Opinions are like armpits

I have never heard someone say, “What the world really needs right now is another good opinion.” The simple truth is – it doesn’t. That thing that you are really burning to share (not just you, me too!), the thing you’re wanting to share so badly that you just cant keep your mouth closed, well, life would probably go on just the same if you didn’t share it.

I don’t value opinions anymore, not even my own. I am not interested in what I think or what anyone else thinks. I say along with Rodney that “Opinions are like armpits, everyone has one but some of them stink!” (Rodney Howard Brown) Most opinions stink! The fatal human flaw (just ask Adam) is that we always think we know best.

Secular society has tried to democratize us and convince us that one person’s opinion is just as valuable as the next, it doesn’t matter who you are or what your field of expertise is. Even a child’s opinion is important because “they are little people too you know?” [pffft!] In my field of work, teachers are called “facilitators” because we don’t “write on blank slates”, we “facilitate learning scenarios” where students teach each other from their own learned experiences [cough, cough].

Post Modernism preaches that there is no grand narrative, no absolute truth and so the best we can do is to find our own truth; find what is true for ourselves. I guess that’s where all this nonsense started.

It is a natural part of the maturing process to start out hyper-opinionated and grow progressively more humble as time goes on. Things begin to look a lot more complex later on. As I grow older, the less I know for sure. The more men study the reason for being, the more questions, not answers, they discover.

While teens tend naturally to be hyper-opinionated, I had the great misfortune of being a hyper-hyper-opinionated teen (a parent’s delight!) I developed an over-reliance on my intellect as a vehicle for finding and defending truth. It took a few years travel down this treacherous road before I crashed my car (metaphorically) and bumped my head and limped away from the scene with what was left of my dignity and my pride dragging thread-bare and tattered behind me.

Thankfully, what emerged from the wreck was the beginning of true wisdom – the fear of God. It is not until we have reached that place of complete surrender, that place where we say, “God I can’t figure this all out – help me!” that we first begin to find wisdom. It is only when we realise that we do not have the answers that God can finally give us some.

What we need are strong convictions. A conviction is a completely different kind of animal. A conviction of the truth (my own definition) is something that you hold on to because God has revealed it to you. The reason Jesus spoke with so much authority was not because he was a forceful, opinionated personality but because, as he confessed, “It is not my teaching, but his who sent me [God]” John 7:16. He spoke with confidence and authority because he knew that what he was saying came from God and that it was therefore valuable and true.

A conviction of the truth is worth dying for. Truth that has been revealed by God can and does change the world. I have time for people who share truth that God has shown them. I respect people that value God’s opinions and make them their own. I value people who hold on to God’s truth, who do not compromise on it, do not water it down or make apologies for it. No more stinky armpits!

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright --- Proverbs 2