This comic/commentary was written on January 23, 2020
New ideas come out all the time. And within Christianity, there are a lot of disputed ideas. The difficult part is, that it’s easy to stick with one set of ideas and just, never want to change. It’s understandable, it’s easy that way, and it feels great to feel like you’re in the “right camp” all the time. To change your mind would make you “wrong” and that doesn’t feel good.
But any reasonable person would know that you need to change your mind when new information disproves old ones. One ought to remain somewhat open-minded to new information. But for me personally, I’ve just, shut that off for many years. It’s only in recent years that I was forced to consider new ideas within Christianity, and it’s changed my theology and politics for sure, for the better.
The problem is this: people stick with their traditions because they just want to be “right”. The focus is on preserving what they know to be true. But the goal of any Christian should be to love God and love others. So what if your traditions are actually barring you from doing those things biblically? What if your traditions are actually not commanded by God but by men? What then? If you decide to stick with them for fear of community backlash or your own pride, then you have similarities with the Pharisees. Jesus came and showed that many traditions that people held were missing the point. People had to change their minds. And many did and found eternal life, the ones that refused, well, they missed out on the offer of a lifetime.
The Bible tells us to value whatever is true (which, according to Jesus, is His word). It’s virtuous then, to be like the Bereans (Acts 17:11) who diligently searched the scriptures to validate Paul’s teachings. We, likewise, should be doing the same thing to the teachings we hear. Years ago I knew nothing about Bible translations or historical contexts, now that I know those things, a lot of my presumptions had to change. And that’s a good thing because I’m changing my views to better fit God’s.
I am thankful for genuine-hearted scholars and teachers who spend their lives searching for truth. But I am most thankful for the Holy Spirit, may He grant us all discernment.
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