Everyone has an opinion

I think Coke is better than Pepsi. 

I also prefer Ford to Chevy.

Cookies are always better than pie.

And I’ve already alienated a bunch of you.

But here is the point: we all have opinions. We all have preferences. We all have things we like more or less than other things. 

But what are we as Christians supposed to do with our opinions? And how do we know which opinions are God-honoring and Christlike? How do we discern which opinions don’t matter and which ones do?

Should every opinion become a talking point online and should every preference become a dividing line? Is it really necessary or helpful to create protest groups and counter-protest groups over every little difference? 

Of course we know that in theory we should listen to one another and that we all have a “right” to our own opinion. We also know that it can be okay to agree to disagree and we each hope that others who disagree with us will still love us, accept us or at least “live and let live”. The harder part is when we are the ones who will have to love our enemies. The more difficult task is when we are the ones who will have to bite our tongue and decide whether our opinion really matters that much in this instance. The really hard part is when we have to decide that (temporarily) letting someone else believe and live something we don’t think is true or right is more necessary and important than expressing or defending our own perspective. 

Dear Christian, I pray that you and I will realize that God Himself does not immediately and directly rebuke every single thing that is less than perfect in us, all at once and as soon as He sees it. God has shown us that “there is a season for everything” and that He makes all things beautiful “in His time”. If God does not sit you and I down and condemningly review every single thing we have ever believed or done that is wrong but rather He takes us bit by bit, moment by moment on a journey of letting go of unholy, ungodly, unChristlike things, then can we not also, bite our tongue, pray for the person in front of us (with whom we disagree) and patiently walk with them so that they might encounter God and let God change them in His time and in His ways? 

I am so thankful for the friends I have had along my life’s journey who have seen and heard things from me that were far from perfect and holy and yet they loved me in spite of those things and continued to unite with me in friendship. I am so thankful for the people whom God has used to help me see my mistaken ideas and sinful behaviors and one by one release them into His care. I am so thankful that God is still working on me and that God has not written me off because of my opinions but rather is committed to loving me all that way through this journey I am on. Your and my love and behavior can either help people move towards God and Christlikeness or can drive them away. I still think Mountain Dew is the best soda ever and I don’t really like coffee all that well, but I hope you can love me anyway and that we can still be friends who are recipients of God’s grace trying to discover what it is to be like Jesus.