New Testament Christianity is a lifestyle that teaches every believer to love peace. Any man who loves to fight just for fighting’s sake has not submitted himself to the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matt. 5:9) James is consistent with the words of the Savior when he asserts, “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated.” (James 3:17) Any believer right with his God will, like the psalmist of old (Ps. 120:7), be in favor of peace. He will not live his life trying to pick fights.

On the other hand, there is such a thing as a good fight, according to the Apostle Paul. To Timothy, he enjoined, “Fight the good fight of faith.” (1 Tim. 6:12) If Paul’s son in the faith was to be obedient to this command, he must first make a judgment call and determine which fight is, indeed, the good fight. Logically, the existence of the good fight presupposes the existence of at least one bad fight. Timothy had to exercise discernment in choosing in which fight to engage and from which fight(s) to retire. In short, he had to pick his fights.

Today, the child of God is likewise faced with a dizzying array of battles over theological issues, each having its own cause and each demanding its share of time. Some fights are worth fighting while others are not. In addition to the cost of fighting in terms of spent time, there is also the potential cost of broken friendships that accompanies some fights. If possible, the information age has only made the number of fights to be fought greater than ever before and the accompanying need for discernment more acute. What were once only local heresies can now instantly become public to a greater number of people faster than ever before. Like Timothy of old, while we today should not go around picking fights, we must learn to pick our fights.

To be sure, there are many that are involved in fights today that do not help believers fulfill the Great Commission or live holy lives before God. These fights only serve to cause unnecessary division and have the effect of an army shooting their own soldiers in battle. The existence of these kinds of fights has caused some to become more pacifistic in their nature. The reality of a bad fight has caused them to be very reluctant to ever take up the sword in the good fight. They often tend to trivialize issues and rightly ask the question, “Is this issue really worth fighting about?” Although there are times when the answer to this question is a decided “No,” there are also times when the answer is a definite “Yes.”

A reading of the epistles of Paul commonly called pastoral epistles reveals that there were often issues that seemed insignificant that were in reality more important than what they seemed to be. The Apostle of the Gentiles was quick to name names and expose heresies whenever they appeared. For example, in his First Epistle to Timothy, he warned:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (4:1-3)

Clearly, these teachers are not saved, for they will “depart from the faith.” The spiritual influences in their lives are obviously wicked, for they have their source in demons. There can be no doubt but that these people are evil. What are interesting to note are the symptoms of their doctrinal departure. We might expect Paul to tell us that the way we will know that these have departed is that they deny the deity of Christ or perhaps the inspiration of the Scripture. Instead, the evidence of their heresy is a doctrine that seems to be insignificant. After all, as long as a man still preaches the Gospel, what does it really matter what he believes about being married? Why should I quibble with a Gospel preacher if he wants to be strictly vegetarian? The Apostle Paul, however, used these seemingly insignificant doctrines as telltale signs that those who perpetrate them have departed from the faith.

In the close of his letter to Timothy, Paul implored, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” (6:20-21) The word translated science is a word that usually refers to knowledge in a more general sense. When the translators chose the word science, they probably had a more broad definition in mind that the one generally used for this word today. Today, science is a technical term that excludes many disciplines. The point is that there are all kinds of knowledge, including but not limited to what is today considered science, that are not real knowledge at all. These pseudo sciences present opposition to the faith so that when believers begin to espouse them, they err. There might be the temptation to ask the question, “Why should I care what kinds of knowledge this person believes, as long as he believes the Gospel?” The answer is that there are some beliefs masquerading as real knowledge that cause their adherents to move into error.

In his Second Epistle to Timothy Paul again named two men and their heresy as an example of men who would cause Timothy trouble. He reminded Timothy,

And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. (2:17-18)

On the surface, these doctrines are not all that important. While they present an aberration of Bible doctrine, they could hardly be called essential to salvation. After all, if a man still preaches the Gospel, what does it really matter if he says that the resurrection is already past? The answer comes back that these men, though they only differed in a “minor” area of doctrine were overthrowing the faith of some of those who heard them.

To my knowledge, there is no one alive today actually teaches that the resurrection is past. If such a person does exist, his ministry has yet to hit the mainstream of the theological spectrum. There are those alive today who forbid to marry and command to abstain from meat. And, perhaps worst of all, there are those who espouse “knowledge” that has caused them to depart from the core doctrine of Christianity. On the surface, the battles that need to be fought today are not always soteriological in nature, but that does not mean that they have no bearing on the faith. There are many today who have begun to question traditionally held Christian beliefs, seemingly for no reason other than for the sake of questioning them. Like the landmarks of old, these beliefs were held as a result of men gaining an understanding of God’s will for their time and then standing on His will. Like the landmarks of old, these beliefs should not be changed or moved just for the sake of change. While it is possible that some held to untenable positions in days gone by, every position should be thoroughly examined before being abandoned completely.

There is a trend among humanity to forsake what is old simply because of its age. Judah had evidently fallen into this trap in the days before the Babylonian captivity, so much so that God said through Jeremiah,

Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. (6:16)

Today there are voices standing up in opposition to traditionally held Christian beliefs, causing impressionable believers to doubt what God has really said. In response to these opposing voices, there have always been men who have taken a stand for the old paths. The result is a fight. When the fight comes, there are those who are grieved with the fight, especially because of severed friendships and broken alliances. They tend to ask if the fight is really worth it. In the end, however, fights over music are worth it. Battles over modesty are vital. Whether or not Christians should drink alcohol is part of the good fight. While on the surface these do not affect the integrity of the Gospel, they do reveal a problem that will in time manifest itself in a departure from the faith.