, you're, you know,
there's pride involved. And it's somebody's being
carnal. There's some kind of carnality. You know,
this is something that can happen in long term
relationships. That's why it happens within
churches, because people get around each other and
they get to know each other and they start
spending time with one another. And they, you
know, people start to let their personalities
shine through. They get comfortable with one
another. And then people start to find out that
maybe they don't, you know, click well with
other people. They start to rub each other the
wrong way. And the next thing you know, you
know, they have contention in a church because
people aren't getting along. They don't have the
same goals in mind, maybe. But it happens in a
lot of different long term relationships, whether
it's in a church, how about in a marriage? You
know, I mean, am I the only one that's ever
had contention in a marriage? You know, I mean,
that's part of marriage is contention. If you
would turn over to Proverbs chapter 21 verse 19.
21 verse 19. The Bible says in Proverbs 19,
that foolish son is the calamity of his father,
and the contentions of a wife are a continual
dropping. It says in Proverbs 27, a continual
dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious
woman for a life. I mean, that's kind of
interesting way to put it to say it's a
continual dropping. You've ever laid in bed at
night, you heard, you know, you heard the
plunger in the toilet, just running, you
have to get up and take the lid off. It's
annoying, you know, or you have that one
drip outside. You know, it's not
necessarily causing any damage, maybe, maybe
it's not really hurting anything. But it's
not a blessing. You know, it's not pleasing
to the ears. And, you know, it says here
in Proverbs 21 verse 19, it is better to
dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious
and angry woman. I mean, that could happen
in a marriage. You know, where do you
think the idea of the hunting camp came
from? It's right there. To dwell in the
wilderness. Some guys read that and said,
brother, I think we got a solution. It's
better to go out in the woods, you know,
you know, that's not the case up here in
Mount Vernon, we're taking you all with
us. And, you know, but that's what it's
saying that it's better to do that than
to dwell with a contentious and angry
woman. And that's something that can
happen in a relationship. Why? Because you
have people that are together for a long
term, they're getting to know each other.
And, you know, there's carnality that
creeps in, pride can creep in. You know,
it's kind of picking on the ladies here,
but this could just as easily go the
other way. And what contentions do is
that they lead to other forms of
conflict. Look at Proverbs 21, look at
verse 9. Notice the same, you
know, warning here about the same
person. It is better to dwell in a
corner of the housetop than with a
brawling woman in a white house. Wait, I
thought she was just contentious and
angry. But now it's liking her into a
brawling woman. What is a brawler? I mean
that's somebody that's going out
looking for a fight. That's somebody
who's just not happy unless they're
at odds with somebody. Unless they got
somebody to pick on, somebody to try
to put down and bring down. If that's
you, then you're a brawler, man or
woman. So the problem with contention
is that it leads to other forms of
conflict. And if you look at, you're
still, go to Proverbs 22. I'll read you
from Proverbs 26 where it says,
as coals are to burning coals and wood
to fire, so is a contentious man to
kindle strife. That's really
interesting the way it puts it. It says,
as coals are to burning coals. So
what's he talking about here? He's about
adding fuel to the fire. There's a
fire already there and he's not going
to let it go out. He's going to add
coals to burning coals. He's going to
add wood to fire. He's fueling the
flames. He's banning the flames. So is
a contentious man to kindle
strife. You know a contentious person,
they don't, they like it when
there's contention. They like when
there's strife. They'll keep fueling
the flame. They want there to be
drama in the house. They want there to
be drama in a church. They want
people to be at odds with one
another. Whether it's with them or
even better yet if they can just put
two other people at odds with one
another and watch them fight it out
from afar. They enjoy that type of
thing. It's a brawling type of person.
It's an angry type of person that does
that and it's better to be far away
from those types of people than to
have them around people. So contention is
something that's kindled. It's
something that's fueled and what
happens with a fire? What happens if we
just keep fueling fires? Eventually
they start to spread don't they? You
can let a fire get out of control. I
mean you know a little tiny flame can
just take over and just burn down
entire you know forest. Entire cities
have been wiped off the map. That's
what they're doing. They're trying
to spread contention. That's what's so
dangerous about contention. That's why
we have to be wise about who and
where and what we're contending with
and understanding that there's good
contention, yes. But there's also bad
contention because it can spread. Look
at Proverbs chapter 22 verse 10. Cast
out this corner and contention shall
go out. Yea strife and reproach shall
cease. So you see how there if you got
rid of contention you would get rid of
strife and reproach? That's what
contention does within a marriage. That's
what contention does within a church.
That's what contention does when
somebody goes out of their way and
starts conflict and kindles conflict. You
have strife as a result. And it can
even bring about reproach on somebody.
So contention is a very dangerous
thing. It's not something we need to
just be flippant with and we need to
understand the difference between good
and bad contention. We need to
understand right and wrong
contention. That's the point of the
sermon today. Why? Because it has
consequences for better and for worse.
If we find ourselves contending with
one another for the wrong reasons,
we should seek to end it. If there's
contention within a marriage or just
contention within a church, even
between children and parents, that
there's some kind of contention that's
not right, someone needs to end it.
Someone needs to just be the bigger
man or the bigger woman, whatever,
and just end it. Someone needs to
act like the adult and just leave it.
You don't want the mess it brings.
In the Bible says it's better to
dwell in the corner of a house top.
I did roofing for a few years.
That's not a comfortable place to live,
especially in Arizona.
I'm glad I didn't do that here.
I did that back in Michigan.
You're exposed to the elements.
You can't get comfortable.
All the amenities are inside,
but it's better to be up there
because that's how bad contention is.
