“Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly” (2 Timothy 2:16 NIV).
Consider the following scenario: you are in a public venue when you see an acquaintance among the crowds. But since it might be awkward or inconvenient to engage that person at that particular moment, you decide to quietly move out of sight to avoid him or her.
To some degree, this illustration reflects the idea behind the admonition to “Avoid godless chatter…” in the passage quoted above. In the original language of this verse, the word “avoid” or “shun” (KJV) means “to turn one’s self about for the purpose of avoiding something” (1)
In light of this, there are several questions we can use to help us identify and avoid “godless chatter”…
- Is the subject related to a form of entertainment with little or no spiritual value? People often fill their time with various forms of entertainment that feature few (if any) spiritually redeeming qualities. Those entertainment choices may lead to all sorts of godless chatter among those who engage in them.
- Is the subject related to a philosophy, teaching, or belief that seeks to eliminate the idea of a Creator? While it is important to engage with others in the arena of ideas, we should recognize that theories, conjectures, speculations, and presumptions that attempt to establish a creation without a Creator ultimately lead nowhere.
- Is the subject related to a spiritual discussion among those who deny God’s existence? It often takes wisdom, humility, grace, and prayerful discernment to wade into spiritual conversation with those who deny God’s existence. The closing verses of this chapter offer some valuable counsel in this regard: “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth” (2 Timothy 2:24-25 NLT).
- Is the subject related to speculations that can neither be proved or disproved? It is not unusual to encounter those whose spiritual lives are largely devoted to the pursuit of speculations and conjectures that are impossible to prove or disprove. These conjectures may devolve into godless chatter that doesn’t “…help people live a life of faith in God” (1 Timothy 1:3-4 NLT).
As the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes reminds us, “…be warned: there is no end of opinions ready to be expressed. Studying them can go on forever and become very exhausting!” (Ecclesiastes 12:12 TLB). We can largely escape that fate by following this directive to avoid godless chatter here in 2 Timothy 2:16.
(1) G4026 Periistemi Thayer’s Greek Lexicon. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4026/kjv/tr/0-1/