What does that really mean? You know you hear it said quite often to people. We say to someone before we tell them some news or idea something like this, "Now have an open mind about this." Why do we use this phrase?
What would you do to open your mind as opposed to closing it. We sort of have an idea about what we mean but opening and closing your mind is sort of hard to describe. Of course there are lots of articles on the internet so you can google the words <have an open mind> and you will get lots of results.
According to many of these articles, having an open mind is about trying new things, and overcoming fears of change. Some are fearful that if we allow a thought to grow we may have to change. We can have fears about challenges to our beliefs and value system. If having an open mind means being "liberal" many of the folks I know will immediately close their minds. But I really do not think this is a good way to look at having an open mind to focus on change and just doing things different now and then. if trying new things is equal to and open mind what is the basis for what is acceptable and what is not and to whom would we be saying what is acceptable. Other people? Ourselves? God?
What I think that having an open mind is,would be to be more into the image of Jesus Christ. Jesus always responded to people the right way. He listened to people and He gave opportunity to repent when he came upon people who needed to change. Jesus also was fair with everyone and every situation. Jesus treated people the same it seems and responded farily to every person he met. So having an open mind does not mean acceptance of things that are against God's Word. But it does mean care and concern for other and fairness.
Open mindedness also means giving others the truth as Jesus always did that. Simply and completely stating and living truth. The Bible is truth and we must know it and understand it to be able to share it.
By now someone is saying "Well it sounds like to me you have a closed mind, and that you only base and judge by Scripture and you are not open to anything else as a source."
My Response would be "Well what do you have?" I will take whatever you have for me to look at, ideas, lifestyle, manners, practices, worldview or whatever and compare them to what I know to be truth which is the Word of God. Therefore I am open minded. If something is true then I can accept it. But the thing I am not open minded about is accepting another source of Truth. The Bible is the Authority.
So my mind is open to new things, always. I will judge them on the baisis of the Truth which is eternal and absolute. Now it may take some intense study and deep thinking to consider all of the aspects of a subject in the crazy complex world but I do have an open mind to whatever the Lord wants to show me.
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