When stubbornness is smart
There's a time when stubbornness is smart, but it all depends on what you're stubborn about.
Usually stubbornness is considered a character flaw. Stubborn people tend to be narrow-minded. Some are resistant to new ideas and tied to the status quo. Their obstinacy can make them obstacles to progress.
On the other hand, stubborn people stick to their convictions. They can usually be counted on to defend their beliefs. Their unofficial motto might be, "If it's not broke, don't fix it."
Most stubborn people are absolutely convinced they're right, and when you're right, your instinct is to fight change to the death. But the problem today is that much of what we believe is false, nothing more than invented propaganda designed to push a particular cause or product. It sounds right but is not true.
When truth does not matter to a speaker, what that person says does not matter.
What can we know to be true? What source can we trust? When is stubbornness about our beliefs smart?
When stubbornness is dumb
You and I are products of many influences. We had little or no control over some of those influences, such as where we were born, the way we were brought up by our family, or the social class we found ourselves in. Our education and life experiences cause us to view the world in a certain way.
We tend to take comfort in our beliefs to the extent that they're a big part of our self-esteem. We're proud of what we stand for. Someone who questions our beliefs risks insulting us.
For centuries white people have been racist. It was stupid and defied common sense, but that's how they were raised and they were stubbornly convinced that was right and acceptable.
When the civil rights movement started in the United States in the 1960s, most white people fought it tooth and nail. They did all they could to prevent racial equality.
Today racism has been rekindled. It's as wrong today as it ever was. Discrimination against women and foreigners is wrong too. Stubbornly believing it's somehow right is dumb.
Most people rarely question their beliefs.
It's hard to question your beliefs, especially when you'll contradict your family or friends. We like to belong. We don't want to do something that would make people shun us.
Just because something is popular doesn't make it right, and because something is right doesn't mean it will be popular.
Being stubborn about the wrong thing is simply dumb.
How to know what to believe
Only one source is a trustworthy standard for what to believe: The Bible.
That's because the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and God is never wrong. The Bible is filled with reliable commands and principles that tell us how to act and how to treat other people.
God has one agenda: wise behavior. Obeying God is always wise. Disobeying him, no matter how we rationalize it, is always wrong. Disobeying God is sin, and it always leads to bad consequences.
Yes, it's true that sometimes obeying God can also lead to painful consequences. In many parts of the world, believers die as martyrs, but this life is not all there is. God has a special place in heaven for Christian martyrs, as revealed in the book of Revelation.
For day-to-day life, the Bible is a dependable handbook for making decisions. No other religion or philosophy matches the ethical teachings of Jesus Christ. But it's not because he was a wise teacher (which he was), but because he is the living Son of God.
When it comes to judging what we should believe, we can measure our beliefs against the two great commandments:
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matthew 22:37-39, NIV)
- Does my belief follow these two commands?
- Does it honor God and his creation?
- Does it show love toward my neighbor?
- Can I answer without adding a "yes, but…"
When your beliefs and decisions obey these two commandments, you have something endorsed by God. Stand up for it. That's when stubbornness is smart.
Is the Bible always applicable?
It's fashionable today to say the Bible is not applicable in every situation or that it's no longer relevant in our complex world, but that's exactly why it is relevant. The Bible cuts directly to the truth.
Nonbelievers will be quick to say that the Bible is irrelevant to them. That's why they have no guilt about sin, but sin is always sin, whether a person believes in God or not. Sin depends not on their lack of belief but on the certain existence of God. And not believing in God does not eliminate his existence.
For you and me as Christians, the Bible is timeless. We need not follow all the commands of Leviticus that were directed to ancient Israel, but the two great commandments listed above and the Ten Commandments have proven their wisdom through the centuries. They've always been right and always will be.
When stubbornness is smart, we are careful about what we believe, then we steadfastly stick by it. We are not affected by fads, political correctness, or Internet influencers.
Read the Bible. Know what God teaches. Align your beliefs and actions with his desires for you. That's when you can dig your heels in. That's when stubbornness is smart.
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