It is easy for us to stay comfortable in our own beliefs and convictions on secondary matters of the faith. The certainty of our denomination’s doctrines brings us a measure of ease and security. We can put those parts of our faith on automatic pilot and not be bothered to think about them again. Knowing we have an airtight belief about every issue can lend itself to feeling certain and strong in our faith. But what happens if some of those views might be wrong or God might want to move us in a different direction for His purposes?

A number of years ago we were actively involved in a particular Sunday School class in a Baptist church. There was a need for teachers, but only men could teach a mixed group. After sitting through a few too many classes with unqualified men teaching solely because they were men, David and I approached our Sunday School teacher (who also happened to be a deacon). When we asked him about his understanding of women not teaching mixed groups and whether or not I would ever be permitted to teach, he would not discuss the issue. He said that the issue was too divisive and so he just won’t go there. I was rather stunned that a leader in the church (who had been to seminary to boot) would respond in that way. Even if he didn’t change his views on the issue, his total unwillingness to even discuss how I might find a way to utilize my gifts in the body really bothered me.

But the longer I’ve lived and the more I’ve experienced, the more I’ve come to see this reaction is fairly common. It is easier to avoid the hard questions and the trickier issues than face the risky reality that we might not be right. Or even if we can’t be proven wrong with great certainty, it is hard to admit there might be a brother or sister in Christ who has a valid understanding of the Scriptures although they end up with a different interpretation on secondary issues.

Truth is risky. And sometimes people just don’t want to deal with the truth.

Shutting Down the Conversation

For example, read what happens when a professor at Bob Jones University writes a book about alcohol and comes to the conclusion that the Bible does not demand abstinence. This apparently creates confusion among the Bob Jones students so instead of dealing with the risky truth and taking the opportunity to dialogue in a meaningful and helpful way with the students about making choices about alcohol, Bob Jones takes the book out of stores and out of print. You can read the story here at The Irony and Humor of Teaching What the Bible Actually Says about Alcohol. Apparently it is easier to continue to enforce personal preferences on everyone rather than accept the risky truth that is inconveniently different from the school doctrine.

Or here is another example of avoiding something risky. This post about Genesis 1-3 has over 1000 comments on it. Where are the comments? They are hidden. This is apparently the only post on this blog where the comments are hidden. Why? According to people who participated in the conversation, the egalitarians were making too much sense and appeared to be winning the argument. So instead of letting Christians be good Bereans and examine the issue and arguments for themselves, the entire discussion is removed. Perhaps the owner of the site had another reason. But that isn’t how it comes across. Instead it seems as though the truth might be too risky to leave for anyone to see. So instead of simply closing the comments and letting people read what is there, they are just – poof – gone. (They are now there again. There are over 1,000 comments and so many of them bring real value to that topic.)

Beware when people tell you you can’t think for yourself or they try to keep you from exploring a potentially risky truth for yourself.