I certainly talk too much, I have too many opinions, too many of which are not based in Christ but in intellect. If you're honest many of you are probably the same. We express our opinions freely and can end up with a church run by the most persuasive people rather than the most spiritual (who would say what God wants to be said).
Anyway, one of the facets of this which is a big problem in the world in general as well as the church is our definitions of words. We can debate or argue about a certain subject when we might not be disagreeing because our definitions of words and sometimes our logic is too vague or abstract.
I heard it said once that Jesus told us to love one another, therefore it is OK to be in a relationship with anyone because we are loving them. Reason this is wrong? Definition of love is too vague. I have also heard it said that it is OK for Christians to sin because we are forgiven. Reason this is wrong? The assumption that forgiveness wipes away all consequence of sin. As a third example, there is debate about whether baptism without immersion is void after all the Biblical pattern is for full immersion. Reason this argument might be pointless? because we assume that a certain arbitrary level of physical imitation is acceptable to God and a lower level isn't. We could argue if we were pedantic that all baptism should take place in the Middle East or by a Jewish person but we don't because 'that would be silly' are we best placed to argue God's way in the human intellect?
The answer? Jesus told us that we would be held accountable for careless words and James warns that he tongue is dangerous. We should be slow to speak. Also more importantly, if Jesus said that he only spoke what the Father told him to speak then that is a pattern we should follow but rarely do. Next time someone asks you something Christian, try taking a few seconds to 'hear God' on the subject before you answer, or maybe just show humility and accept if something is your best guess rather than being written in stone!
