From time to time, I am reminded that people—including Christians, and far too many preachers—freely slander and disparage others. People rarely bring their mess to me—perhaps because I have no tolerance for it—but I occasionally see and hear it. I’ve even seen my face on banners, read critiques on websites, watched criticisms in videos, and heard preachers speak about me in sermons. Yet not once—literally not once—has anyone who has disparaged me in those ways ever spoken to me before attacking me publicly, which says a lot about their motives and spiritual maturity.
I grew up in an environment where men talked to one another, not about one another. Less polite terms were used to describe males who talked behind people’s backs, but I’ll just say it was considered cowardly. As an adult, I learned that Scripture plainly teaches Christians to address their concerns directly and in love, so it is especially disappointing when preachers—who are responsible for teaching God’s Word and who often condemn others for ignoring Jesus’s teachings—disregard the Lord’s clear instructions and descend into gossip and slander. It’s hard to believe they don’t know better.
What’s even more fascinating, though, is how often these same preachers are simply wrong. They are confident that anyone who disagrees with them must also disagree with God. They are convinced that anyone who doesn’t use their preferred words or follow their precise practices is “in error.” If you don’t worship precisely as they do or associate with people they approve of, then you are condemned. This kind of arrogance is staggering—and far too common.
Recently, a few people—less than a handful—asked me about my beliefs because some have claimed I endorse “hermeneutical agnosticism,” the idea that people cannot truly know what the Bible teaches. Of course, if I intended to endorse such a view, I know how to do so, and if I believed it, I wouldn’t care who agreed. I don’t teach or preach for popularity, and I tend to choose my words carefully. That doesn’t mean I never misspeak or that I’m always correct, but it does mean people don’t generally have to guess what I mean. They just need to listen to what I say and write all over the country and the Internet—not what they suspect I could be saying.
While I do not affirm hermeneutical agnosticism, I do affirm the importance of humility. Humility in how we think about people. Humility in how we talk to people. Humility in how we speak about people. And humility in how we read Scripture. Yes, many things in the Bible are certain. Yes, some theological conclusions are firm. But people are certain—and wrong—about many things every day, including their doctrinal and theological conclusions. So humility is important.
In churches of Christ, as in many religious traditions in the United States, people were once certain that Scripture supported chattel slavery. Later, they were certain that Black Christians should sit in balconies and enter church buildings through separate doors. They were certain that Jim Crow segregation was justified. Today, some are certain that the United States is a “Christian nation,” that God favors their favorite political party, and that people who speak against injustice are "troublemakers." But certainty doesn’t equal truth. This doesn’t mean truth is unknowable. However, it does mean we should approach Scripture and one another with hermeneutical humility—willing to patiently examine our assumptions and seek truth together with those who differ from us.
Some may disagree with my disposition, which is okay. If I’m wrong, the loving thing to do is show me my mistake. I’m an easy person to find, so there's never an excuse for failing to do so. In the meantime, my focus stays on doing what I believe is right in serving the Lord, and this is the attitude I recommend to anyone who is targeted by slanderers and backbiters. Honestly, they are ignorant at best and dishonorable and unloving at worst. They’re not worth more time or energy than you can give them in prayer. Serve the Lord. People gossiped about him and disparaged him too, so you're in good company.