Of Assumptions, Prejudices and Dialogues

All of us are not without prejudices.

Total objectivity is impossible unless we live in a vacuum. Who we are is shaped by our beliefs and values. What we believe and value is in turn influenced by our assumptions.

There is no such thing as independent thoughts because thinking in itself always has to start with a few assumptions.

And where do we get our assumptions? We get that from what we are told by family, society, culture and experiences. The assumptions we have form the premise of our evaluation of people, events and things.

Therefore, none of us are neutral and without prejudices.

So let us face it – Christians are biased. We are skewed toward a certain thought because we hold on to a valued assumption that the Bible is the Word of God.

Isn’t that subjective? Absolutely. It is as subjective as the atheist who believes in evolution and holds Darwinism as the platform in discussing all things.

Are we not prejudiced then? Absolutely. It is as prejudiced as the open-minded who believes that he is only one without prejudice.

There is no real dialogue unless two individuals communicate on a set of similar assumptions.

God claims that He is the Author of the Book of Life. Am I on the same page, believing that I “do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God”? (Matt 4:4)

Could it be that I do not hear God because we are not talking on the same footings?

Private and Public lives

Whitney Houston’s sudden death had the tabloids going wild.

Details of first-hand account, breaking-news new revelation and untold secrets dominate the headlines – if only you could buy it.

The media was relentless in exposing all private details of the star. The personal life of the star did not match the glamorous, successful life she portrayed on screen.

But the world is not surprised.

The world loves Hollywood but the world also knows Hollywood.

The world understands that the Hollywood stars’ public images are quite different from their lives off-stage.

The world is not naïve. We love the glamor, success, beauty and near-perfection depicted by our actors and actresses but we also know they are too good to be true.

Transfer that low expectation to our church, to ourselves and we are in for a disaster.

The Christian life is not about portraying or keeping up an image. It is about life. It is about integrity. It is about authenticity.

The apostles, the Christians before us will flip in their graves if we adopt that kind of an attitude in our own lives.

There is no room for playacting in our Christian walk. Our private lives must be as authentic and real as our public lives. That does not mean perfection but it does mean striving to be perfect. It means a struggling to live up to what God wants us to be.

It means a lifelong pursuit to be the same person whether people are watching or not, and by God’s grace, so to be.