A Confession

Few come out and actually say, "I am right and everybody else is wrong," but I know an awful a lot of people who quietly think it.
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And I have to admit that, given half a chance, I think it, too. I suppose it's the way I was brought up. Many of the people I've lived among have automatically assumed that what they believe is correct and everything else is mistaken. So I tend to think the same way.
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I'm basically intolerant. It's nothing to do with age - I haven't grown more intolerant as I've got older - because I've always had this tendency.
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Of course, I must seriously consider the possibility that I am right and everyone else is wrong. Let's think about that for a moment....
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Not very likely, is it? Here I am, sitting in the library and reading a book. Across the table is another guy - let's call him Gordon - who's sitting there and reading a newspaper. And while I'm saying to myself, "I'm right and everybody else including Gordon is wrong," Gordon may be thinking, "I'm right and everybody else including Sami is wrong." And, to be realistic, the odds in my favour are no more than fifty-fifty.
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It's very hard for me, but I have to do two things:
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First, I have to make sure that what I believe is reasonable. That is, my beliefs must be capable of standing up to fair and honest criticism. If they can't, however much I like them, I need to change them for some that can.
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Secondly, I have to give permission for other people to hold different opinions to me. What does it matter if someone's theology is not perfectly correct? It might even be - shock, horror - that my theology is not perfectly correct! Is God diminished by this? Is He offended in any way? Do we see Him constantly striking down unbelievers - or imperfect believers - with lightning bolts? No, I don't think that we do. Instead, He's patient and grants them opportunities to learn the truth. And that's what we should do, too.
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Ultimately, of course, we will all go to a place where our theology's corrected. And then we'll know everything, won't we? Till then - God bless us all.
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