Open mindedness

[MustardSeed]

Where/when is “open mindedness” useful in the gospel?  Problematic? Dangerous? Crucial? 

Do you describe yourself as open minded?  Do you think you should be more or less open minded than you are? 
 

I was closed minded, didn’t know it, until my 40s.  Now, I’m fairly open minded.  I’m not as opinionated as I was when I was younger, but I’m more clear out loud when I am sure of myself.  I do know at my age that I know very little(I thought I knew all til around 40)  so I’m more open minded to the possibility that someone else is more correct than I am. I also can sniff out closed minded thought patterns and am not drawn to them.  
 

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by MustardSeed

[blackstrap]

whatever.

[MustardSeed]

1 hour ago, blackstrap said:

whatever.

Rude 

[Pyreaux]

I am extremely open minded, anchored to a few core truths to help rein me in. The ideas I dabble in can come at a great cost without those anchors. With them in place, I can explore and hold multiple and contradictory points of view at once, I can always fall back on what I know to be true. The human mind notices connections and patterns, and once you notice a pattern, you can't unnotice it. We’re never content in our own ignorance, we must continue to seek out knowledge and data until we’re convinced we’ve found the answer. Information Is gold. We’re exceptionally good at spotting trends. We could learn, quickly, from seemingly unrelated events until they became inextricably linked in our minds. So, be cautious, humans are so good at recognizing patterns that if we think two variables are connected, we start seeing a trend even if there isn’t one. One wrong judgment and you could apostatize, and even your life could be ended, like a certain Cicilian who comes to mind.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Pyreaux

[blackstrap]

16 minutes ago, MustardSeed said:

Rude 

It was a joke! I'd explain it but... whatever. 

[MustardSeed]

23 minutes ago, Pyreaux said:

I am extremely open minded anchored to a few core truths to help rein me in. The ideas I dabble in can come at a great cost to those anchors. With them in place, I can explore and hold multiple and contradictory points of view at once, I can always fall back on what I know to be true. The human mind notices connections and patterns, and once you notice a pattern, you can't unnotice it. We’re never content in our own ignorance, we must continue to seek out knowledge and data until we’re convinced we’ve found the answer. Information Is gold. We’re exceptionally good at spotting trends. We could learn, quickly, from seemingly unrelated events until they became inextricably linked in our minds. So, be cautious, humans are so good at recognizing patterns that if we think two variables are connected, we start seeing a trend even if there isn’t one. One wrong judgment and you could apostatize, and even your life could be ended, like a certain Cicilian who comes to mind.

Good movie  

And well said.  
Im looking for help in wording a conversation tomorrow and your words have helped.  Thank you 

[CV75]

9 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Where/when is “open mindedness” useful in the gospel?  Problematic? Dangerous? Crucial? 

Do you describe yourself as open minded?  Do you think you should be more or less open minded than you are? 
 

I was closed minded, didn’t know it, until my 40s.  Now, I’m fairly open minded.  I’m not as opinionated as I was when I was younger, but I’m more clear out loud when I am sure of myself.  I do know at my age that I know very little(I thought I knew all til around 40)  so I’m more open minded to the possibility that someone else is more correct than I am. I also can sniff out closed minded thought patterns and am not drawn to them.  
 

 

I see open mindedness in gospel terms as humility, which is the willingness to learn and grow. Humility is also useful in expressing ourselves in a way that facilitates humility in others. I feel I am humble enough to keep improving along the covenant path, so yes, I want and strive to be humbler.

Edited March 20, 2023 by CV75

[Tacenda]

8 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Rude 

blackstrap... close minded.

I changed a lot in my forties from almost close minded to more open minded. And it allowed me to be more accepting and hey, more Christlike!

[Hamilton Porter]

I'm open-minded by nature.

[Meadowchik]

From my perspective I would say a good frame of mind is inquisitive which is more than being open which could be considered passive.

For example as someone who was born and raised in the church and was intensely engaged, I benefited most when I proactively thoughtful. 

There was no shortage of well meaning people in my life who presented me with a mixture of healthy and unhealthy ideas. Being actively engaged even if going down a wrong road could still quickly result in correction. 

[manol]

16 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Where/when is “open mindedness” useful in the gospel?  Problematic? Dangerous? Crucial?

