Grace to Change My Mind

What?! JM changes his mind?

After a wonderful week in Texas, visiting family, I have thought back on some of the interesting discussions I had with family and friends. Laura teases me about it, but I have an insatiable desire to turn conversations into reflective, theological discussions. Those of last week were stimulating (to say the least!) and precious to me.

It is sort of a truism that at every point in my life (as with almost all of us) I was fairly convinced that my views about all the important things in life were, in fact, the correct views. From where I stand now, I am absolutely certain that I have held some inaccurate, unhelpful, poorly supported opinions. I anticipate that I will need grace to change my mind about some things in the years to come - I just can't imagine which views I hold now need to change!

I remember having a heated (but not well-lit) debate with a family member while I was in high school about Calvinism. My family member, in frustration toward me, said, "John, I used to think that way!" I wondered to myself why anyone would ever move past what I think now. I'd like to give a short list of a few of the ways I have changed my mind on important issues through the years. 'Twas grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home (when I will know fully, even as I have been fully known all the while).

1. I was taught to trust the Bible in all things, but my undergrad shook my confidence in the complete reliability of it. I now believe that the Bible is without error in its original writings, when interpreted correctly.

2. I once believed that miraculous spiritual gifts had ceased after the New Testament period; I now believe that the New Testament seems to anticipate that God would continue bestowing those gifts on his Church.

3. In college, I was very tempted to endorse pacifism because I thought Jesus taught a version of pacifism; I think I misunderstood Jesus' relation to the Old Testament and the remainder of the new - I believe that God still wants governments to practice the "eye for an eye" principle, even including capital punishment and war.

4. From my earliest years as a believer I thought the next major events in God's program for history were the Rapture, the rise of the Antichrist, the salvation of 144,000 Jews, Christ's 2nd coming, the Millenium, the battle at Armageddon, and Eternity; I now think much of this stuff will actually be collapsed into Jesus' return or even into the present age (I'm amillenial and I take the "idealist" view of Revelation).

5. I used to think of marriage as optional and parenting as a contingent option; now I am convinced that marriage is God's will for almost everyone, and having children is part of God's design for marriage (except where there are good reasons not to have children).

6. In college I developed a disdain for denominations generally - but especially my own; now I appreciate the story of the Church that denominations preserve, and my heart is invested in serving within my denomination to help steer its course toward fidelity to Christ in all things.