Matthew E. Taft

Tonight Lindsey found a verse in the Bible that reminded her a lot of something we talk about quite a bit. It’s also something I share whenever I’m teaching about how important it is for Christians to know what they believe and know how to explain it to others. Whether discussing theological differences with other Christians or explaining to non Christians the reasons behind our beliefs, Proverbs 16:32 is good to remember:

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

Many of us have been involved in conversations where a person resorts to yelling or defensively standing by their position even when they no longer seem to have any good reason to do so. In my opinion, when someone gets to this point, they’ve already lost the argument. They’ve got nothing else draw upon, but they don’t want to be wrong, so they get angry. They don’t want to change their opinion, so they say anything (even things they actually don’t believe) to get out of the current predicament. They might escape having to admit the other person is right, but they’ve lost any chance at convincing the other person of their position, because the other person is immediately thrown off by their bad attitude.

What they should say is, “I see what you’re saying, and understand how you could think that way. I don’t really have a good answer right now. I need to look into this more and get back to you.” That’s the way to loose an argument with style. I think Christians would do well to say this more often. It’s better to be honest than spout foolish things just to win a battle, because they’ll lose the war. Do you know what I mean? If we’re all seeking after truth, after all, then we shouldn’t be afraid or ashamed of honesty.

Whether you’re a Christian or not, I think you’ll agree that it’s important to keep our emotions in check with discussing differences with others. I can’t see any other productive way to get a point across without doing it in a way that is slow to anger.