To illustrate this, Freeman uses the example of a pendulum, which in moving away from an unbalanced position not only moves toward balance, but goes beyond it in the opposite direction. He offers the following questions that we would be wise to consider in our reactions to positions with which we disagree:
- Is the content of the position really erroneous or has it just been given inappropriate weight?
- If I am moving from an extreme position, am I moving to an extreme position? Is there a middle-ground?
- What is good in the position I'm rejecting that I stand to lose?
- If I'm rejecting something because I feel like I don't like it, why do I feel like that?
- Who am I following? Are they prone to unnecessary extremes?
- Does the measure of my passion for this issue reflect the Bible's passion for and clarity on this issue?
Freeman goes on to comment,
The trick, I think, is to be pulled to truth like a magnet to its pole rather than to be pulled away from extremes to opposite extremes. Easy to say, harder to live.
I pray that God, by his grace, would allow me to cultivate a deep enough longing for truth in my heart that I would pursue truth out of an ever-increasingly-pure and purified mind that is willing to be wrong, willing to change, willing to believe what I may not like at first, and willing to stay put even when it seems like it would be nicer to change camps.
And I also pray that he would give me friends who observe me carefully and tell me when I'm just over-reacting.
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1 comment:
I've been riding the pendulum for some time now trying to find that middle ground of Truth.
This reminds me of a research study which was highlighted by Malcolm Gladwell in "What the Dog Saw." Researchers asked normal individuals to check themselves into a mental hospital by just saying one lie and then from there telling the truth. The lie: "I was hallucinating yesterday." All 50 individuals were admitted to the mental hospital and not a single one was deemed to be sane or healthy. When the hospital was notified of the study and criticized for not recognizing what were normal, sane people, they changed their procedures for admitting mental patients. The researchers told the hospital they would continue to send people their way to see how they would do. A month later, the hospital notified the researchers that they were sending more people home after initial examination and that there were 9-12 that seemed perfectly healthy and that they figured those may have been the test subjects sent over by the research group. The research group had actually not yet sent a single person to the hospital by that time. Pretty interesting and is exactly the example of a pendulum swinging from one side to the other.
My conclusion: most reactions are OVER-reactions.
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