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Thursday, June 30, 2016

Would You Want To Know?

This one is just a wondering-out-loud kind of thing. I'm not offering an opinion or a suggestion, let alone a command from God. In fact, it's rhetorical. The question is, would you want to know?

If you went in for tests and the doctor found terminal cancer and you had just a week or two to live, would you want to know? Some kind of "sudden death" situation where it's short term and nothing anyone can do. Would you like to remain blissfully ignorant or would you want to know that the end (that all of us face eventually) is very near?

If someone had the ability -- medically, scientifically, whatever -- to predict some dreadful condition for you, would you want to know? They've experimented with detecting the breast cancer gene, for instance, which could predict that a person could be highly likely to contract it at some point. Some, armed with this information, have taken steps to prevent it, such as removing the offending part(s) in a preemptive manner. Would you want to know?

Every single one of us has blind spots, things about ourselves we just don't see. If you have a besetting sin in your blind spot, something you do or an attitude you maintain or something that is blatant to everyone else and clearly a violation of God's Word, would you want to know?

If there was something you really wanted to do -- say, marry the person you love or take your "dream job" or something like that -- and a dear friend had serious concerns about it -- "You know, Scripture says that believers shouldn't be yoked with unbelievers, and your intended isn't a believer" or "Do you really think driving a beer truck is a good testimony for believers?" (you get the idea) -- would you want to know? Or would you prefer that dear friends only affirm and not express serious misgivings?

If someone whose wisdom and insight you trusted had concerns that you or, perhaps, a family member did not know Christ, would you want to know? I mean, clearly you think you or the loved one in question is okay, and obviously you get to choose whether to do anything about the concern, and you're absolutely sure that the person who is expressing the concern cares about you and will continue to do so regardless of your response, but would you want to know? Or would you rather they just kept quiet? Ignorance is bliss.

I wonder about these kinds of things, sometimes. I wonder for myself. Maybe you do, too. Maybe we should.

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