Imo it would be a mistake to allow fear to close our minds, especially given that "perfect love casts out fear". 

6 hours ago, Meadowchik said:

From my perspective I would say a good frame of mind is inquisitive which is more than being open which could be considered passive.

Agreed!

Imo the Parable of the Talents is arguably about "open-mindedness", or perhaps even "inquisitiveness", the latter term emphasizing active seeking.  Let me explain:

A "talent" was the equivalent of about fifteen years' wages, so the amounts of money in this parable are life-altering, and effectively amount to financial salvation. I think they can be interpreted as representing "that which is of enormous value".  What might be of enormous value?  That which Peter called "the words of eternal life"; namely, the teachings of Christ, or the highest teachings of one's religion or value system. 

So by this line of thinking, the parable indicates we are supposed to take the highest truths we have been given out into the marketplace of ideas and add more of the same to what we have, even if the idea of doing so seems to put one at risk of losing it all.  According to the parable, indeed arguably its central message, is that the "wrong" approach would be to "play it safe", neither risking nor potentially adding to the truths of enormous value which the Lord has given us via our current belief systems. 

Not that yours truly is much of a parable-writer, but here's my first attempt, the "Parable of the Easter Egg Hunt":  Truth is like an Easter egg hunt; unless you go out actively seeking for it, you're not going to add any more to what's already in your basket. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by manol

[Dario_M]

I'm openminded. 

[bluebell]

13 hours ago, MustardSeed said:

Where/when is “open mindedness” useful in the gospel?  Problematic? Dangerous? Crucial? 

Do you describe yourself as open minded?  Do you think you should be more or less open minded than you are? 
 

I was closed minded, didn’t know it, until my 40s.  Now, I’m fairly open minded.  I’m not as opinionated as I was when I was younger, but I’m more clear out loud when I am sure of myself.  I do know at my age that I know very little(I thought I knew all til around 40)  so I’m more open minded to the possibility that someone else is more correct than I am. I also can sniff out closed minded thought patterns and am not drawn to them.  
 

 

I think it’s useful when it helps us to be unified with people who are different than us, or to love others as ourselves regardless of their beliefs, opinions, or sins, and when it keeps us humble and teachable.

I think it is dangerous when it causes us to refuse to righteously judge evil, or causes us to refuse to embrace or support good because we are unwilling to create division with those who disagree.  

Speaking for myself, I think it can cause me sometimes to be too undecided. Too lukewarm on some topics, neither willing to condemn nor embrace. In some circumstances that can be useful, but other times it just makes me one of those indecisive squirrels that gets run over on the road of life because I couldn’t/wouldn’t pick a side.

I’ve always thought it was interesting that, according to the book of Revelation, God looked more favorably on those who embraced a choice even if it turned out they chose was wrong, then He looked on those who refused to be either hot or cold. I think that’s because He can work with people better who have both convictions and integrity.

Integrity without convictions does not seem to be as useful either to us or to Him.

[CA Steve]

I know I am open minded. 

No one can tell me otherwise.

[The Nehor]

Being open minded is exhausting. It means digging for information.

Open mindedness without intense curiosity is just being an airhead.

[manol]

4 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Being open minded is exhausting. It means digging for information.

Open mindedness without intense curiosity is just being an airhead.

Curiosity may not be one's primary motivation for being open minded.

Just an opinion and perhaps slightly off-topic, but in my experience that which is in the way is "the way".   Ime whatever that thing is, it may well contain a very well-concealed treasure.  Ime that's the way "the game" is set up. 

What is the issue that keeps coming up over and over?  What is the elephant in the room?  What is the mountain that needs moving, which might actually turn out to be susceptible to faith as a grain of... ahem... mustard seed? 

I cannot speak for anyone else, but the greatest (most transformational, most unexpected, and most uplifting) things I have learned in this earth life have been primarily because of that thing in the way, that elephant in the room, that mountain in need of moving. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by manol

[Peacefully]

4 hours ago, bluebell said:

I think it’s useful when it helps us to be unified with people who are different than us, or to love others as ourselves regardless of their beliefs, opinions, or sins, and when it keeps us humble and teachable.

I think it is dangerous when it causes us to refuse to righteously judge evil, or causes us to refuse to embrace or support good because we are unwilling to create division with those who disagree.  