So if it's going on in a church,
if it's going on in a family,
it needs to stop. We need to leave it.
We don't want the mess it brings.
If you would, turn over to Acts 15.
Turn to Acts chapter 15.
Acts chapter 15 and verse 36.
After some days Paul said unto Barnabas,
let us go again and visit our
brethren in every city where we
have preached the word of the
Lord and see how they do.
So these guys are involved in a good work.
I mean, Paul and Barnabas,
they made quite the team, don't they?
They went out and they started
churches throughout that whole region.
They went out and preached
the gospel to multitudes.
They've been in the battle together.
They've been persecuted together.
They've been in the work of the Lord.
I mean, I have to imagine
at this point in the story,
man, these guys are like,
you know, two peas in a pod.
Best friends.
Dear brothers in the Lord.
And they're going out to do
another great work.
They want to go again and
visit the brethren in every city
where you have preached the
word of the Lord and see how they do.
And Barnabas determined to
take with them John,
whose surname was Mark.
But Paul thought not good to
take him with them,
who departed from Pamphylia
and went not with them to the work.
And the contention.
So what was the problem here?
They had contention.
They were something they
weren't seeing eye to eye on.
They were disagreeing.
And the contention was so sharp
between them that they
departed asunder one from another.
And so Barnabas took Mark
and sailed onto Cyprus.
You know, that's kind of fortunate.
You wonder if we read that story
and say, well, who's right?
Who's wrong?
Well, it was contention
that was so sharp between them.
You know, the contention
was between both of them.
I mean, maybe Paul was right.
You know, Mark ended up
later we read that he ended up
Paul ended up asking for Mark.
He said, bring Mark with you
for he's profitable.
You know, but at this point
in Mark's life,
he developed kind of a reputation
with Paul as not somebody
you want around him
when you're trying to do
the work of the Lord.
When you're trying to do
some serious work.
But at the same time,
you know, that contention
could have just as easy
been left off as by Barnabas
and just said, you know what, Paul?
You're right.
Let's just leave Mark here.
It's more important
that you and I go together
and get something done.
Now, I don't know
if Paul and Barnabas
ever got together later
and shook hands and talked it out
and, you know, and got over it.
I mean, I'd assume they did.
But what if they didn't?
What if the rest of their life
they're just like,
oh, there goes that guy.
They see each other at church
and it's just like.
They never got over it.
People do that, man.
People do that in churches.
Well, he sits on that side.
I'm sitting over here.
And they'll avoid each other
for years, you know,
and it's probably for the best
because if they got together
it would just be nothing
but a bunch of arguing.
But why can't somebody
just get over it?
Yeah, you know,
it sounds, you know,
that's so easy to say,
but it's really that easy
for someone to just say,
you know what?
Maybe you are right
or maybe you are wrong,
but I'm still just
going to suffer wrong.
I'm just going to allow myself
to suffer wrongfully
and just get over it
because the relationship
that I have with you, Paul,
is more important.
You know, the relationship,
what we can accomplish together
from the Lord
is more important
than me just being right.
And that's the way it is
in the church.
That's the way it is in marriages.
You know, it's more important
that your marriage lasts
and that your marriage,
you know,
you don't end up divorced
and that your children
are raised in a godly home
than you being right.
And if you have to just
get over some contention
that's probably over
something trivial,
he threw his sock
right in the middle
of the living room floor.
Can you believe that guy?
You know?
Yeah, maybe he was
a little lazy for doing that.
He probably should just
pick it up.
But you know,
that's no reason to,
you know,
quit cooking dinner
and just watch you starve, buddy.
Because that's just escalating things.
Oh, you're not going to cook dinner?
Let's see,
let's see what happens
when that car needs
to get fixed next night.
Or you want to go out
and do some shopping
and all of a sudden
there's nothing in the bank account.
Right?
That kind of thing happens in marriages.
People get carnal with one another
and they start to contend
and fight over stupid little things
that if one of them just said,
you know, right,
I'll pick up the sock.
Or you know what,
he's had a hard day,
let me pick up the sock.
Over something as stupid as that.
I mean,
people go down just pads
that are just ridiculous
and it ends up harming marriages,
harming homes.
Same thing happens in church.
Happens in churches too.
Happened here with Paul Barnabas.
Well, I don't think we should bring Mark.
Well, I think we should.
Well, he didn't go to the work.
Yeah, but he learned his lesson
and it was so sharp.
I don't know how exactly
that argument went down,
but they were so sharp
that they just couldn't even be
around each other anymore.
That they had to go their own ways.
And of course,
we know that they went out,
that Paul went out
and still continued to do great works.
But that friendship was damaged.
That friendship was hurt.
You know, they went to those cities
where they had been before
and Paul shows up
and they go,
hi Paul, where's Barnabas?
Well, you know,
how does he explain that one?
Well, I don't want to talk about it.
You know, everyone's going,
what happened to Barnabas?
Where's Barnabas at?
Did you notice Paul came to Barnabas?
Did you hear what happened
with Mark and Paul and Barnabas?
So the thing is,
it would have been better
just to admit wrong
and suffer wrongfully.
It's better than dealing
with the consequences.
To just allow yourself
to just get over it,
suffer wrongfully
and move on
and continue to work for the Lord
and continue to see God bless
a church, bless a family.
Then dealing with the consequences
that come when we get involved
in the wrong kind of contention.
And again,
that's not to say
that we should never be contentious.
We have to be contentious
over the right things
in the right way,
for the right reasons.
And if there is contention,
let's leave it off.
Let's walk away from it
because the consequences
are not worth it.
Let's go ahead and pray.