Pharisees Pt 4:
12 Signs You Might Be a Pharisee: Winning the Battle But . . .!
There are some folks you can’t defeat in a debate. . . ever . . . whether you are right or wrong! I am reminded of the idiom, “He could sell ice cubes to Eskimos.” (I hope that’s not too terribly “PC”) But it does explain how some are much more persuasive than others. Some influential Pharisees got the “Debate Gene”.
I remember when I was in 7th grade in Texas History class. The teacher wanted us to explore the battle for Texas independence from several perspectives. One of the things we had to do was debate whether or not general Santa Anna should be tried for war crimes. Now we all HATED Santa Anna. After all he killed John Wayne!!! (Well . . . in the movie he did.) But I was chosen to be on the side that defended Santa Anna. Man! I was angry! How could the teacher expect ME the biggest Santa Anna hater of all to defend him?!? Well I finally gave in and we set off to study the issues. And something strange happened. WE LEARNED!!! My side won the debate. Now I’m still not a big fan of Santa Anna (John Wayne Killer!—Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!) . . . ahem.
But I do know how to win a debate. I am good at it. It is fun-fun-fun for me! I know lots of tricks.
Matthew gives us some insight as to how the Pharisee’s mind works
Matthew 22:15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
8) You might be a Pharisee if you are more interested in winning the argument than winning the person.
These Pharisees in Matt 22 were skilled debaters. This is a necessary skill if you re to keep questions to a minimum. The truth becomes, in a Pharisee’s mind, the winning of a debate. Some folks aren’t good at it and will not even bother because they know that they can’t say anything skillfully enough to “win”.
This came to light in a devastatingly powerful manner, one evening when I was on a Christian Message board online. I was debating and as usual I was using my wit and sarcasm to “make my point”. I was startled by a voice from behind me. “Ooooh BURN!!!” It was my teenage son. He thought it was cool that I was crushing my opponent and making him feel stupid. Man did I have some ‘splainin-to-do-Lucy! I tried to explain to my son that I wasn’t trying to “burn” the other person; that I was trying (in a godly manner) to help him by pointing out his error. He accepted that explanation but it was too late for me. God had made His point. I was trying to “burn” the guy. It gave me a sense of control, of importance, of worth to be able to calmly shred a person’s arguments. But did I make a friend? Did God enter into a new depth of relationship through me with the other person? Did the man’s position change? Did his heart change? Was he so awed by my deft debating that he fell on his knees and repented? No. No. No. No. And . . .let’s see . . . uh no.
A family member (now deceased) who was a life long preacher once gave me some advice. He said, “Win them to yourself first, then you can win them to Jesus, because you are the incarnational representation of Jesus on Earth right now.” I cannot make a man repent. I can’t make him believe anything. But I can control my attitude when dealing with the man. If I have no relationship with a person, or a strained relationship, I cannot win the man. The Bible says “He that winneth SOULS is wise.” (Interesting word choice.) It’s the area of the soul where I can “win the man.” The spirit is God’s department. I have seen food, music, sharing a book, sharing a trial, sharing your pain, meeting a need, or even just a simple kind word in due season, do, in a second, what a million years of winning debates could never do!
The Pharisee wanted to entangle Jesus in his talk, wanted to win the debate. Peter proved that a sword can be used to cut off a man’s ear. If you use the mighty sword of God’s word in that manner, don’t be surprised when the injured person doesn’t listen to you.
Oh yeah, and one more thing about Santa Anna. I learned from defending him that the truth is not always so black and white. Sometimes it’s multi faceted. Sometimes it’s messy and uncomfortable. Like us.