Slideshow image

If you haven’t seen the YouTube clip yet of the preschoolers arguing about the weather, you may need to watch it before reading any further.  You can watch it below.

As grown-ups, this heart-poking interaction seems on the surface to be comical and cute.  But as I watched it again this week, I had to stop and consider how often I have been a part of a similar “childish” encounter.  As I reflected further, I found myself determined to learn from the now famous toddlers.  Surely as members of the body of Christ, we must pledge to be careful not to poke each other’s hearts.

Consider with me the implications of such a decision, and perhaps together we can move beyond our childish ways…

  1.  Arguments go nowhere.  (Yes they do.  No they don’t.  Yes they do.  No they don’t…) If I want to avoid poking anyone’s heart, I need to be willing to do more than argue. “Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments” (2Tim 2:23 NIV).   I must commit to a dialogue with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  This will not be easy.  It involves more listening than asserting.  It requires that I actively try to understand another’s opinion.  It means that I am willing to consider new ideas, new approaches, and new language.  The dialogue may not end in me changing my mind, but it will end in changing the polarization of where we began.  Agreeing to disagree is a commitment to end the damaging potential of an argument.

  2. We might not know everything.  Hard as this may be for me some to acknowledge, we may find ourselves in an argument simply because we have limited understanding, knowledge, or even vocabulary.  As we interact with one another, we must always start with the position that we are to “be subject to one another” (1 Peter 5:5 KJV).  Humility is a mark of Christian living.  Only God sees everything clearly all the time, therefore we must be careful not to find ourselves in conflict simply because we lack the full information (i.e. raining or sprinkling - both make us wet).

  3. We can hurt each other.  In the middle of a disagreement with another, sometimes we become single-minded in our focus to be found right.  Being right at the cost of poking another’s heart does little to build the body of Christ.  More than being right in the heat of an argument, it is most important to be found right in Christ.  “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you” (Eph 4:32 RSV).  Resist the urge to win an argument at all cost, for all too often the cost involves hurting others.  Instead, let the love of Jesus work through you to win the day. 

  4. When the argument ends we are both faced with knowing what we did.  Conflict amongst the Body has the potential to leave all of us limping.  “Live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way”(Col 1:10).  Choosing to live a life worthy of Jesus, even in the face of frustration, futility, or fear, means you can still look in the mirror and feel good about the person God is growing you to be.  The alternative leaves us to face the possibility that we are simply “heart-pokers” – which doesn’t’ feel good for anyone.  A life worthy of Jesus will bring healing, grace, restoration, and the miraculous ministry of reconciliation.