Speaking for myself, I think it can cause me sometimes to be too undecided. Too lukewarm on some topics, neither willing to condemn nor embrace. In some circumstances that can be useful, but other times it just makes me one of those indecisive squirrels that gets run over on the road of life because I couldn’t/wouldn’t pick a side.

I’ve always thought it was interesting that, according to the book of Revelation, God looked more favorably on those who embraced a choice even if it turned out they chose was wrong, then He looked on those who refused to be either hot or cold. I think that’s because He can work with people better who have both convictions and integrity.

Integrity without convictions does not seem to be as useful either to us or to Him.

I had a manager once who told me something I never forgot. He said he would rather someone make a wrong decision than no decision at all. 

[Navidad]

I relate close-mindedness to certainty - the Sin of Certainty as Peter Enns has written. He wrote a book sub-titled "Why God desires our trust more than our our 'correct' beliefs." I also like what the Croatian theologian Miroslav Volf says, the "peregrine nature of Christian existence implies the provisional nature of Christian knowledge." He also helped draft the theme for a worldwide conference of Evangelicals - "As proclaimers of the gospel, we claim only a provisional certainty." Both those men, their talks and writings have helped me to value the desire to learn and know more.

[3DOP]

I don't know how to know if I am "open minded". Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

It seems like it would be stupid to "open minded" or "closed minded" always.

It seems like it would be smart to be "closed minded" or "open minded" sometimes.

I don't see that either open mindedness or closed mindedness can be categorized as always a virtue or always a vice. 

 

[LoudmouthMormon]

Depends on the definition.

1.  The ability to accept data/information.  (Also known as humility)

2. The absence of firm beliefs or principles one wishes to defend, leaving one open to being buffeted about by changing winds of culture and public opinion. (Also known as idiocy)

Edited March 21, 2023 by LoudmouthMormon

[Calm]

1 hour ago, 3DOP said:

I don't know how to know if I am "open minded". Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

It seems like it would be stupid to "open minded" or "closed minded" always.

It seems like it would be smart to be "closed minded" or "open minded" sometimes.

I don't see that either open mindedness or closed mindedness can be categorized as always a virtue or always a vice. 

 

I prefer to think of myself as aiming to be appropriately flexible.  Hard to know how well I achieve that as I am well aware of how people aren’t always aware of ourselves, especially how we come across to others.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Calm

[Navidad]

17 hours ago, Peacefully said:

I think it is dangerous when it causes us to refuse to righteously judge evil, or causes us to refuse to embrace or support good because we are unwilling to create division with those who disagree.  

I think I like what you are saying, but I don't understand how you correlate evil and those who disagree with us. Can there not be good in those who disagree with me, or good in what those disagree with me disagree about? I am not sure what judgement, good, and evil has to do with disagreements? Am I misunderstanding you?

[Navidad]

13 hours ago, 3DOP said:

I don't know how to know if I am "open minded". Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

It seems like it would be stupid to "open minded" or "closed minded" always.

It seems like it would be smart to be "closed minded" or "open minded" sometimes.

I don't see that either open mindedness or closed mindedness can be categorized as always a virtue or always a vice. 

 

I like what you said, and as always you said it well, so I gave you an upvote. I would suggest that the critical variables in what you are saying is not open versus close mindedness, but sometimes versus always and virtue versus vice.

[Peacefully]

5 hours ago, Navidad said:

I think I like what you are saying, but I don't understand how you correlate evil and those who disagree with us. Can there not be good in those who disagree with me, or good in what those disagree with me disagree about? I am not sure what judgement, good, and evil has to do with disagreements? Am I misunderstanding you?

This quote belongs to Bluebell:) I just replied to her. 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Peacefully

[bluebell]

6 hours ago, Navidad said:

I think I like what you are saying, but I don't understand how you correlate evil and those who disagree with us. Can there not be good in those who disagree with me, or good in what those disagree with me disagree about? I am not sure what judgement, good, and evil has to do with disagreements? Am I misunderstanding you?

I meant, for example, that sometimes we might hesitate to judge premarital sex as evil because we are afraid to cause division with those who disagree--with those who believe premarital sex is actually good and healthy.

When our open mindedness leads us value unity over righteous judgements (which I define as the judging of actions to determine if God condones them or not, not the condemning of people who might be doing those actions), I think that can be a dangerous thing.