Ready, Fire, Aim

The earth shattering shock had barely dissipated before the next wave of responsibilities pull me away from fixing the error I so desperately desired to mend... A flowery apology and weighty blame on my jam-packed schedule is all I can offer as an excuse for not blogging for two whole weeks. AHHH! An apology is not really an effective way to pull readers in, I better get rambling. 

With more than two whole weeks to think and stew and observe life, I have PLENTY of things that I could write about. The economy, SOPA/PIPA, the upcoming election, strife in the middle east, deteriorating moral concern across the globe, post-modernism, theology, current events in the life of Jonathan David, how weird girls are, why rainbows are so awesome, etc. All I'd have to do is pick one and then you would be entranced in the heightened level of critical thought applied to whatever topic was chosen. 

But I haven't made a choice. In fact, all I've been thinking about is how often I choose to criticize. I've mulled over the fact that I will choose something, rip it apart intellectually and point out to the entire world how wrong and fallible the concept, ideal, motive, or attitudes are connected to **insert stupid idea here**. This motivated me to ask the question, "Is this really who I want to be?" Really, do I want to spend all of my time irritated because there are a multitude of people out there who just don't GET IT?

If you're looking for a topic to hang your hat on, then you could just say I'm critiquing myself today. Self reflection is important. 

There's a razor thin line between offering intellectual/constructive criticism and just being a cantankerous jerk. In case you're still unsure in which territory I've been residing, it's the latter and I feel all shades of ridiculous about it. 

Is it really worth it to be right? Is there really a point to presenting the exact truth in every subject and tearing down everyone else's thoughts and opinions until the right opinion is the only option? Is intellectual certainty really the top priority for a given subject? People tend to disagree on everything and don't seem to find contentment until they've locked into mortal combat against every opposing thought. Regretfully, I've fallen into this crowd.

The plague-like habit is this: Somebody says something erroneous about *blank*. Maybe it's not even erroneous, just an unpopular opinion or something from a completely different view point. But this doesn't stop those who feel the need (myself included) to correct this opinion and bash the the brain of this person (through the kindness of the written word) until they have no choice but to accept defeat and the correct conclusion that they would have come to if they had been thinking clearly. Obviously this is the only way that conversation should be conducted and is the only real way that truth and knowledge can be distributed...

This needs to stop. There's more to life than being right. I've been dwelling on 1Corinthians 8 this week. Paul talks about how his knowledge in Christ enables him certain freedoms (specifically to eat meat sacrificed to idols) but since there are believers who are under the belief that it is wrong to do so, he takes the higher road. He beats these "weaker brothers" over the head with the correct knowledge and chastises them for being so ignorant! Right? NO! Paul says that if eating meat causes his brother to sin, then that person is destroyed by his knowledge. 

Destroyed by his knowledge...

There is more to life than being right. The right knowledge is just not enough because there needs to be a right action in love. Paul knew what was REALLY right. Education of those who believed eating meat was wrong was not on the agenda, putting intellectual/theological correctness on the back burner to promote unity and love was. This wasn't a make it or break it area. It didn't matter as much as Paul's reaction to the situation. 

I don't want to be the person who takes the head off of anyone who offers a weak argument or wrong point of view. They have convictions that they will have to answer for. But they don't answer to me. I need to be concerned with the battles that are truly important and learn to argue with respect as my mode of operation and love as my banner. 

Paul put it this way in 1Corinthians 13:2 "If I If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."

Does the world need more knowledge? Oh, yes, please! But more than knowledge, it needs to know love and what that word truly means as it's expressed. The world needs Christ's love and some people will only see it if it shows through me.  

Let's give up the pointless debates. Major on the majors, minor on the minors. Let us learn to love AND learn how to argue/debate without becoming enemies in the process. Let us be able to express ideas without vitriol and contempt for others. Let us reason together in love, growing into the fullness and holiness of Christ. 

I end with another apology (seem's fitting since I began with one). From the bottom of my heart, I'm truly sorry and ask for forgivness from anyone whom I have offended or bitten the head off of in an effort to throw around my unwarranted righteous indignation. 

How will you spread love for people not love of knowledge?