WITH A VENGEANCE

Some folks just seem to be contrary. You say black and they’ll say white with a vengeance. Those are the folks that practice arguing as if it were a virtue.

I knew a couple that argued over garbage… just goes to show how endless the supply of things to bicker over there are. He wanted the trash to be rinsed before being tossed in the garbage. It was what he was used to, his culture.

image courtesy photobucket.com

image courtesy photobucket.com

She, especially since she was the one doing the cleaning and keeping, didn’t want to wash the trash like a glass to be reused, just to toss it into the can where its contents would end up three feet under the dirt of the closest municipal dump, what they call landfills these days.

He reasoned the rinsing of the garbage would keep the foul smell associated with garbage down. The clean trash, he explained, would also be less likely to attract flies and insects that take to garbage like pigs do to mud holes.

She countered that it was a waste of time and water to rinse trash and that he just needed to take it out more often.

They had heated debates about washing the trash, neither of them willing to yield or consider the other’s perspective. They both figured that their way was the right way and dug in like a donkey.

It’s a peculiar thing about an argument; many times both sides have valid points. In a way, the trash talkin’ trash fighters were both right… but stubborn pride would never let them admit it. Which made them both dead wrong.

The both of them just wanted to win, to get their way. Not so different than most of us, especially when young, which they were.

There’s another group of folks that are more than willing to argue at the drop of a hat, and with a vicious vengeance; Christians.

That’s no surprise to Christians and non-Christians alike. That’s the reputation gained along the way.

People love to be right. It boosts an ego and satisfies the cancer-like pride… for a short time.

As much as folks love being right, there’s something else that holds an even more precious place within them; the hatred of being wrong. But in line just behind the loathing of being wrong is the thorn of not being able to convince or change someone else’s mind. That can bring a prideful person’s blood to a boil in short order.

Some of the most heated arguments are over Biblical issues. There’s a reason a lot of level headed folks live by the adage, “don’t talk politics or religion”. Both can bring out the worst in people… even, or maybe especially, if they’re called Christians.

How is it reasonably intelligent folks can read about the characteristics that should mark the life of a Christian, namely love and humility, and live the exact opposite?

“The world will know you by the love you have for one another.” Maybe it’s time to try living that out… with a vengeance.