Gunslingers And Bomb Squads

Gunslingers and Bomb Squads

Proverbs 20:3- It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling.

In the Wild Wild West, men were considered men by how they could fight. If someone mistreated you or spoke falsely against you or any of your family, the manly thing to do was to challenge them to a showdown. You’ve seen the movies. There is a dusty road running through the middle of town, frightened women and children peaking out the windows and two big cowboys staring each other down, just waiting for the other to draw their gun. Pretty macho, huh? Well, if you ask me, it seems pretty dumb! I understand that this may be “how the west was won”, but many times men would needlessly die because they were just looking for a fight. Remember how the gunslinger all dressed in black would roll into town and some wanna-be cowboy would challenge him to a showdown just to see how good he was. This kind of foolishness is what our passage is referring to.

The Bible reminds us that it is not an honorable endeavor to go looking for trouble, controversy, or a fight. However, it is honorable to cease from strife. Thankfully we no longer find ourselves standing in the middle of a dusty street looking down the barrel of a colt 45, but if we are not careful, we can find ourselves meddling in controversy, and many times the controversy isn’t even ours. Someone comes complaining about how they were treated, and we jump right in the middle of the controversy slinging around our opinions and personal experiences about the subject. Perhaps, a controversy arises and instead of using a soft answer to turn away wrath, we bristle up and start firing away at our Parents, Spouse, Children, Co-worker, or Friend. In situations where there is an opportunity to add fuel to the fire, we should look to be more like the bomb squad than a gunslinger. You see a gunslinger looks for a way to shoot down anyone who stands in your way. He makes it a habit to seek out a fight. He loves to controversy. On the other hand, a bomb squad only responds when called upon. They run in, defuse the situation, and then get out. They are not looking for trouble, in fact I imagine they like it when work is slow.

So what about you? Are you a gunslinger looking for a fight? Don’t get caught seeking out trouble. You are going to have enough challenges of your own today without sticking your nose in other people’s controversy.

Proverbs 25:8-Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.

2 Kings 14:1-14- Tells the story of King Amaziah and how he went looking to pick a fight with King Jehoash of Israel. Read the passage and see what happens to King Amaziah. This story may help keep us from looking for a fight.