Drama

"Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness." - 2 Timothy 2:23


     Have you ever been at work and witnessed the phenomenon that occurs when some trivial issue separates most of the staff into factions? Two people get in a disagreement and it starts out as something relatively private, but before long everyone at work is somehow a part of it. 

It starts out as something silly and simple:
"I can't believe they're dating. I think that's unprofessional." 
"Did you hear about the new boss? I heard that she's changing the way we're doing everything."

Then, it snowballs...
"They have the right to date if they want to! Their personal life is their own business as long as it doesn't affect their work." "Yeah, but I still think it's unprofessional. What happens if they break up and it gets  messy?" "That's none of our business. If I were in that situation..." etc.
"She is the new boss and we may have to do things differently. That's just part of it." "Yeah, well I've done things in this particular way for years and I'm not gonna change because some new idealist happens to take a position above me." "If you don't, you'll be fired!" "I won't get caught..." etc.

You get what I'm saying. Something that's honestly not worth debating becomes the latest and greatest staff drama. I really hate listening to it, but I even get sucked into it sometimes.


     The saddest thing about this situation is that it occurs between Christians all the time. Somebody does or teaches something that somebody else disagrees with, so the offended party goes and talks to someone else about it. Then, a few days or weeks of gossip and debating later, the whole congregation has taken a side on the issue that really wasn't a big deal to begin with. We all know how it feels to be sucked into this type of drama.

When Paul wrote 2 Timothy 2:23, 24, he was attempting to give Timothy advice on how to deal with drama that happens in the church (see vs. 4, 14, 16, etc.). Apparently some of the members at the congregation where Timothy was teaching were bickering about things which didn't really matter in the long run and Paul wanted it to stop. He wanted it to stop because it was a distraction and because it divided the members. As we've all heard before, "a house divided against itself cannot stand."


     Next time drama comes your way, stop and ask yourself "Is it really any of my business? Is this really worth debating?" and try to put an end to the drama. Make sure that the quarreling stops at you. When someone leans over and says "So, what do you think about ______?" don't be afraid to say "It's none of our business, really." We're all trying to go to the same place - be the glue that holds the staff, the family, the congregation, or the group of friends together. Be the solution, not the problem.

- In Christian love,
     Ethan