Top 7 Bible Verses About Arguing

Here are seven Bible verses on the subject of arguing.

Proverbs 25:8-9 “Do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame? Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret.”

There are two things in these two verses about arguing. For one thing, there’s the command to not drag things into court too hastily. And then, if someone’s wronged us, we’re not to tell others about it and repeat it as gossip. Why not, writes Solomon, talk to your neighbor privately first and see if the situation can be worked out. We are commanded to love our neighbor (Mark 12:31) and we are not loving our neighbor when we threaten to sue them in a moment of anger and then tell everyone else about it.

Mark 9:33-35 “And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

How sad a statement was this when the disciples were arguing over whom would be the greatest in the Kingdom after Jesus had just told them “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise” (Mark 9:31). They were arguing about who was the greatest and there Jesus was in their midst! They probably argued over their own “qualifications” while ignoring the fact that Jesus was going to suffer greatly and die for them! All they could think about was themselves, but instead of criticizing the disciples, let me ask you this; “How are we like that?” Do we live out the idea that the servant will be the greatest?

Mark 8:11 “Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him.”

The only reason that the scribes and the Pharisees came to Jesus was to try and trick Him with questions that had no apparent answer but time and again He confounded them by answering them and sometimes by asking them a question that they couldn’t answer. In the case of Mark chapter 8 they sought a sign which is why Jesus “sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation” (Mark 8:12) and so He simply left (Mark 8:13) which is sometimes the best advice of all. Some argue just for the sake of arguing and nothing ever good comes from that.

Job 40:2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

Job’s friends quickly turned on him after a while and they started blaming him for his suffering based upon his sinfulness but this statement by God is in stark contrast to what Job had said earlier, “I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God” (Job 13:3). Now it’s God’s turn to speak and He has the final say and only then does Job say, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further” (Job 40:4-5), concluding, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).

James 4:1-3 “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

Many times when families gather for the last will and testament reading of deceased family members, they are consumed by their passion of possessions. Twice in my life I’ve heard of local families having a funeral while at the same time some of the relatives of the deceased family member where taking what possessions they could get in one load. They were more concerned with what they got than the loss of a family member. Families have been known to divide, fight over, and even kill one another over things; these arguments, quarrels, and fights are motivated by covetousness. How pointless since all these things are to pass away someday.

First Corinthians 11:16 “If anyone is inclined to be contentious, we have no such practice, nor do the churches of God.”

Apparently, there were a lot of disputes in the church at Corinth over hair and clothing, being under authority, you name it, so Paul asks the rhetorical questions; “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world” (1st Cor 1:20). Is there any reason to be contentious? Christians, we must all remember that “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1st Cor 1:27-29).

Second Timothy 2:16 “But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.”

Arguing with some believers is like casting pearls before swine. Not that they are pigs but if you put a valuable Rolex watch on a pigs leg, all they will do is wallow in the mud.  Neither can a pig can’t appreciate pearls of great price any more than unbelievers can see the value in the gospel, therefore we shouldn’t argue with unbelievers. Just pray for them, love them, ask God to bless them, and allow God’s Spirit to convict them because only God can grant them repentance (2nd Tim 2:25). We make a poor imitation of the Holy Spirit. Only He can illuminate the truth.

Conclusion

Why should we be argumentative with anyone, believers or Christian? We have no such reason too. Paul would ask us, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it” (1st Cor 4:7)? The answer is we have nothing that we did not receive. All good things; in fact all things come from a good God, therefore let us not argue with one another or with anyone outside of the church. God saved us to have us be used to save others (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 1:8) and to that end, there’s no argument about it.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.