People think they are right. I guess that’s obvious, but it doesn’t hurt to repeat it. No one believes something because they think it’s wrong. If you believe something, you think your position is correct. You may have differing degrees of certainty, but, to some, extent, you are convinced of the truth of your beliefs.

There are other things you just haven’t thought about or don’t consider to be important enough to decide on. I had a language teacher in Argentina who told me she was agnostic, that she just didn’t know if there was a God or not. I told her the issue was important enough that she should really reach a conclusion one way or the other! But many of us are indifferent on a broad range of subjects.

It also takes a certain push to move us off of a position. That is, once we believe something, we tend to stay with that belief. We seek out like-minded people and read things that reinforce our beliefs. If we are in a loving church fellowship, we’re typically willing to believe what other members of that fellowship believe. And we aren’t going to question things just because.

If we go to a church that doesn’t use instruments, nothing in our Bible study will make us want to use instruments. If we go to a church that does use musical instruments, we won’t find anything in Scripture that will cause us to question that. We tend to believe that what we and others around us are doing is right.

That’s why there are so many subjects where some look at others and say, “Why can’t they see this?” or “How can they justify that?” Snake handling. Head coverings. Multiple cups in communion. Speaking in tongues. Church buildings. Saturday night Lord’s Supper. Church-supported children’s homes. Calling a man “Reverend” or “Pastor.” Baptism by immersion. So many topics that people marvel that others can’t see in the same way.

I write all of this not to point fingers at anyone, but to remind myself that I am subject to the same human tendencies as everyone else. I am influenced by my culture. I am predisposed by my background and present context. I read things as a 50-year-old Texan who has lived half of his adult life outside of the United States. I read as one raised in the churches of Christ and trained at an institution affiliated with those churches. I have my experiences that have shaped me, my sins that have warped me, the grace I’ve been shown that has challenged me to be more than what I am.

We approach Absolute Truth and grow in humility with every step we take toward that Truth. Where we once thought that we could dominate it, we come to see that we are incapable of fully grasping it. We realize that every expression of truth must be uttered with wonder and humility, for that Truth is greater than us. We don’t define it; it defines us. Every bit of that Truth that we see reminds us of how much we can’t see yet and how much of what we thought we’d seen before was an illusion.

In the end, we do well to remind ourselves that Truth isn’t really an it; Truth is a person.

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)

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Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)