Winning Friends or Winning Arguments?

Galatians 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.

I studied a bit this afternoon to try and make some progress in my Doctoral program. I enjoy studying Apologetics (defense of the faith) and meditated today on this thought: "It is more important to make a friend than to win an argument." Though not always true (Sir Neville Chamberlain found that it didn't work with Hitler), I feel a lot more heat is generated than light in many debates and both sides forget that good men can disagree on difficult issues.

We are working with students from many different churches and rub shoulders with different missionaries as we endeavor to work together to train believers through Puerto Rico Baptist College. A Bible college is not a one man show. I am thankful to God that we have been blessed with many seasons of peace in working with each other. My hope is that in our witnessing and evangelism may be as equally effective. In our work of church planting, we must find ways to go on the offense with the gospel without being unnecessarily offensive.

Come on down here and help us! We don't bite!

(I borrowed the photo from the blog of Joyce DeWeese, http://joycedeweese.blogspot.com/ Joyce is on staff with Continental Baptist Missions and is the mother of Leann, our intern last summer.)