I once heard it said, "Two Christians, three opinions," and I think it is true because untested opinions are very cheap to build and easy to maintain. It is difficult to have one's views challenged, and usually costly to let go when we need to change. We need to be careful with opinions.
Opinions are volatile and filled with all kinds of twists and turns. The equality of all opinions is now one of the mantras of our culture. Unfortunately, like some food at a church potluck, you might not want to return for a second serving. Holding tightly to unfounded opinions will cloud the truth and cause the fracturing of even the best relationships with God and man. We all hear many opinions and give voice to almost as many. Opinions can be right and useful, except when they are not.
One of the best gifts humans have is the ability to make up our minds about things, to have preferences, and to pick our favorite food, colors, books, pastimes, music, or friends. We all have and give opinions, spoken or unspoken, which affect how well we interact with almost everything around us. Opinions can be the equivalent of calling Punxsutawney Phil a meteorologist, or they can be the reasoned and measured thoughts of an expert witness in court, giving a dependable place to engage more truth.
Here is what Cortney Warren, Ph.D. has to say about opinions:
"…an opinion is not a fact. Alarmingly, most humans believe that their opinions are facts. We incorrectly assume that our thoughts are correct. I mean, if we think it, it must be true, right?
Wrong. The truth is that a fact is a statement that can be supported to be true or false by data or evidence. In contrast, an opinion is a personal expression of a person's feelings or thoughts that may or may not be based in data. Indeed, many of our opinions are based on emotions, personal history, and values—all of which can be completely unsupported by meaningful evidence"
As a body of believers, consider how Romans 14 should work among us as we coalesce around our doctrine and how we live Christ together.
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.” ESV.
We all have opinions, but it would be spiritually healthy to take time to know if our opinion is just a preference, an unfounded perception, or just based on another influencer's ideas before you judge someone else by it. Here again, is Cortney Warren with a word of advice:
“… So, the next time someone tells you that they have a strong opinion about something, understand what their opinion is based on. Is it based on measurable data with some compelling outcome? Or is it based on reactive emotional preferences and impressions? If it is the latter, take it with a grain of salt before you value it. And if you have a strong opinion about something that you know very little about, try to figure out why before you give strong credence to your belief.”
If you want my opinion…that's pretty good advice. Lol.
—George Davis
