Quit Multiplying Arguments

Elijah the prophet.  Sent to demonstrate the Lord and call Israel back to Him.

And we would see him do it in an unusual way.

Summoned to the house of King Ahab, a troublemaker who had refused to obey the Lord, and led his family and followers in the worshipping of false gods, Elijah holds a contest on Mount Carmel.

The contest was to prove who’s “god” was indeed the one true God.

The prophets of Baal went first, but to no avail.  Even after full preparation of a sacrificed bull, a heartfelt cry that lasted morning to night, dancing and hobbling around the alter they had made, loud shouts, cutting themselves with knives and swords until scripture tells us that, “blood gushed out” (1 Kings 18:28), there was still no response from their “god”, and no evidence of powerful presence and rescue.

But of course we know the rest of the story.
Elijah repairs the altar, “in the name of the Lord” (18:32), and ultimately calls to his God, the only one and true God of Israel, and He shows up in a powerful and magnificent way!  (18:38)

Elijah’s weapon is prayer.  And his decisive manner is a convergence upon common ground.

Instead of giving in to an empty exchange of insults, he chooses to appropriately apply God’s healing salve to the souls of the despairing heathens.  Instead of multiplying arguments that lead only to false security and increased irritation, he allows God’s strength to speak for itself.

My commentary says this, “Use the invincible weapon of prayer; show the heavens opened and the gracious rain descending upon all broken hearts, and bringing the blessings of a full redemption. Give to our generation this conclusive practical evidence. This is the surest means of casting down the idol into the dust, without having recourse to that exterminating sword which the prophet of the old covenant was commanded to draw upon the idolatrous priests. We live under another dispensation, and ours is that sword of the Spirit which only wounds to heal.”

We are living in a retaliating world where we remain insistent upon meeting sword for sword.  In a weak and feeble effort to “stand our ground” and “believe in the victory of our cause”, we misrepresent the gentleness of the Lord and the lamblike conduct of our Jesus.  And in that way, we risk zero conversions and continue behaving with deplorable practical atheism.

This world needs a Savior, not a sword.
This world needs a Defender, not a debate.
This world needs an example of love and grace and peace.
And we win them to Jesus not by war but witness.

Let’s quit multiplying arguments that only result in division as we seek to properly represent the Lord.

“They will know us by our love.”  (John 13:35),  not by our offensiveness, and our debating of matters that pale in comparison to, “the to the glory he will reveal to us later.”  (Rom 8:18)