Opinions

I'm sitting here pondering from experience if opinions have produced more good or bad.  At the moment my recollection is coming down on the side of bad.  There is an old adage about opinions that would not be proper for this venue but it ends by saying, "everybody has one."  The dictionary defines the word opinion as "a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge."  We are so fickle and easily persuaded that opinion should be one of the last things that we would use to make serious decisions.  Most of our opinions have been formed by others or by partial information.  How many times have you had a favorable opinion about someone until someone else shared some juicy tidbit about them that left you tainted toward the person.  There is no fact or evidence that the information is true but you are now ruined in regard to viewing the person in an impartial way.  When a jury is sequestered during a trial it is because of past experiences in the court system.  At the end of each day of the trial the Judge orders the jury that they are not to talk to anyone about the trial.  Why?  Because the Judge wants the person to remain impartial and unbiased regarding the one on trial, and only letting evidence have an impact on them toward the verdict.   

It seems that the world has once again done a better job at justice than the Church.  The Word of God tells us that brothers should not take brothers to court and that there should be enough wisdom in the church leadership to handle such situations.  Yet, often even leadership gets influenced in some negative way that hinders Godly justice.  One of the most deadly pollutants of all is the formation of alliances in the church and especially in leadership.  Leadership should be able to come to the leadership table unbiased and without an opinion with an open heart to hear evidence and the voice of the Holy Spirit.  For that reason our leadership in years past were asked not to meet to discuss church matters of pending business apart from the leadership table.  It is God's will that His wisdom and direction come from the combined diversified wisdom of the individual in the group.  If even two had already formed an opinion at some lunch meeting discussion, the system was now broken from accomplishing God's intent.  

May we approach every situation and every person "wise as serpents and harmless as doves."  May we at the very least do as good a job as the world and see everyone as "innocent until proven guilty."