When I read the Apostle Paul’s letters in the New Testament, I sometimes feel discouraged that the church in the modern era doesn’t seem to be any closer to what God intended us to be than it was in the first century. At other times I feel encouraged that it doesn’t seem to be any further away, either. Time and again, we run into problems that were addressed long ago in Scripture. And time and again, we fail to put those Scriptures into practice, until I find myself amazed that God still has the patience to continue to put up with his children at all.
Near the end of Paul’s life, he wrote two letters to his former disciple Timothy, who by then had been called into leadership of the church in Ephesus. In the first of these letters he discusses what should be taught to various groups, then he warns:
If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain (1 Timothy 6:3-5).
These people in the 1st century apparently understood what advertisers in the past couple of decades have rediscovered; that arguments, anger, fear and outrage sell. But Paul is not talking here about the secular media, which did not exist in his era in any way that’s similar to what we have today. Rather, he’s talking about certain teachers within the church.
The goal of these teachers was financial gain; teaching the things that they thought would earn them the most money. But the result was strife. Paul was warning Timothy in this letter that people who taught certain doctrines were actively promoting controversies and arguments. They were destroying the unity of the body of Christ for their own benefit.
We should not get the idea, however, that these people were going so far as to deny the gospel, or otherwise teach outright heresy. If that had been the case, Paul would have been much harsher in condemning them. (Compare, for example, Galatians 1:8-9). It appears, rather, that this particular group was promoting arguments about what might be called secondary matters. That is, doctrines that are important, but that don’t directly impact on the faith that is necessary for salvation. In an earlier letter, addressed to the church in Rome, Paul had referred to such things as “disputable matters” (Romans 14:1).
I don’t know, specifically, which disputable doctrines the people in Ephesus were arguing about at the time this letter was written. They were probably different from the disputable matters we argue about today. But regardless of the specifics, it’s undeniable that we do still have teachers who promote controversies, anger and arguments. Note that I’m not talking about people outside the church who teach other religions, or secularism, or atheism, or anything of that nature. That’s only to be expected. Rather, I’m talking about those who call themselves followers of Christ, but who are creating divisions that tear down the church instead of building it up.
And, although I fully expect I’ll get some pushback for saying this, it seems to me that some of the worst offenders I see right now are in the young earth creationist camp. Some of these teachers make it a point to publicly impugn the faith and godliness of anyone who doesn’t agree with their particular interpretation of Genesis, calling them “compromisers” and accusing them of promoting atheism. And although I wish I didn’t have to say this, in light of 1 Timothy, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that one of the most vocal and publicly visible of the young earth creationist teachers runs two major tourist attractions that profit from the controversy (most online sources estimate his 2026 net worth as around $55 million).
To be clear, I’ve never met or spoken with this individual, and I won’t speculate here about his motives. From the public information I’ve seen, I think it’s likely he genuinely believes what he teaches, even if he does also profit from it. Nevertheless, he is creating division and provoking arguments with the body of Christ, which is not okay. It’s one thing to honestly believe you are correct on some issue. It’s another to teach your view of that issue in a way that creates division. And there are many many other teachers who do so as well, some within the young earth creationism movement, and others teaching other subjects. This is not a light matter; God holds teachers to a very high standard (James 3:1). And to everyone, teacher or not, God’s word says:
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:29).
My purpose in this article is not to argue for one interpretation of the Bible rather than another. Rather, my goal is to promote unity in the body. Admittedly, I do have opinions about the correct understanding of Genesis 1-11. I’m not an Old Testament scholar, however, and neither are any of the young earth teachers that I’ve seen generating strife. The Bible scholars I’ve read, and there are quite a lot of them, are pretty unanimous in recognizing that the early chapters of Genesis can be understood in more than one way.
Getting back to the text of 1 Timothy, the strife and envy stirred up by divisive teachers affects corrupt men who “have been robbed of the truth.” They, along with their teachers, are the ones who are pursuing godliness as a “means to financial gain.”
As far as I know, the modern prosperity gospel had not yet been invented at the time this letter was written, but Paul’s description could almost apply to it. And the statement that these men “have been robbed of the truth” has an obvious parallel with the seed that fell on the path “and the birds came and ate it up” in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23). In explaining that parable to his disciples Jesus said, “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart.” That’s actually pretty scary, especially because the people who, according to Paul, have been robbed of the truth, are obviously still in the church, and are causing strife and arguments by following leaders that teach controversy and division.
But it gets even worse. In Paul’s second letter to Timothy he writes:
Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen (2 Timothy 2:14).
Arguing with my brothers and sisters does not build up the body. Just the opposite: quarreling “ruins those who listen.” That’s a point we should be careful not to miss; quarreling doesn’t only harm those who argue; even just listening to the arguments does damage. I note, however, that Paul doesn’t say these matters shouldn’t be discussed, it’s quarreling over them that he warns about. In other words, it’s not the subject itself, but the arguing that is dangerous. He doesn’t say exactly how listening to these arguments is harmful, but my own observation is that when an argument over doctrine gets heated, the participants quickly start accusing one another of being unfaithful to God’s word. Some will even jump the gun and make that accusation right from the start (and by no means is it just young earth creationist who do this).
Anybody listening to this kind of argument will hear those who disagree with one side or the other being called, at the very least, disobedient to God, and at worst, told that they not genuine followers of Jesus at all. And listeners may well be hearing both sides say these awful things. Instead of love, they are hearing that God wants them to separate from those who “stubbornly refuse to believe,” on matters where there is genuinely room for different interpretations. Listening to lies and false accusations of unfaithfulness against our brothers and sisters never leads anywhere good.
If some of the people who are listening to these arguments are not followers of Jesus, it gets even worse. Regardless of what the participants intend to say, what those unbelievers will hear is that God’s word is so confusing that even believers don’t really know what it means. If that’s the case, why should they pay attention to the gospel at all?
Now, this does not mean we should put up with teaching that denies Christ, but it does mean that we need to approach secondary matters with humility, recognizing that “for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror” (1 Corinthians 13:12). (And keep in mind that mirrors in Paul’s era were not very good; they were made of polished metal, not the silvered glass we use today.)
So what’s the bottom line for us? Earlier in this same letter, Paul told Timothy to go to the root of the problem and silence the false teachers (1 Timothy 1:3), which remains good advice for church leaders today. For the rest of us, as followers of Christ, I think we have an obligation, first of all, to refuse to get drawn into arguments over “disputable matters”, second, to lovingly warn our brothers and sisters when they seem to be heading into an argument, and third, to have the humility to accept the same warning from our brothers and sisters when we’re the one heading in that direction.
So far in this article, I have not directly addressed the people actually teaching divisive doctrines, because I honestly don’t think anyone doing that will read this article. If I’m wrong and somebody who has been doing that has actually read this far, then my word to you is STOP. God is not pleased by those who sow division among his people. Just the opposite, in fact; he gives a very serious warning, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:17). Your refusal to accept that you might be wrong in your understanding is nothing but pride, which God himself opposes (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). Rather than arguing and causing division, we are to:
Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters (Romans 14:1).
And in every case:
Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).