In Praise of Heresy

A friend of mine who happens to be both smarter and wiser than me once did a devotional titled “in praise of heresy” (I may not be capturing his original idea very well so I won’t name him). His point, as I remember it was that if we are unable to frankly discuss our doubts and explore the edges of our beliefs we will have settled with an overly safe (narrow) set of beliefs and we will live with in impoverished view of God.

Now I should tell you that my friend is a very conservative Christian, a man I disagree with in some significant ways (like who won our last racket ball game), even disagreeing on significant interpretations and applications of scripture. But as I am finding out, it is not disagreement that destroys relationship; it is the lack of exploration, and safe conversation that rusts relationships into uselessness. So it is with my convictions: it is not doubt and struggle that destroy my convictions, it is safe and narrow believing that leads to an atrophy of my head and heart.