A New Devotion - Intentional Openness

Below is an article I sent to the Leader-Vindicator for their column "The Minister Speaks." It's entitled "Intentional Openness."

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I think we all recognize that we live in a divided society, with each side claiming to espouse Christian values and labeling all those who disagree as wrong and probably evil. And as a result, we seem to have reached a point where we can no longer talk with anyone who doesn’t already share our assumptions and opinions. And it doesn’t appear to matter that some of the things we assume aren’t really supported by the Bible or seem to be contradicted by what Jesus said and Paul taught; we still say with great passion and conviction that these ideas are the only ones that true believers can hold. And since we’ve also made the decision that we’re only going to listen to folks who already share our position, our unity as a nation becomes strained and our opportunity to experience anything close to growth and change is lost in the shuffle. Sadly, we’ve lost that wonderful middle ground we once had, that glorious place where opinions could be expressed and assumptions could be challenged and perspectives could be broadened. And even though this is unfortunate for everybody, it’s tragic for Christians, because we’re making the choice to close ourselves off from the possibility that God may be speaking to us in a voice we might not recognize and through a person we might ignore.

And for that reason, I think it’s time that we made the intentional decision to open up. And for Christians, I believe this involves doing three things. You see, first, for me, it means opening up our Bibles. And even though that would seem obvious, I’m always surprised by the number of folks who express faith in Jesus but who have chosen to get most of their biblical knowledge from television, movies and people who tell them what they should believe. But how can we know that what we see and hear is biblical and accurate when our own knowledge isn’t very deep? And that’s why I believe it’s important to open the actual book and to read it. And if we’re struggling with what’s been written, we might want to find a version that we can understand and apply. We need to read our Bibles. But more than that, we might also want to get involved in a Bible study, one in which questions can be asked and opinions can be expressed, remembering that groups that claim to have all the answers often won’t tolerate many questions. You see, we need to open our Bibles, and that’s the first thing we can do.

And second, we can also open our minds. And I’ll tell you, that’s extremely important, because we can open our Bibles ’til the cows come home, but we’ll gain absolutely nothing if we’ve decided to read them with closed minds. To grow in our understanding and faith, we need the courage to be intellectually open. And for me, this openness applies to everything we read in scripture. Sadly, some very sincere people have been taught to cherry-pick the Word, pulling certain ideas and positions out of context and then ignoring the rest. For example, even though Jesus taught about personal morality, he spent far more time talking about economics and in particular, our responsibility to care for those less fortunate than ourselves. I believe a person with an open mind can understand that and will take both seriously. And in my opinion, that’s the second thing we can do.

And along with opening our Bibles and our minds, third, we can open our hearts. In other words, we can allow ourselves to connect emotionally with those around us, including those with whom we might disagree. And for me, that just makes sense. We all have our own stories, and we’re all products of our backgrounds, education and experiences. And what’s more, we all carry around  our own disappointments and frustrations and our own expectations and fears. That’s just the way it is; therefore, so much of who I am and even how I understand God is shaped by growing up in an eastern Virginia Navy town during the 60s and 70s. And what’s true for me, I think is true for us all. And so, to understand what we’re reading when we open our Bibles, we need to recognize that it’s being filtered and colored by who we are and where we’ve been. And to appreciate what we’re hearing when we open our minds, we need to recognize that the exact same thing is happening within the one talking. You see, when we make the decision to open our hearts, we’ll become more in tune with ourselves and others, increasing the likelihood of genuine growth. I think we’ll also be able to have disagreements without arguing and to leave discussions without anger. And that comes when we open our hearts, and as we pass through this divided world, I think that’s the third thing we can do.

Now, based on what I read and see, I’m not expecting a new spirit of unity to fill our nation or even the Body of Christ. As a matter of fact, I believe we’ll be encouraged to continue straining for gnats while ignoring camels, because that seems to serve the interest of those who want their dromedaries to stay in the dark. In other words, that wonderful middle ground we once knew may be just a memory, at least for a while. But that doesn’t have to be the case with us. You see, as Christians, we can make the decision to do three things: first, to open our Bible and second, to open our minds and third, to open our hearts. You see, this we can do. And if we do, maybe we’ll become what Jesus said about the Kingdom of God. We’ll be mustard seeds in the ground and leaven in the dough.