Beware the Dragons

Do you know the difference between poisonous and venomous? I was mulling those words and wasn’t quite sure, so let me share what I found.  

“According to biologists, the term venomous is applied to organisms that bite (or sting) to inject their toxins, whereas the term poisonous applies to organisms that unload toxins when you eat them.”    (John Rafferty, Britannica)

The word venom was a shiny toy for my inner word nerd.  I believed that the word venom came from the same root word as vein, as the word ‘venous’ has to do with veins, and venom starts with v-e-n, just like venous.  I was wrong.  

Vein comes from the Latin word vena meaning “a blood vessel.”   Venom comes from Anglo-French and Old French venim or venin meaning “poison; malice.”  Please humor me on the etymology lesson. Words are powerful, and I will show you why.

Recently a dear friend called me and was very upset about how she was being treated on the social media site, Facebook. She had put her thoughts and beliefs on a certain topic out for debate amongst people that she thought might agree or at least disagree respectfully. Unfortunately, a certain man kept attacking her beliefs. My friend made two mistakes that we all have made. The first one, she believed that everyone in her circle was in her corner.  The second one, she willingly engaged with a verbal Komodo Dragon.

Real Komodo dragons have multiple sites between their teeth that ooze venom. Unlike snakes with a singular fang that deliver a lethal injection in one quick bite, Komodo dragons must get a hold of their prey and use their teeth to rip the flesh of their prey, so as to create multiple wounds in which to inject venom.  Komodo dragons then wait patiently for the venom to take effect.  According to National Geographic’s Carolyn Barry, “Komodo dragon venom rapidly decreases blood pressure, expedites blood loss, and sends a victim into shock, rendering it too weak to fight.”

In the case of my friend, she engaged with this verbal dragon over and over, allowing him numerous opportunities to inject his venom.  Remember that venom means both poison and malice.  His words were filled with malice, and the poisonous effect of those words did weaken my friend. She walked away feeling emotionally exhausted and defeated.

Engaging with a verbal dragon is not necessary. Walking away is absolutely all right to do as a Christian.

 In his book, When to Walk Away: Finding Freedom from Toxic People, author Gary Thomas highlights the techniques and examples Jesus used to create healthy boundaries and keep his ministry sacred.  Thomas writes that located in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, there are forty-one examples of Jesus either walking away from someone or letting them walk away from Him. Accounting for duplicate testimonies there are over two dozen examples.

Thomas writes – “Satan knows that he can’t stop God’s fresh water from flowing through you, so he tries to get you to pour it down the drain of toxic people rather than onto the fertile fields of teachable and thirsty people.”

Instead of giving His energy to needy, angry, demanding people, Jesus walked away. Thomas writes that Jesus sought first the Kingdom of God and invested in reliable people, and that is exactly what we should do as well.

Jesus said, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”  Matthew 10:16

Tourists to Indonesia, where Komodo dragons reside, are warned not to get too close to the dragons, lest they get bitten and die. This seems like common sense advice, and most of us would heed it.

But if you tell a kindhearted Christian not to engage with an emotional or verbal Komodo dragon, often they hesitate and falsely believe if they just try harder to be kind or loving, or fill-in-the-blank, then they will win this person over towards Jesus.

Jesus himself didn’t win everyone over. He walked away or let others walk away. He did not negotiate, compromise or engage with people who were blocking His ministry.

Walking away from toxic people means being able to walk towards someone more receptive to the gospel.

Your ministry is waiting – who do you need to walk away from?  Who will you walk towards?

Beware the dragons.

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