What is wrong with asking questions first rather than jumping to conclusions?

Several years ago I passed a rally where recently ‘born again’ new Christians were trying to convince others that what they experienced was the way to real faith. They were definitely caught up in the excitement of something new. I got into a conversation with a few of them and was correcting some of their misassumptions about the Bible – which they had been taught to read as tracts, not in context. Their leader, pastor maybe, stormed over and started yelling at me. I said I was only helping to clarify some facts and than I had an education in the subject. He snarled and threatened me, and I can’t remember how the conversation got there but he demanded to know from me if Jesus sinned. I simply asked him what he meant by the word ‘sin’. He scoffed and stormed away.

It was a simple question. I couldn’t give him a yes or no answer until I knew what he meant by the words he used. What if I was wrong?

This past week I have been dealing with a number of situations where people outside of religion and the church have been wrong. But rather than ask questions, they have forced their opinions on others. Why do we do that? What is so wrong about being wrong? And what is so difficult about asking questions first and recognizing that we might not have the full picture?

People often tell me I know so much about a subject, and while I’m widely read, I also go back over information to make sure I’m right before I present it. And then if I’m challenged I can either say no, I followed through on that too, or, I can say I never thought of looking at things that way. I could be wrong.

It’s okay to be wrong. Even Jesus was wrong. In the story of the  Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24-30, and Matthew 15:21–28), she challenged Jesus. When Jesus response to her was tone deaf, she rebutted with an expression of faith and belief, calling Jesus up short. In the end he had to agree with her and did as she asked.

All of us can be wrong, but rather than hide that or avoid that, we should welcome being wrong as the first step to learning. It’s okay to be wrong, just make sure it leads to growth.