After school one day I saw a bully get, well, pretty beaten up by a quiet kid who rode the same bus. Everyone thought the little quiet guy would get creamed, but the bully slunk off crying.
It turned out, all the bully had going for him was intimidation and size. He wasn’t coordinated, in shape, or even confident. He used his bluster to keep smaller boys at bay, while all the while hiding a mountain of fear and insecurity behind his big talk.
I’ve never forgotten the lesson I watched play out that day, and I am reminded of it as I see so many institutions of higher learning refuse to allow opposing viewpoints on their campuses or at their lecterns. University, by it’s very name, was born in an atmosphere of life-long learning from and within diverse viewpoints and disciplines.
Thinking people should be suspect of any institution or social media platform which won’t allow for the free exchange of ideas, and instead, censors any and all comments which dispute “the party line.”
Our nation has had a tradition of open dialogue in the public square which seems quickly to be evaporating. (See our April 24th entry, “Obituary For the Question Mark.”) For Christians, this is not a political issue, but a moral and spiritual one, which impacts the very ability of young people to process ideas and decide for themselves.
Could it be that the bullies know that if they allow a contrasting viewpoint, their own weak ideas will be bested, shown up for what they are? Is it possible that the ideologies they champion are merely left over, failed agendas of the past, and will not stand the scrutiny of anyone with a sense of history and an Internet search engine?
Christians, for their part, need never worry about their world being collapsed by new ideas. The Bible, as the analogy goes, is the Anvil which has worn out countless hammers, and will continue to do so. It’s good to remember that all truth is God’s truth, and Jesus said of Himself, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
British preacher C. H. Spurgeon once humorously poked fun at an imaginary group of people trying to defend a lion: The best way to defend it would be to open the cage! “The best ‘apology’ for the gospel is to let the gospel out.”
“Father, help us not be intimidated by those who would suppress knowledge in their pursuit of power, and allow us never to be afraid to pursue truth. In the name of Jesus, Amen.”