Compulsion vs. open-mindedness

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I have several adult children. My biggest prayer is that each of them will seek first the Kingdom of God and follow Jesus. Without going into more specifics, the scoreboard I see says I am batting around .217 in that regard.

Each of my children has told me one way or another that they are seekers of Truth. I am pleased to hear that since I am also a seeker of Truth. Since I am batting .217, it also occurs to me that some of us are wrong and some of us are right about the Truth.

As I write this, I wonder if my children and I have the courage to admit that we can be wrong about the Truth.

Two of my heroes, Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill, showed a willingness to change opinions. My favorite example of this comes from Paul of Tarsus on the subject of resurrection. In 1 Corinthians 15, he wrote:

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope[b] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
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What if I am wrong? What if you are wrong? As I listen to the debates over abortion, Palestine, Israel, communism, freedom, and so many other important topics, it seems as if people would rather resort to bloody compulsion than debate.

Bloody compulsion does not require open-mindedness. Didn’t Mao say that power comes from the barrel of a gun? Debate requires a willingness to open our minds.

A poster from the sixties showed an open parachute. The caption underneath read MIND LIKE PARACHUTE, WORKS ONLY WHEN OPEN.

Ned Cosby, a frequent contributor to American Thinker, is a former pastor, veteran Coast Guard officer, and a retired career public high school teacher. His novel Outcry is a love story exposing the refusal of Christian leaders to report and discipline clergy who sexually abuse our young people. This work of fiction addresses crimes that are all too real. Cosby has also written Recollections From My Father's House, tracing his own odyssey from 1954 to the present. For more info, visit Ned Cosby.

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