Dear Church Family and Friends,
Last week I had a conversation with a Christian who I would characterize as not having an open mind. I could hardly begin to express my own beliefs without it eliciting exasperated condescension. Apparently, I was veering from the Word of God (or at least this person’s perception of the Word of God). It quickly became clear that logical argumentation in defense of my views was not going to win the day. It is hard to compete with someone who already feels like they hold the answer to everything.
It can be tempting to respond to self-righteous certainty with an equal dose of self-righteous certainty. I knew this was not the route I wanted to go, but this realization by itself left me feeling rather defeated. How can a Christianity that embraces critical thinking ever compete with the confidence and conviction of the Pure Bible Patriots (PBPs)? It would seem our questioning minds inherently keep us out of the race. On a certain emotional level, we are at best doomed to a second place finish to the PBPs.
I was in the doldrums over this until I considered the example of a true racing champion: my daughter Danalyn. Ever since she began to crawl a month ago, she has been zipping around our house with a fully charged battery. For me, the best part is the expression on her face as she heads toward a destination. The most accurate description I can give is to say that it is a look of excited curiosity.
As I reflected upon this, I realized at once that Danalyn is my new spiritual inspiration. Whereas the PBPs have biblical zeal, I like to think that I have an excited curiosity. I want to explore every room in the house. I want to look under every doormat and peer into every cabinet drawer. There is a whole world waiting for me, and I want to crawl, walk, and run to greet it. This is part of the great joy of my faith, and I would not want it any other way.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Brooks
