Confession.
I did it again.
I got a bit worked up while talking God with my best friend. It’s sad how open minded I can be until someone disagrees with my spiritual point of view. In most circumstances, a disagreement over theology won’t make me blink an eye, not because I am some righteous guru who is well known for his level head, but because I don’t usually feel comfortable boldly interjecting my opinion. It’s almost always not worth going there.
But with a best friend it’s easy to interject your personal feelings on almost any matter. I suppose I sometimes naively expect my close friends to just agree with me without question. Oh, I know–ridiculous! But as ridiculous as it might seem, I still do it.
When it comes to matters of faith, I think it’s natural to desire affirmation or agreement from those in your personal community. I mean, think about it; most of us do our best to make our God-leanings, whatever they might be, our center. With faith being our core, it’s no wonder we stumble whenever we run into what seemingly feels like non-acceptance.
So yeah, I just got off the phone with my best friend a bit heated just because he and I didn’t agree on a couple lofty faith particulars. Oh, I know we’ll be fine in the morning, but that’s beside the point.
In my pursuit of God, I want to embrace my faithful brothers and sisters who surround me on this journey with peace and patience. Making them into a short-term enemy doesn’t promote Jesus. It doesn’t do his story justice. It’s prideful and immature.
When talking about God, I want to learn how to mix my passion for the story he’s writing in me with mercy for the story he is writing in others.
So hard sometimes.
I get in the way. My opinion becomes too important. My last word becomes what I set my sights on.
May God redeem us all, no matter what our stories entail.
mpt
P.S.: Thank you for your comments and emails regarding yesterday’s post about church hopping. If you would be so kind, tell your friends about my blog–I’m competing with my wife on how many views each of us gets… LOL. Don’t ask. It’s fun though.
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wow…i can certainly relate. I have a similar relationship in my life. I confess that instead of honest conversation, I’ve resorted to avoidance. Relationship is tricky…a lot like faith. The mix of the two is really where Life can happen. Thanks for the reminder!
Man, I can relate to this. My father and I had the same type of ‘discussion’ on Sunday. I felt like I was right, and I felt as though he was attacking my opinion instead of just disagreeing. I preach about being open minded all the time, but when it comes to someone that I know should share the same ideas disagreeing with me, I find it hard to remain open-minded. All that to say, I feel your pain with this struggle, and I guess we all need prayer. Thanks for you honesty and love your books.
Thanks for your comment, Scott. Oh man, it’s especially worse when it’s the “parent.” Because usually a parent can make you feel guilty or worse, like you’re going to hell, for believing something different. 🙂 Wow. I’ll never forget the time my father and I got in an argument over the King James Version of the Bible. At the time, he believed it was the ONLY true version. Wow. That was rough.
🙂 Thanks for stopping by man.