I was reading a post online recently about God the Son in the Old Testament. One person was responding to something another person had written. The first did not agree with the second and they were explaining why - making an apology, if you will. It was refreshing to read from one person who likes the challenge of reading things they disagree with. One line stood out to me, and it was,
"I did my best to accurately represent him."
Incredible! And rare. That is a laudable approach and an example I think we all should follow.
Take a look at this paragraph:
"I wrote a new essay. It is responding to [certain author] of [certain podcast]. I'm hoping my language is much more irenic and charitable than the last time I did response content. I really like [certain podcast], and I like [certain author]. I disagree with a good bit of his takes, I agree with many others, and others make me go 'Interesting interpretation. I don't know if I agree or not, but it's an interesting possibility.' At the end of the day, he makes me think. And I like people who challenge me to think, especially about The Bible."
That is the right way, in my view.
I come from an Armstrongist background. Surprise! Bet you didn't know that. It's not like I never once saw this charitable attitude in that system, but I can say without reservation that it was not the typical approach. Typically, I witnessed contests of ego vs. ego. You could find someone willing to die on every hill, as the expression goes.
(For those who are unfamiliar - the expression "a hill to die on" is a battle metaphor and means to have an opinion so strong you will not change your mind about it. It goes along with another expression "not a hill worth dying on" which means the topic your opinion is so adamant about is not important enough to argue over in the first place.)
Some people were willing to die on any and every hill. No topic was too petty to argue strenuously over and potentially risk the common peace and longstanding friendships over. Possibly the most contentious of all topics were calendar-related. I cringe just thinking about it. What a small thing to argue about so strenuously.
Take a look around at all of the Armstrongist splinter churches. Hundreds of them! Why are there so many? Some are in places where a small, isolated church is just how it has to be. Most, however, only exist due to church splits. One group of egos couldn't abide another opinion. One of the worst of all is the Philadelphia Church of God, where they do things almost identically to every other splinter church yet they frequently ridicule and condemn the other splinter churches and forbid their members from having any contact with outsiders - even if those outsiders are close family relations who attend another splinter. These splinter churches do almost everything identically. If two churches are 99% identical, why are there two? Because that's the Armstrongist way, that's why. A mother not talking to her daughter because of a disagreement over calendar dates, does that sound godly to you? Not to me! Yet, that's how it goes.
And it gets worse. There are the many, many times I've witnessed Armstrongists purposefully distorting the positions of mainstream Christianity. We have articles on this (for example "Primer To The Trinity Doctrine" and "Rome's Challenge"). There is no honor in straw man arguments. To not only misunderstand someone's position but to purposefully misunderstand it in order to distort it? Not good!
It gets much worse yet. The Armstrongist vs Traditional Christian disagreements don't even need to be real. I've watched people make things up whole cloth just so they could find some way to condemn someone they disagree with. I personally have been accused of all sorts of outlandish things over the years. Under normal circumstances, we have a word for that: lying. Not godly!
These are the exact opposite of the approach I read online recently.
The strangest part of this is, there are several things mainstream Christians believe which are the same as Armstrongism. Want an example? I've given some in the past, but I will repeat one. Take the name "Church of God" for one example. In the Worldwide Church of God in the past and in the splinter churches presently, it is preached the one true church must have the one true name, and that is "Church of God" - hence the name Worldwide Church of God. (For reference, see "The WorldWide News", August 25, 1986, p. 5. column 2, paragraph 1.) Yet, none other than the Catholic Church has called itself the Church of God since the earliest times. There are at least four references in the very Catechism of the Catholic Church where the Catholic Church refers to itself as Church of God (see Catechism of the Catholic Church on usccb.cld.bz, and search for the exact phrase Church of God.) The Catholic Church calls itself Church of God. Armstrongist splinter churches usually call themselves Church of God. Same! Is it the one true name then? It can't be, if your goal is to use it to distinguish yourself.
I prefer the approach I recently read online. I prefer trying to understand someone you disagree with. It's so much more civilized. How can anyone possibly claim to be an honest person if they cannot be honest with something they disagree with? How do you even know you disagree with something if you don't even know what it is? If they're wrong, they're wrong. But if they're right, they're right. Anything else is just self-delusion.
Doing your best to accurately represent someone's position seems to be the only reasonable way. It seems to be the godly way.
(MAT. 5: 43-48) 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
It seems to me people distort things they disagree with out of fear. Don't be afraid. The truth can take care of itself.
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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )
Acts 17:11
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