So I was put on the spot a couple days ago. A friend asked me "if I could only have one gripe about the church, what would it be?"
I thought about that for a couple days, and came up with this:
My biggest frustration with the church as a whole is it's inability to say "I could be wrong".
On issues that aren't immediately relevant to faith and saving grace...rather than demanding that others conform to the details of our personal belief system, rather than insisting we are right...
...could we instead say, "This is what I believe, this is why I believe I am right, here is the scriptural evidence, BUT I COULD BE WRONG".
It's that simple. No one is asking anyone to forfeit their individual beliefs, change their lifestyle, or conform their practice of the Christian faith. Could we agree to disagree?
Let's face it. There are what can be perceived as "contradictions" in the Bible. They could stem from choosing not to view the OT with the same weight as the NT. It could stem from the things in the NT we choose to practice and the things we don't because they ae no longer "culturally relevant", it could stem from man's varied human experiences, which will lead to different interpretations of scripture.
Whatever the reason, I refuse to believe that anyone or any denomination has a monopoly on the correct understanding and application of the Bible or the proper mandates of Christian faith.
But, then again, I could be wrong.
I thought about that for a couple days, and came up with this:
My biggest frustration with the church as a whole is it's inability to say "I could be wrong".
On issues that aren't immediately relevant to faith and saving grace...rather than demanding that others conform to the details of our personal belief system, rather than insisting we are right...
...could we instead say, "This is what I believe, this is why I believe I am right, here is the scriptural evidence, BUT I COULD BE WRONG".
It's that simple. No one is asking anyone to forfeit their individual beliefs, change their lifestyle, or conform their practice of the Christian faith. Could we agree to disagree?
Let's face it. There are what can be perceived as "contradictions" in the Bible. They could stem from choosing not to view the OT with the same weight as the NT. It could stem from the things in the NT we choose to practice and the things we don't because they ae no longer "culturally relevant", it could stem from man's varied human experiences, which will lead to different interpretations of scripture.
Whatever the reason, I refuse to believe that anyone or any denomination has a monopoly on the correct understanding and application of the Bible or the proper mandates of Christian faith.
But, then again, I could be wrong.
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