I Was Wrong
Greg Gordon
founder of SermonIndex.net
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12
How many times do we hear the humble words from our lips: “I was wrong.” Humility is not just seeking to be meek but also to admit failure and even a departure from the right way. Putting it a bit closer to home when was the last time you heard a famous bible teacher admit that something he was teaching for years was not really true and that he was wrong? Don Currin says, “The ultimate test of spiritual maturity is when you have dogmatically taught something for years, and then see that you’ve been wrong, and are willing to change.” Teachers will be judged more harshly the Scripture says (James 3:1). Yet God will have much more mercy on a leader who will confess that now that he sees much more clearly, Bible truth, in a certain area. It has been refreshing in my life to see and hear men of God who have humbled themselves and admitted that they had a very narrow view of God and now see more clearly on certain levels. Paul the Apostle in the chapter on love (1 Corinthians 13) in the Bible says the same thing to us today, that everyone just sees very dimly and we all know just in part! It is a great danger for a very gifted teacher, prophet, or men of God to allow their gifting to over-shadow love and humility. As Paul said such a person is really “nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2).
I have seen clearly in my own Christian life many statements I have made that I cringe now to hear or re-read. One of the safe things over the years that I made a practice of was to simply internalize issues I saw in the Scriptures or Church situations that I simply did not understand. Putting these things away in my heart and asking, ‘Lord please make these things clear to me in your timing as I cannot fathom or understand it all right now.’ Such prayers saved me from extreme teachings and choices that I could have made just to try and solve the question marks in my mind. As a leader in the body of Christ many times I have made wrong decisions, treated believers badly, mis-judged, gave wrong counsel and the list goes on. One area I have been wrong in of late is over-emphasizing the lack of need for Church buildings as I reasoned the early Church met primarily in homes for the first 300 years. Yet as I am honest with myself in my research I did run across pictures of house churches that looked quite religious with fresco biblical scenes and even built in baptismal fonts! But of course when I saw these my mind quickly tried to dismiss it and I built an argument for house Church only.
The danger that I fell into was trying to strip away from the Church almost everything and I ended up almost throwing the entire Church out in the process, as we have heard the statement used, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.” I cannot tell you why God allows imperfect men to lead His Church and not angels, why Church history is full of great disasters in the Name of Christ. But this I do know that we should all admit that we just see in part, that we see dimly as in a mirror and that we should still follow God, meet with His people and not repudiate the Church as it has appeared throughout history. So perhaps you can try it also, admit to others and chiefly to God that you were wrong! The Lord will meet you where you are and encourage you to lift your eyes to Him and you will start to see more clearly.
A Word From Jeremy
I felt that it was good to share this post. So often we get blindsided by our own hearts (Jeremiah 17:5-9). I too can relate with Greg. Yet, our great God truly loves us so that He will not let His children go without discipline (Hebrews 12:3-11), a discipline that is rooted in holiness, love, justice, grace, etc.
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11
May the Lord work in your life with a powerful might, reality and produce in you a desire to never leave the “simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). May you be given a desire and resolve to follow after Jesus, seeing Him as most precious, thereby letting all the distractions fall to the wayside. “Let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)
Peace and blessings!
Jeremy B. Strang is a Christian, husband, father, and author.
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