The Mouth

I've never been one to back down easily from a "discussion." I have also never been one to back away from a challenging task. In this regard, I feel a lot like Isaiah. Isaiah, when asked whom the Lord should send, immediately responded - Here am I; send me! His willingness to engage people in righteous "discussion" is inspiring.

I have had opportunities to do this. On my mission, in particular, people seemed to go out of their way to find things to "discuss." These sometimes friendly conversations often devolved into something much more sinister and bleak. When that happened, I almost always ended the "discussion" and either moved on or left. I have found that nothing much ever comes of these heated "discussions" and that the Spirit is never there.

But here's Isaiah saying - in essence - bring it on! Bring on the enemies, the doubtful, the deceitful. Bring on the proud and haughty, the learned and wise, the rich and powerful. Bring on all those who would deny the truth of the things of God and I will smite them with the power of my mouth.

It reminds me of an experience I had on my mission. I knew what was going to happen and I tried to avoid it (really, I did). There was a preacher in the park one day in one of my areas. He was talking to a small knot of youth who seemed to be interested in what he was saying. In an effort to listen in but not draw too much attention to myself (a tall white guy tends to do that in a crowd in Korea) I found a convenient stretch of curb and sat down. Soon, however, the young people began to be interested in these white guys in white shirts and the crowd began to disperse. The preacher, seeing the cause of the disruption (unintentional, for sure!) came and sat down next to me. He knew who I was and what I was doing, and he was eager for the chance to "discuss" religion with me. But, as I said, I knew what he wanted and what he was all about. I tried to put him off, and finally ended up saying, "You don't want to learn about my church, you just want to argue." He said, "No, no! I really want to know about your church. How can you deny someone who genuinely wants to know about your church?"

Yep. He went there.

It was very obvious what he was doing - trying to goad me into this kind of conversation. I reluctantly agreed to meet with him.

We went to the train station to meet him several days later. I had assumed that we would be going someplace more private, but alas, he wanted to just stay where he was. I even suggested we go to the church building, which was close by - but he just wanted to stay there. Ok, says I.

Battle royale.

I have never considered myself to be an expert on the scriptures. I have a familiarity and a love for the word of God that has permeated almost every aspect of my life. It has served me well over the years. But never have I felt like I could just summon scriptures at my beckon call to stump my adversaries. Until that day.

For every point he made, I was able to bring a counter point: Faith without works is dead. Not everyone who saith unto me Lord, Lord - but he that doeth my will. By their fruits shall ye know them. The beautiful understanding of the unity of God and His saints as located in John 17.

Ultimately he was stymied. I had not the expert knowledge and years of schooling that he had, but I was inspired and I knew the truth and could not be shaken. At the end, he said, "Could we at least pray together?" I said sure. He said - I want you to say exactly what I say after I say it - copy the words I'm going to say. Then he started out "Dear Lord." I stopped him and said that I had always been taught to pray to Heavenly Father. This was the final straw - he stood up and without so much as a glance back at me, he stalked away. His companion looked a little embarrassed and with a quick bow he ran off to leave with his friend.

I had won.

Or had I?

There was no feeling of victory. No satisfaction of a job well done. And certainly no light and beautiful feeling that I had had in so many other conversations with humble, kind, and loving people who really, really wanted to know. With them, there was no adversarial relationship - we arrived at certain knowledge and information together, walking hand in hand along a journey that they were just beginning. And this journey has continued for me until the present day.

The contrast is stark and striking and undeniable: contention over the word does no one any good; persuasion, loving kindness, and pure knowledge lead to deeper understanding and appreciation and ultimately to conversion.