From a certain point of view

Many of us remember that famous line in the Star Wars Trilogy where Obi Wan Kenobi is justifying lying to Luke about his father and says, "So what I told you was true, from a certain point of view." I think must of us felt a slight tinge of conscience and had a shy smile because Obi Wan's actions were not far from our own.

I recently watched the movie Vantage Point. The movie is not on my top ten list, but it offers an interesting perspective, or multiple perspectives on the key events in the film. It reminds us that at any given time we may be missing valuable pieces of information that can have a significant impact on the truth. That particular truth scares me. I am weak, fallable and at times just plain lazy. When it comes to the everyday mundane aspects of life being 60% accurate, or 75% accurate is probably alright, but we all know instances where miscalculations have cost people there lives (misjudging an amber light at the intersection, or the strength of the tide at the beach).

What about our spiritual lives? Is someone's opinion on a matter sufficient for how I live my life? Can I afford to entrust my eternal well-being on the scholarship (or lack of scholarship) of someone else? I was reminded recently that we all have different opinions on certain topics. Some of those opinions are studied and well-researched, others are the result of emotion, or people just "shooting from the hip." It really doesn't matter whether someone else's approach to eternal matters is well-studied or not, what matters is how I arrive at truth.

When the day comes that I finally dance off this celestial globe and step onto eternity's shore, God isn't going to ask me what the priest or pastor thought I should be doing. He isn't going to care what the teacher had to say in my Bible class - ultimately I am going to be asked what I did with the information and instructions he left for ME.

Maybe I am just a little too bold, or too arrogant, but I think in most cases I can figure things out for myself. The Bible isn't all that difficult to understand if we read it in context and with an open heart and mind. We tend to get weighted down in the small details and miss the big picture. What are we doing about the love of Christ, the sacrifice for our sins, and our responsibilities to our fellow man? We can spend hours debating Paul's thorn in the flesh, or hours serving our fellow man?

Do yourself a favor today. Read something out of the Bible and find some positive application in your own life. That will do more to make you the man or woman you want to be than all the opinions in the world - of course that is just my point of view.