I’m so right, I can’t be wrong!

Test everything. Hold on to the good.
—1 Thessalonians 5:21-22

Ever met someone who was convinced of their "rightness"? Do you remember the power of their conviction, the refuting of questions, if they listened to you, or the "damn the torpedos, full speed ahead" attitude that compelled or intimidated you into following? Sales people practice this well, busy people do it all the time, arrogant people don’t know anything different.

Ever been that kind of person?

Being passionate about your position, belief or conviction is not a bad thing at all. In fact this is what you are given as the very drive that brings change to all aspects of your life and your world.


But…just because you believe something is right doesn’t make it right. You learned that when you were young and struggled with the monsters under your bed; in school when you realized the mysteries of chemistry, the wonders of physics, and the wisdom and folly of histories. You learned it when the stock market crumbled and took the housing market with it; all the while you were convinced it could never stumble. You learned it just last week when you felt slighted or dismissed by another and were convinced they did it on purpose only to be embarrassed by the truth.

But do you ever really learn to test all things and hold to that which is good?

Lots of life’s energies get wasted because of misguided "convictions". Yet lots of wonderful things happen because people refuse to give up, despite the opinion of others.

Wisdom lies in knowing the difference by testing all things and holding onto that which is good.

I write this on Saturday afternoon four hours before the purported "beginning of the end of the world and the rapture." All week long the news media have be touting this story of an elderly gentleman who is convinced and has convinced many people of the "new" truth he has found in scripture. The sad part is that the "noise" of this heresy will only serve to numb people’s hearts toward the true things of scripture. I use the word heresy advisedly as the errors of Biblical interpretation are resplendent in his thesis yet, because he believes it…it is true.

Doesn’t make sense does it? Yet the news presents it with the same emphasis as the devastating floods of the Mississippi, the cataclysmic challenges of the Mid-East turmoil, or the quickly fading from front page coverage yet still very present horror of the Japan quake/tsunami/nuclear disaster.

Neither does it make sense for you to assume that what you hear, read or watch is "true". Test all things and hold on to that which is good! Testing comes about by talking, reading, and challenging assumptions and finding the refreshing light of validation in the data, thinking of others who see from a different perspective. If it is worthy of your believing and living by, it sure is worthy of sharing and testing.

In a few moments you will be caring for patients and family members, you will be participating in meetings, consulting with physician partners…encountering folk who might think they are right. Be gentle, be open, be the blessing they need and test all things, but be sure to hold on to that which is good.