Proverbs 26:17. Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
You can probably imagine that grabbing a passing dog by the ears is a really bad idea. Especially back in ancient Israel when dogs weren’t exactly the nice, tame, family pets that they are today. Even today, grabbing a dog by its ears will likely get you bit. The same idea is true for meddling in other people’s arguments.
The proverb is describing the busybody. Someone who just loves to put themselves into the middle of everyone else’s business. Do you know anyone like that? Are you like that? Are you a busybody? Do you insert yourself into everything? Everything at work? Everything in your family? Do you just have to know what was said by everybody else, and what everybody else is doing, and who’s mad at who, and who said what?
Here’s a more important question: do you take sides when others are having a quarrel or conflict? Do you side with someone just because they are your friend? Soon you may have more enemies than friends.
Being a busybody can be pretty hard to resist for some of us. Feeling like we know everything and are involved in everything can make us feel pretty important. But what’s really important in God’s view is to resist being a busybody. Stop your meddling. Please!
Of course, Christ demands an even greater ethic than simply not meddling. Jesus asks us to be peacemakers – blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God. Our goal, in Christ, should always be to help others resolve their arguments. This requires great wisdom. Being a peacemaker is no excuse for meddling. Meddling never increases the peace. Sometimes walking away is the best way to bring peace to a situation. Often, the more people that get involved, the more the defensiveness and anger will grow.
We have to learn to walk the tightrope of being a peacemaker without meddling. This likely means offering help without forcing your help onto others. Or it might mean suggesting someone else to help like a counselor, pastor, or other mediator. Always being a peacemaker means helping BOTH sides to listen, forgive, and move forward.
Again, it will take great wisdom to know what to do in each specific situation. But, with Christ, we know for sure that we don’t have to take sides. We can care about both parties and seek peace instead. We know that we can pursue reconciliation without any pretense or selfish agenda. We know that we can present truth with love. We know that we can be gentle and humble, rather than accusatory and arrogant. We know that we can to live is Christ.
You: Are you a meddler? A busybody? How’s that working for you?
You in Christ: How can trusting your union with Christ stop your meddling while also making you into the peacemaker Christ wants you to be?
Christ in you: Is there a conflict that you can help bring peace to? What wisdom do you need to ask God for today?
Pray: Father, keep me from meddling in order to feel important, yet use me to make peace in the body of Christ without pride or selfish ambition. Amen.
To Live is Christ 