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after yesterday’s sermon, i’ve been thinking a lot about the need to be right.
in our study of 1 john, i came to the verse that said:
If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. (5:16)
it really bugged me for a while because i couldn’t figure out what it meant. i studied the greek. i looked at commentaries. i compared texts. i read some on-line sermons and study helps. no consensus. but i wanted to know what it meant. truth be told, i wanted to know what it meant so i could tell you what it meant. i wanted to have the right answer.
why is it so important to be right? why is it so important to have the corner on the truth? preachers and teachers and other opinionated followers of jesus are quick to point out truth. truth, as they see it. worse yet, they are often quick to tell you that you’re wrong, if you disagree with them.
don’t get me wrong. i don’t think that truth is relative. i don’t think everyone gets to interpret the bible on their own…in their own way…coming to their own conclusions and their own interpretation of the truth. there is objective truth. there has to be.
i assume that if jesus were sitting there with me as i studied that passage, he probably would have chuckled and said, “dude, you’re making this much too complicated. all it means is…” (pardon me for thinking that jesus would have called me dude, but it just seems like what he would say…). i can’t imagine him saying that there were three or four possible interpretations.
i will press on to do my best to interpret the mind of god through the holy scripture. i will speak my mind when i am confident. i will be honest when i am not sure. i will work hard to extend grace to those who come to different interpretations and conclusions than i do.
god save me from the arrogance of needing to be right.
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