- 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NKJV) Test all things; hold fast what is good.
OK, to review…
Be optimistic and constructive…
And also be realistic and questioning.
In a recent conversation, the person I was listening to startled me with a rather outrageous statement. It was given as truth just as matter-of-factly as if they were telling me it was daylight outside at 12:00 noon.
It just so happened that I was sitting at my computer while this conversation was going on and so with a few clicks of the button I was able to discover that there was not a shred of evidence that what was purported as true was in fact true.
How can this happen?
And it happens every day, and it seems that Christians can sometimes be the most gullible; which makes us look stupid to the world, being that we claim to both have the truth (the Bible) and know the Way, the Truth and the Life.
One of the answers to this dilemma is be realistic and ask questions.
I’m not suggesting being a cynic (Oh, they’re so wearying cynics doubt, not question…there’s a huge difference)…
No, what I’m talking about is protecting your intellectual independence.
Let me mention two enemies of intellectual independence…
The first enemy is the tendency to pile up around us those voices and resources that validate our beliefs and prejudices. For example, tell me the news network that a person tunes in to most often and 90%+ of the time I can tell you their political leanings.
The second enemy of intellectual independence is the tendency of humans to succumb to the “head mentality”. We want so desperately to be considered normal, in vogue, and accepted…and after, what is more normal, in vogue, and accepted than the majority opinion.
The antidote to these intellectual independence viruses is asking questions.
Questions like:
Is this really true?
How reliable are the sources? (“Somebody said” and “I heard” is not a reliable source!)
Remember, there is no such things as an unbiased report. As well-intentioned as people may be, their opinions, values and prejudices get into the mix. That is why only Jesus could say of himself, “I am the truth.”
The rest of us? The best we can do is tell the truth through our fallenness…that’s why it never hurts to ask a question or two before swallowing the hook.
The ONE THING 