Convictions and Community

Being a person of conviction is a good thing. Christians are called to hold fast to the truth, contend for the faith, and avoid being tossed about by every wind of doctrine. Yet I want to make what may sound like a strange observation: sometimes we should be more forthright about what we do not believe than about what we do.

Why do I say this? The philosopher Umberto Eco spoke about the idea of falsification in interpretation. Even when we cannot be completely certain what a text means (or what is right), we can be confident about what it does not mean (or what is wrong). We can eliminate readings that simply do not fit the text.

Interpreting the Bible sometimes works this way. Consider God's sovereignty and human responsibility. Scripture tells us both that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Christians have debated for centuries exactly how those truths fit together. Yet the boundaries are clear. The text will not allow us to deny God's sovereignty, or human responsibility.

Likewise, Paul insists that we are justified by faith apart from works. James insists that faith without works is dead. We may debate the precise relationship between faith and works, but Scripture will not allow either legalism or a fruitless faith.

I find this framework helpful for maintaining community. It allows us to hold convictions without demanding certainty where Scripture itself leaves room.

A contemporary example is the conversation around masculinity. Many would argue that years of emphasis on the dangers of toxic masculinity have left younger men without a compelling positive vision of manhood. The rise of figures such as Joe Rogan reflects an attempt to fill that vacuum. Yet the response often swings the pendulum too far in the opposite direction. How will biblically informed Christians reflect on this conversation?

Both radical feminism and the manosphere tend to frame the conversation as men versus women. Scripture does not. The biblical vision is one of complementarity rather than competition. Men and women are alike in being created in God's image and different in ways that enrich and complete one another. We might not agree on a precise definition of biblical manhood – there may be room for scripture informed debate. But the edges are clear, and within them we can agree and disagree with charity.