As we walk through this world full of 2 Timothy 3 types, we must remain calm, unaffected by attacks, and unresponsive to their rudeness.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "Difficult Times Will Come
3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
When the devil sends someone to assault us verbally or emotionally, it is our job as born-again believers to allow them to be them and not allow them to cause a reaction from us that matches their rudeness.
There is nothing more satisfying to the devil than to cause a believer to look just like the rager. When we remain calm, without anger and state the truth plainly, avoiding discussion after the first angry response, we have remained faithful to God without becoming like the angry individual.
The only way to achieve calmness and righteousness is to not care if we convince the angry one of anything. The desire to convince someone who is resistant comes from the neediness of being validated and accepted by them. When we don't care if they like us or believe us, we can remain calm.
Calmness and silence are great powers; they are dependence on God rather than our emotions or neediness to be validated.
Proverbs 26:4 "4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be like him. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes."
Telling the truth once and removing ourselves is the only way to handle a fool. They are wise in their own eyes and have no tolerance for an opinion other than their own.
In other words, it is silly to continue to try to convince anyone who loves to fight and argue to win. We don't have to win anything, we can speak the truth openly, and honestly with calmness and disengage when the hearer begins the raging.
I cannot count the many times ungodly family members attempted to start a fight through their contentiousness without rational reasoning. As soon as the short discussion begins to give us credibility, they shut it all down with personal attacks or raging that frightens people into silence.
1 Corinthians 2:12-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment."
They do not like "fanatical Christians" because we believe in actually following the Bible in our allegiance to and love for Christ.
We find the same dynamic in the churches of today, as well as the gatherings of unsaved people who love themselves above all else.
Our greatest defense against the attacks of the devil is to completely rely on Christ without concern about how others perceive us. People pleasing ruins lots of Christians, causing fear in their hearts that someone will not like them.
1 John 4:6 "We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception."
I understand now more than ever why God said to "come out from among them and be separated." When we are the only authenticly born again believer in a room full of ungodly people who are hostile to Christianity, no one in the room will hear the truth. They will gang up on the one who speaks the truth and validate one another in the lie.
This is why I prefer to visit with only one couple or an individual, so there are no flying monkeys to support the lie. People tend to "pack-up" when they are in groups.
I have been in women's Bible study groups where the leader said something patently wrong. I addressed it, the room heard it, and they all ignored what I said, isolating me for being the "trouble maker," even though I was calm and asked that we look at the context.
The silliest comment I have heard more than once from women leaders has been, "What does this verse mean to you?" I attempted to explain that we should examine every verse in context and according to what God intended, rather than being subject to our own interpretations.
Anyone who challenges with the Word any leader is seen as rebellious. In the minds of those who follow those leaders, the leaders are the experts; they hear from the Holy Spirit, but no one else in the room has this special blessing. Again, totally against the Word.
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you."
When the Holy Spirit speaks through each of us, God gets the glory, but when teachers do not allow others to challenge them, remaining, in the minds of the students, superior to the others, then no one is allowed to correct or interject except to praise the leader. The leaders are the ones glorified, not God.
It is possible, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to remain calm always so that any accusation about us is a total lie. It is better for the wicked to tell a total lie about us than to have a half-truth because we allowed our emotions to vent.
We can love God so much that He responds for us so that we remain guilt-free from the assertions of the ungodly.
The less I am around the ungodly except to witness Christ, the stronger I become in the ways of God.
Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
2 Timothy 1:7 "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”
Never allow an unbeliever to trigger you; if you are controlled by the Holy Spirit nothing will trigger you.
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