In 2 Timothy 2:16–18, Paul gives the most insightful reasoning. Here we get the content of the “babble”: The resurrection has already happened. Paul wants Timothy to avoid this idea because it spreads like gangrene, leads “people into more and more ungodliness,” and upsets their faith. The principle is that sometimes the way to stop a disease from spreading is to avoid the disease rather than fight it head-on. It’s a virus rather than a cancer.

At least seven times in the pastoral epistles, Paul directly charges Timothy and Titus to “avoid” and to “have nothing to do with” ideas and people who pose a threat to their flock. This is jarring since one of the main purposes for these letters is to encourage Timothy and Titus to engage false teaching and teachers. Yet here is where the paradox emerges: Paul teaches a pastoral virtue of avoidance—showing that sometimes the wisest form of engagement is careful restraint.

So, what is going on here? Given that Paul clearly wants false teaching and teachers dealt with and also wants these pastors to avoid certain discourse and people, the question arises: What is Paul prohibiting here and what does it mean for pastors today?

Why Paul Commands Avoidance

Paul applies this virtue to two broad categories: words and people. Five of the seven times Paul commands Timothy and Titus to “avoid/having nothing to do with,” it is regarding “irreverent silly myths” (1 Tim. 4:7), “irreverent babble” (1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 2:16), “foolish [ignorant] controversies” (2 Tim. 2:23; Titus 3:9). In the two other instances, he tells them to avoid or have nothing to do with certain people (2 Tim. 3:5; Titus 3:10). But what is it they are not to engage in?

It is difficult to come up with any real difference between myths, babble, and controversies—especially when you consider that in each place Paul attaches a similar negative adjective such as “foolish,” “silly,” “irreverent,” “ignorant.” In each case, Paul has in mind a certain kind of speech that Timothy and Titus are not to engage in. The specifics of the speech might differ case by case, but they are all of a similar pointless, ungodly, and muddled nature which renders it unworthy of these pastors’ time and attention. But why does Paul want them to avoid it?

This point is clearer as Paul gives reasoning for his command of avoidance:

• 1 Timothy 4:7 – Avoid irreverent, silly myths because “godliness is of value in every way.”
• 1 Timothy 6:20–21 – Avoid irreverent babble and contradictions because “by professing it some have swerved from the faith.”
• 2 Timothy 2:23 – Avoid foolish ignorant controversies because “you know that they breed quarreling and the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone.”
• 2 Timothy 3:5–7 – Avoid the ungodly people because “among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened by sins, and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”
• Titus 3:9 – Avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law “because they are unprofitable and worthless.”

• Titus 3:10 – Avoid those who stir up divisions; “knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is already condemned.”

• 2 Timothy 2:16–18 – Avoid irreverent babble because “it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.”

Read More