Do You Agree or Disagree with Your Opinions?

My dad has put me in my place more times than anyone else on planet earth. And so it should be. But I'll never forget the time he asked me the following question: "Son, do you agree or disagree with your own opinions?" I was fresh out of Bible college and knew pretty much everything. At 26 I had conquered Greek and was preparing to conquer the Christian and non-Christian world. I don't remember exactly what I was rambling on about that afternoon, but apparently I was giving off enough of a religious vibe of my own that my dad finally had enough of it. So he asked me this question. I was shocked into cold, stone silence, as if a jolt of electricity had pulsed through my brainiac-brain and shut it down. Only the question remained. 'Do I agree or disagree with my own opinions?' I thought about it. Let's see, I had plenty of logic in College. Surely this question can't be that difficult. But it was!

 My dad didn't stare on at me, waiting for an answer. No, he just went back to the newspaper and let me sit there and suffer. That just made it worse. He was not moved by my agony. 'Hmmm,'....that means he was especially not moved by my opinionated rambling, which led to his inquiry. That's rough.

Ok..., 'Do I agree or disagree with my own opinions?'  Wow. I couldn't answer. Eventually I realized what the real question was, as I had flashbacks to the stories of wise, old Solomon, whose questions weren't questions at all, but challenges to think differently all together. And I thought of Jesus the Christ, whom I call my Lord, whose teachings attack the very core of a person's being and make them consider life, and love, and the future. All of that was wrapped up in this one question put to me, and I suddenly knew what the real question was:

"Do I agree or disagree...
                                         with my own...
                                                                 pride?"

There I was, having one of those life-changing moments in a quiet living room in Memphis. And my dad just read on about the Cowboys. I finally just muttered back, "That's good, dad. That's good." And he probably smiled as I left the room.

Ever since that day I've tried to not be so arrogant as to think I had all the answers, or that I could read the Bible and just suddenly know exactly what it says, or means. But it's rough. Maybe you're like me. Behind every door of our minds there lies ... our opinions. We read a passage and the flesh kicks in, and we begin to apply it... to others. One moment we're sitting on the ground in front of Jesus, listening to his teachings about love, just trying hard to have ears to hear it. The next minute we're up standing next to him, glaring at the remaining crowd, with that "yeah" sort of attitude. Meanwhile, I'm so very small. Me trying to explain exactly what "the Bible" means to another human being must be similar to one ant preaching to another about all the different kinds of stars, or ocean animals; or how light works.

Opinions are like poison; especially Bible opinions. We now have nearly 30,000 denominations to show for them. The problem is we do all agree with our opinions... way too much. And we must make God pretty... something. I don't know. I'm not sure what he thinks of my arrogance at times. I'm just darn sure I'm thankful for his mercy. 'Cause I sure need it.

After that day I decided to try and stick to the easy ones. You might ask me about end-time eschatology, or grace-allotted dispensationalism. You could quiz me on ecclesiology and the church; or corner me about hermeneutics. But don't be surprised if that same blank stare comes over my eyes that came over me that day my dad shocked me with his question. I DO have opinions about all these topics. Believe me, I do. But I'm trying not to agree with them quite so much, and so I might just get real quiet, and perhaps open up John in my mind:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 Wow.
           I need to just think about that for a minute...
                                                                                  and go from there.