This lie is that if I don’t spend at least an equal amount of time listening to contrary opinions then I’m being brain-washed and I’m intellectually dishonest.
And so in an effort to be seen as wise and humble and willing to be open-minded we are tempted to concede far too much. We abandon Christian presuppositions and embrace presuppositions of unbelief, and then wonder why our faith is rocked and it can’t stand in the marketplace.
Friend, the reason why your faith often can’t stand in the marketplace is because you’ve cut its legs out when you decided the only rational way to engage was to abandon Christian presuppositions. To spend an inordinate amount of time deliberating isn’t making steps of faithfulness it is taking steps towards apostasy.
I like what Spurgeon says on this:
“Oh but surely you are open to conviction?” they say. We are open to no conviction that shall be contrary to the Truth of God that has saved us from going down to the pit. We are open to no conviction that shall rob us of our eternal hope and of our glorying in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not deliberate, for we have decided. To be forever holding the Truth of God as though it might yet turn out to be a lie were to lose all the comfort of it. To be forever prepared to desert our Lord and Master to follow some brand new philosopher would be perpetual disloyalty…We neither speculate nor hesitate. But we know whom we have believed and by His Grace we will cleave to Him in life and in death. (From Spurgeon, Trembling at the Word)
There comes a point when asking and trying to answer perpetual questions isn’t intellectual honesty its just unbelief masquerading itself around as humility. Do you believe in Christ or not? If you do, then enough deliberating.
Imagine with me the year is sometime around 27 AD and Jesus is giving his Sermon on the Mount. Across town there’s another guy named Chuck the Prophet that is also giving a speech, his topic is on this false prophet named Jesus who comes from Nazareth.
Now let me ask you a question. If you profess to be a disciple of Christ which of these sermons do you frequent? Which of these would you follow to learn about kingdom life, love, ethics, etc.? What does it say if you are constantly following around Chuck the Prophet in order to learn about the validity of Jesus of Nazareth? How well do you think you are going to grow as a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth if you spend all your time even trying to debunk the ramblings of Chuck?
So what’s it going to be? Are you going to devote yourself as a disciple and be called a dunce and a damned-fool or are you going to bow at the idol of open-mindedness?
Yes there is a humility that we must embrace as finite people. But there is also a faux humility that positions itself as the humble determiner of truth that we dare not embrace. Let’s be a people humble enough to cleave to Jesus alone.
