{"id":366,"date":"2026-05-17T18:52:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:52:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/?p=366"},"modified":"2026-05-17T18:52:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T18:52:39","slug":"in-favor-of-arguing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/17\/in-favor-of-arguing\/","title":{"rendered":"In Favor of Arguing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 My parents often exhorted my siblings and me: \u201cDon\u2019t argue!\u201d We knew what they meant: Don\u2019t be antagonistic, sarcastic, rude, smart-alecky, and contentious. They were right about that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, this proper aversion to crude behavior has been misapplied. \u201cArguments\u201d of any kind are taboo in our postmodern culture. Not all arguments, however, violate God\u2019s will. In fact, the Bible mandates respectful defense of the truth and refutation of error \u2013 both of which are impossible without some kind of arguing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In no way does this mean we should be contentious or rude! We are to be \u201cspeaking the truth in love\u201d (Ephesians 4:15). Contentions, on the other hand, are among the \u201cworks of the flesh\u201d that will cause on to be lost eternally (Galatians 5:20).<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus was the greatest debater ever to walk the earth! He answered critics\u2019 arguments in ways that could not be contradicted. He convicted people of the truth by appealing to Scripture and sound reasoning. While never being rude, He exposed sin, error, and hypocrisy. Of course, His opponents didn\u2019t always appreciate it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Apollos, too, was a skilled and effective debater. In Corinth \u201che vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ\u201d (Acts 18:28). When error was advanced Apollos didn\u2019t sit quietly by but refuted it with great energy and passion. Since the error was public, he refuted it publicly so that all might see the difference. He proved his point with Scripture. And Apollos had a point worth proving. Whether or not Jesus is the Christ is no minor issue!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 To \u201cargue\u201d is simply to advance a line of reasoning. God commands us to be ready to give an answer to those who ask for a reason for our hope (1 Peter 3:15). Yes, we can and should argue without being argumentative. We must contend earnestly for the faith (Jude 3) without being contentious.<\/span><\/p>\n

–Joe Slater<\/span><\/p>\n

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\r \t\t\r \t\t\"\"<\/a>\r \t\t  <\/span>\r \t\tSend article as PDF<\/span>\r \t\t  <\/span>\r \t\t\r \t\t\r \t<\/form>\r <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 My parents often exhorted my siblings and me: \u201cDon\u2019t argue!\u201d We knew what they meant: Don\u2019t be antagonistic, sarcastic, rude, smart-alecky, and contentious. They were right about that. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, this proper aversion to crude behavior has been misapplied. \u201cArguments\u201d…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading… In Favor of Arguing<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":367,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366\/revisions\/367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}