This is the two-hundred-thirteenth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” Ephesians 1:18-19

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Step 2. Gather evidence, and judge its reliability.

Let’s say someone tells you that if you put some money in their investment account, you are guaranteed your money will double in five years. You’re attracted to the possibility. But it seems too good to be true. (Most things that seem too good to be true, are not true at all.) You need evidence this claim is reliable. So you research the financial entity. You find reviews from reliable publications. You call your brother who’s a banker and ask his opinion. You ask more questions of the person making the offer, including “What do you mean ‘guarantee’?” knowing there’s no such thing with investments. Before going any further, you turn away for lack of reliable evidence.

Step 3. Keep an open mind.

For some issues in life there’s a range of evidence. Look at any courtroom trial. “Guilty” is one possibility; “not guilty” the opposite. Maybe it only takes a day-long trial to look at the evidence, or maybe a month. Jurors are sworn to keep an open mind. And the jury selection process is supposed to weed out potential jurors who are incapable of keeping an open mind.

A long time ago I was called up for jury duty. It felt weighty and sobering. In the jury selection process before each trial the judge looked at all of us potential jurors and said: “The most important duty of a member of jury is to evaluate the credibility of the witnesses and the evidence.” I’ll never forget that. It makes perfect sense, of course. And, imperfect as a jury trial can be, it still is one of the best alternatives for discovering the truth of a matter. Sometimes a life or death matter. I have never been accused of a crime and have never been on trial, but if I were, and if I were innocent, I’d want to look over at the faces of the jurors and see concentration, focus, and signs of open-mindedness. I would want the jury to do the work to come to the rational, evidence-based belief of my innocence.

This is why bias kills us. It’s prejudice: to pre-judge. I don’t want members of a jury to make assumptions about me because of how I look or because I’m different from them. I need them to be open-minded. Fair-minded. Unbiased. Objective. Impartial.

We owe this to each other. And we owe it to the truth. True impartiality and fair-mindedness is a great gift.

To be open-minded means that once in a while we will change our minds. We break from the pack. We show some independence of thought. To go along with the gang is weakness. To have independent thought is strength.

Step 4. Explore different answers.

Let’s say you grew up in a home that was 100% committed to one political party. Let’s say this not only meant your parents always voted along the party line, but they also believed it was necessary to agree with every point and every sub-point in the party’s platform. Even if the platform changed over the years. Even if what you were supposed to believe was one thing ten years ago, and something different today. Party loyalty was an all-or-nothing proposition.

Most people know that, in spite of party loyalty, they may find some points on which they have a very different belief. This should come as no surprise. Policy positions are complicated and diverse and fluid in some ways.

Deciding what you believe means exploring different answers. Many people of faith will say they personally believed one thing about the criminal justice system years ago, but they look at it differently now having gone through the process of asking good questions, gathering evidence, keeping an open mind, and exploring different answers. The same is true for many issues.

When we decide what we believe we’re building a foundation on which we can base our lives, all the while being humble enough to change our minds on some of the details as we mature and grow.

Step 5. Come to a conclusion.

At some point we conclude what we believe. It may be like a light coming on one day, or it may be like gradually waking up in the morning. On the really big issues of life, like whether we believe God exists or whether Jesus Christ is the Savior, we don’t expect to move in and out of that belief. On other detailed matters we take a position in what we believe while being open-minded to new evidence that may come along at any time. There’s no crime in changing one’s mind on climate change or economic theory or the denomination of the church you attend. There are some major issues in life that we will only understand after we mature. Or after we have suffered.

Step 6. Test it in real life.

All of our beliefs will be tested by real life. When my 30-year-old daughter, whom we loved and cherished from the day she was born, suddenly died, all of my beliefs were challenged. My faith beliefs were not nullified, but they were re-ordered, and that for the good. From that time three-and-a-half years ago, until today, and until the day I die, I know that the providence of God and the goodness of God are two truths I will always cling to. These beliefs helped my wife and son and me get through the terrible loss.

When I realize I have come to believe something I had never thought of before, I know real life will put it to the test. Sometimes we need to believe something even though it seems to contradict common sense. But that’s only an apparent contradiction.

All true beliefs move toward a harmony that builds and builds.

We should never believe things merely because someone is shouting them loudly and relentlessly. We can do better, we must do better, than just belonging to a herd that moves thoughtlessly along.
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Mel Lawrenz (@MelLawrenz) trains an international network of Christian leaders, ministry pioneers, and thought-leaders. He served as senior pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, for ten years and now serves as Elmbrook’s teaching pastor. He has a PhD in the history of Christian thought and is on the adjunct faculty of Trinity International University. Mel’s many books include Spiritual Leadership Today: Having Deep Influence in Every Walk of Life (Zondervan, 2016). See more of Mel’s writing at WordWay.