posture

Truth is how you hold it. The usual problem with people who are right is that they don’t know how to hold it right. The usual problem with people who are wrong is that they think they’re right. The problem with both is how they treat each other.

We’ve learned that how you hold your beliefs is as important as the beliefs themselves—sometimes it is more important. If I am convinced that I am right, that does not give me license to disrespect the convictions or person of someone who has different convictions. Suppose I believe that the universe was created; I have all the more reason to respect the atheist because she is still human. I do not need to agree with someone to respect and honor them. Suppose I believe that the universe was created over trillions of years; I still need to demonstrate love and respect (eliminating condescension as an option) to someone who believes it was made in six days only six thousand years ago. I can think they are wrong; I can have a debate, but I cannot regard them as less than human.

Many Christians mistakenly believe that their conviction of rightness entitles them to arrogance, condescension, and/or unabashed meanness toward those who have different convictions. They may have right convictions, but in holding it wrong, they undermine the very things they say they believe.

So we pursue the truth. It is important to understand the way things really are. We debate with those who disagree, but we do it in search of truth, not in search of winning the argument. We even try to persuade, but not in a way that fails to respect the dignity of the other. We learn, knowing that it is not compromise to mature and exchange partial ideas for less partial ones.