Dogma, Bias, and the Humility That Breaks Both

It’s election season as I write this. As always, otherwise civil people are now at each other’s throats and it’s ugly. I usually avoid talking about politics simply because it’s often like lighting a short wick on a stick of dynamite – there’s never enough time to escape the blast radius once a person’s fury is ignited. As a child of God, I don’t relate to all this angst because the Word of God tells me that He controls history.


As a child of God, I’m confident in His promises.


Since the Lord “works all things according to the counsel of his will”  (Ephesians 1:11), my biggest concern is simply figuring out what His will is for my life. Should I vote in public elections? Sure (1 Peter 2:13-15). Should I pay my taxes? Yup (Matthew 22:21). Should I obey my leaders? Of course (Romans 13:1). Should I worry about who really controls human history? Nope. I’d rather not waste my energy.


So, that’s where I stand, as a God-fearing man. The Bible informs me that it’s the right stance. And yet, I see lots of so-called “Christians” fighting with each other over not just earthly politics, but heavenly doctrine. After about a decade and a half of standing behind my own pulpit and about a quarter of a century of deeply studying Holy Scripture, here’s what I can say about that:

Personal bias always influences dogma.

This is fine if you’re God, but you’re not. Since no person, except Jesus Christ, has ever had perfect divine viewpoint (and even He had to learn it – Luke 2:52), then you need to be less dogmatic (and therefore less combative) about your doctrines, at least to the degree that you will earnestly listen to the perspective of others. If after that you still disagree, then say so with tact, and pray that one or both of you find the Truth (In my experience, usually both parties in disagreement over Biblical doctrine have something to learn).

Am I being a weak shepherd here? Not at all. If you’ve ever heard me preach then you know I’m not shy about stating what I believe is Biblical Truth. All I’m saying is that, in humility, a person should always be open to honest discussion with other well-intentioned, God-fearing believers. A person who’s shut down is arrogant.

I wrote about this type of stunting arrogance in a pair of blogs worth reading: Identity Politics and Sports Fandom, Too? and Rejecting Identity Politics in Religion.

Here’s something to think about. Have you ever had an “aha” moment after years of believing something was true, only to find out that you had it wrong? I have, many times. Can you recall prior to that “aha” moment ever arguing with someone else about your beliefs? I can. What do you say now that you have accepted that you were wrong before? Shouldn’t that be a lesson in and of itself? I think so. This is where humility steps in.

Humility is what breaks through the biases that undermine our doctrines. We humans are inherently partial (we are born this way) and stubborn (we don’t like being wrong). It takes years of discipline and training to overcome our own self-righteousness.

Humility opens our hearts to the fact that we don’t know everything.

Do you remember when you were a teenager and thought you knew everything there was to know? I do. If you transport yourself back to that time, do you remember how dogmatic you were in your convictions? Do you remember disrespecting your parents along the way? I do. What has changed if not your knowledge of truth? Are you humbled by such lessons? You should be.

Honest, retrospective self-examination has a habit of humbling us.

We are called “children” of God for a reason. We still have a lot to learn. Humility accepts this and is always open to being taught something new. Arrogance is unteachable, so personal biases remain and, therefore, a person’s rigid dogma will too. I’ve seen firsthand the destructive power of this type of arrogance in Christ’s Church. It’s awful.


It’s wonderful to have strong convictions; however, unless you’re God, is it fair to say that you don’t know everything? I think so. Is it also fair to say that your personal biases (what you want to be true) affect your doctrinal viewpoint? Of course. So where does that leave you? Well, the only hope of deliverance from the bondage of your intractable dogma is humility.

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins