Am I Right, or Am I Right?

 

I’m not always right, and I don’t need to be.

My need to be right doesn’t matter to anyone else who needs to be right either.  When that need to be “right”, - to be the person “in the know”, to have the status of “influence”, - becomes my primary motivation, then I have ceased to care about anyone else.

When I elevate my own need to be right to the degree that I can’t allow myself to be seen as wrong, then I am showing narcissistic tendencies.  Disagreement becomes a threat.  To avoid the threat, I must then isolate myself to reinforce my confidence in my own, very singular, beliefs, before I lash out at any perceived threats.  This used to take place in somewhat public forums where we could see each other, with people we knew.  More recently it takes place online, in faceless “communities” where we claim to have “friends” whom we have never met.

Political views have become more important than kindness. 

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells us about a man left to die on the side of the road.  The community and religious leaders of the day pass him by.  They can’t be bothered to get their hands dirty to save a life.  The Samaritan who saves him is one who the dying man would consider an enemy, and he does so in a way that puts himself at risk.

This is what Jesus asks of us. 

We seem to think loving each other despite our differences is more dangerous, that there is more risk in practicing kindness, than in committing murder of all things. 

But think about where the danger lies.  Today the danger comes from those around us who disagree.  The ones who have to be “right”. 

The ones who disagree with Jesus.

There are times when I laugh at the irony in my life.

I am sometimes told by my “conservative” (a word that has been recently redefined by extremists) friends that I am too liberal.

Yet my “liberal” (also redefined by extremists) friends tell me I am too conservative.

The irony is that while these people say they are Christian, they say these things when I am quoting Christ himself.

In an article from “The Dispatch” (thedispatch.com) entitled “Reciting What’s True to Defuse a Politics of Hate”, author Michael Reneau states this:

“In his 17th-century meditation on spiritual battles, The Christian in Complete Armour, Puritan William Gurnall reflected on what biblical scholars call Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” in John 17. “Jesus told His children what they must look for at the world’s hand — all kinds of tribulation,” Gurnall wrote of Jesus’ prayer for unity among his followers. “Yet he did not pray so much for their immunity from suffering as He did against contentions amongst them. … In a word, saints who live in strife and contention are sinning against the strong prayers Christ Himself uttered on their behalf.””

It’s almost like some people want to be more “right” than Jesus.  Even politicians.

Go figure.

In almost every political news story I read or watch, one side accuses the other of doing something wrong.  They use this as justification to knowingly do the same wrong thing.  What follows is a ping pong style defense of “they did it first”, and everything escalates to the point where murder becomes justifiable.  One murder is determined to be more important than another depending on which political party is in power.  The usual non-conclusion to the argument is some form of “we’ll stop when they stop first”.  

If I see someone sin, that is not a justification for me to commit the same sin! It astounds me that I even have to say that out loud.

I hope I’m not the only one who sees the stupidity of this, because I’ve felt like I’m living in the crossfire for a while now.

I have said this before, and I will say it again:

Jesus gave us the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  But it has no meaning until I understand that it always requires me to make the first move.

So, my first move, today, is to step back.

Stop.

Show kindness, love and mercy.

“He has told you, O man, what is good;
    and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
    and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

Do that.

©Dan Bode 2025