I just had a fascinating conversation where the other person said, “My father taught me to take a stand. Something is either right or wrong. There is no middle ground. If you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything.” “But,” I said, “what if you discover you were wrong.” “Then,” she said, “at least I stood for something.” It seems the virtue wasn’t knowing truth but being intransigent. I am so thankful I am not married to that person. She had learned something from her father and she was not going to change. Taking a position was to her a righteous position.
She is not the first person like this that I have known. One such person was someone who prided himself on the number of Bible studies he gave so others could learn his truth. The irony was he wasn’t open to change but he wanted those to whom he gave Bible studies to change.
The older I get the less I know. I don’t think it is the result of senility. I think it is the result of meeting righteous people who see life differently than I. I rejoice in the Biblical truth that we are saved by grace and not by knowing the right things. I do so hope in heaven when Jesus tells us the TRUTH we all will come to realize we all had it wrong.
If we were all like my intransigent lady we would destroy the world because peace talks, negotiations and compromises would be impossible. The only thing left would be to agree to disagree or to destroy the other. I fear we would choose the latter. Only God who knows everything can stand firmly without changing.
Written by Roger Bothwell on December 18, 2015
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org