I was an adolescent around the turn of the millennium and had the distinct pleasure of exploring the early internet in all of it's unrefined glory. One site I frequented was a Christian forum which centered around a student ministry headed by noted family minister Dawson McAllister. Fun side note: these are the student conferences which, in part, gave Mercy Me their first national stage for performance prior to becoming the superstar group they are today.
This forum focused on students' lives, both their religious life and everything else that might be on their minds. As you would expect, there were a lot of pointless arguments (more than a few of which were probably my fault). There was this annoyingly condescending move that many would pull when they felt they couldn't win a debate: they would open up Proverbs, cherry-pick some verse about not 'arguing with fools', then post it on the forum in response to their "opponent" as if to imply that they were taking the high road by "not arguing with a fool". The obvious implication was... you guessed it... that their opponent was the fool and they were a holy, wise, and humble saint.
This is exactly the type of petty, condescending move you'd expect of a teenager, but don't we adults do the exact same? Sure, maybe we aren't on internet forums, but we meet people we disagree with all the time. When that happens, we are naturally repulsed by the idea of admitting we might be wrong and would much rather live in a reality where we are the mature, wise party while our opponent is a fool barely worth our energy. If we aren't careful, we can march forward in life fooling ourselves into thinking that we're the "hero" of the story... instead of Christ.
There is an oft cited verse on truth which comes out of John 8...
31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” 34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin." (John 8:31-34)
I love this scripture for two reasons. First, you have Christ clearly identifying that the truth will set you free; not your piety or your reputation, but your intimate knowledge of the truth which is Christ. Second, those following Christ scoffed at the idea that they were slaves because what they knew of themselves is that they were free by nature. The idea that they could be slaves to sin hadn't even cross their minds. It was precisely this blindness to their slavery which kept them from the truth... the truth of their own misdeeds and the truth of their need for something bigger than themselves. In the same way, many Christians have become blinded by their mere affiliation with church, ministry, charities, or other good works and may be blinded to the freedom which exists in Christ. When presented with an argument or disagreement, the objective stops becoming the pursuit of truth-in-Christ and instead becomes the pursuit of truth-of-self.
It can be so easy to slip into the trap of thinking that we're "Jesus-ing" hard enough that we aren't the problem. We can trick ourselves into thinking that if we disagree with another brother or sister in Christ that the problem must be them. After all, we are good, God-fearing people! But that's not how it works, does it? We are still creatures of sin; that doesn't change when we become saved. We are still bent towards sin and that sin wants desperately to enslave us to feelings of resentment, guilt, inferiority, fear, hate, and all manner of other feelings which drive a wedge between Christian brothers and sisters. That is why we need truth... the truth of Christ. When we are too proud or stubborn, the truth of Christ cuts to the heart of the matter.
So in your interactions with fellow Christians, avoid that temptation to be the angry teenager on a Christian internet forum. Don't seek to be "right" just for the sake of feeling right and don't rob yourself of an opportunity to perfect your character through accountability. We know the truth and the truth has set us free. With knowledge of this, there is no reason to fear being wrong.
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