In a world that seems designed to offend us, Paul gives us radical instruction: avoid foolish controversies and quarrels. Don’t get sucked into arguments that are unprofitable and worthless. This is profoundly countercultural, especially in our age of social media where everyone has an opinion and every opinion sparks a debate.
The sermon compared these divisive people to Internet trolls who just want to stir things up. Their goal isn’t truth or understanding; it’s agitation. They push buttons for entertainment. And before we know it, we’re angry, bitter, and have completely forgotten the original point of the conversation. Paul says: don’t take the bait. Avoid these controversies.
But here’s the deeper issue: Why do we get so offended in the first place? Because we feel threatened. Our idols are being challenged. Our sense of control is being disrupted. We’ve created little bubbles of security in our lives, and when those bubbles get burst, we react defensively.
The Gospel frees us from this defensiveness. Remember the Gospel presentation from verses 4-8: our hope is secure, we are co-heirs in the kingdom of heaven, the void in our hearts has been filled completely and permanently. This life and all its ugliness is not all there is. If our security rests in Christ rather than our circumstances, opinions, or outcomes, we don’t need to be offended.
What if we simply refused to get offended? What if we allowed our only offense to be the Gospel itself? Our actions alone would lead people to the cross because they would see something radically different in us. They would see people who are secure, peaceful, and unshaken even when the world around them is chaotic.
This doesn’t mean we never speak truth or never address error. But it means we focus our energy on what is “excellent and profitable for people” (verse 8). Not every argument deserves our engagement. Not every offense requires our response. We must be wise about where we invest our limited time and energy.