Humility of Thought

Now for something completely different. . . . . .

Our Culture encourages us to be confident, take no prisoners, exclude those who don't agree with us, get done what we need to get done, make sure we're happy, be self-actualized, etc. . . .

There is obviously danger in being timid, indecisive, and depressed. . don't get me wrong. But, I think we've taken it a bit too far to the other extreme where we reject any feelings of timidity, or sadness and try to move on quickly.

I think we need to have a healthy reluctance in our lives. Not timidity or immaturity, but a heart of humility that says, "I may be found to be not right on this, and others have thought this through perhaps more than I have".

This is a good exercise politically,

(tangent: If you're going to let your viewpoint be dominated by the most extreme voices in your camp. . prepare to be marginalized. Republicans are finding this out now. . .if Limbaugh, Beck, Palin, etc are the only voices heard, than your real message is not heard. The same can be said of Democrats with Olbermann, Soros, Franken, etc. . . . If the loudest voice wins, we all lose. Here's hoping for a more measured debate in 2012. I"m not encouraged that it will happen. The candidates pander to their extremes, the message is diluted by it, and worst of all, we stop listening)

spiritually, and especially, relationally. We're not even infallible in the way we remember things. We have to leave room for the fact that others remember it differently. There is a time to present the evidence that shows your correctness, but most of the time these days, we're content to bash or degrade those who disagree with us. And, yes, husbands, wives, and others who love each other do this as well.

Especially those of us who are under 40. . . . we like to be right. We like to find others on the internet whom agree with us. We like to not listen to the 60 year old who has been there. We like to exclude objective truth claims and clasp our dead, cold hands on our open mindedness and flexibility (which is a very objective thing to do, by the way).

Here's to a healthy reluctance that is absolutely sure about our Savior, his cross, and all he has done. And is less sure about our own expertise, our track record, our reputation, and what we deserve. We've been wrong. We will be again. . . many times. We should confess that to other people and humble ourselves. We should give folks the benefit of the doubt on how they remember a situation. We need to be patient.

I'm not arguing for a Descartian post-modern mindset where everything is mush and no one can call anyone out. That's chaos as well, and we experience that in the church all the time.

I"m saying point the thumb, . . . . then later. . . point the finger.