It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Coming!
A lot of times, a lot of us are so committed to our current beliefs that we’re hardly willing to consider new or contradictory information. Take yesterday’s Kavanaugh and Ford interviews, for example. If your biases (we all have them) had you leaning toward, “he’s a jerk! What a terrible person! He’s not worthy of the Supreme Court,” then you probably feel the same way today. If your biases had you leaning toward, “This is a sham hit-job by the Democrats! This lady’s story has no corroboration! How can people try to destroy the reputation of a good man?’ then you probably feel the same way today. Once we’ve reached a conclusion—even if we haven’t heard all the evidence—it can be tough to change our minds.
That’s not a wise way to live.
Whatever the case, cause, or issue might be, we should be willing to hear evidence, consider the sources, and re-evaluate our positions in light of additional truth. I can’t imagine anyone would disagree with that concept, but it does seem like a lot of people resist new truth in practice.
As we’ve been working through a Sunday sermon series in Acts, we’ve seen many examples of people who learned new truth and changed their minds and lives, and we’ve also seen many examples of people who rejected the new information as truth and remained locked into their ignorance and pride.
As you and I finish out this week, let’s do our best to be people who are “quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger” (James 1:19, ESV). Let’s be people who desire truth more than the vindication of previously-held beliefs. And let us be an example of honesty, humility, and civility that our society desperately needs.
— Patrick