But I Could Be Wrong

All a person's ways are pure to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord. - Proverbs 16:2

I'm going to admit something publicly that I probably shouldn't, but I'm going to anyway.  

Here it goes...  

I like being right.  I enjoy it when I know that I'm on the winning side of an argument.  When the sports teams I support win, I feel like a winner.  If the politician I voted for wins the election, I feel like I've triumphed.  

I have to fight these feelings on a daily basis.  

I struggle to end my declarative pronouncements about life, the universe and everything with the words: "But I could be wrong."   I'm trying to learn how to be more open and less precious with my ideas about how things ought to be.  

It's an uphill climb, to be sure, but one that needs to be made.  

"Being Right" has become one of the ultimate values of our current culture.  These days it seems that everyone on all sides of an issue wants to claim the high ground about their position without listening to anyone else.  

You would think that being able to hear all sides of an issue would be helpful in resolving differences and finding common ground, but in our current cultural climate it doesn't seem to be working.    

In her excellent book Invitations from God, Author Adele Ahlberg Calhoun cited a study where: 

Researchers found that exposing people to contradictory information actually entrenched people in their existing beliefs.

Far too many Christians seem to force their way to the front lines of those claiming their "rightness," often at the expense of relationships with others, their Christian witness, and even the Gospel itself. 

We can do better.  

The late Henri Nouwen found that there was beauty in uncertainty and an ever-deepening dependence on God when knowing and truth seem elusive.  He wrote:  

Following Jesus is a movement from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to risky surrender, and from the many 'safe' gods to the God whose love has no limits. 

May you find the strength and humility today and every day to embrace uncertainty and unknowing as a faithful act of discipleship.  May you hold your ideas and beliefs gently.  May you discover a new reliance on Jesus as your one and true guide. 

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.  Amen.