Are some Christians more right than others?

[Dave Slayer]

Are some Christians more right than others? Some seem to act like they know it all but is that really a Biblical attitude to have?

 

[Nick]

Well there is a thing called pride that the Bible warns against pride, and teaches us to be humble. It also speaks about juding others:

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

So firstly, we're not to be thinking of ourselves above others, and we're not to judge others....but there comes a point where a rebuke is needed, and there is no problem with that, and that is Biblically supported:

This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth.

1You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

3Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

6Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

9Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

11For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13while we wait for the blessed hopeâ€â€the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

15These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

 

[Tina]

.

Sometimes it's wiser to agree to disagree .....


2 Timothy 2:23-26
Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Titus 3:9
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

.

 

[Nick]

.

Sometimes it's wiser to agree to disagree .....


2 Timothy 2:23-26
Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Titus 3:9
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.

.

Rebuking should be done in a loving manner, not judging. But sometimes there isn't a time for rebuking, and as you quoted Tina, sometimes its better to agree to disagree.

 

[Grams]

From my point of view , Yes !

If your a Babe ,[in the Lord ] or do not go to church often, or do not read your bible much. One that I am
guilty of, is trying to find a verse and having the wrong [that old age thing ] words to find it.

You know less.

If you have been reading, bible and going to church, things like that I would say you are , more right then others?

 

[follower of Christ]

Are some Christians more right than others? Some seem to act like they know it all but is that really a Biblical attitude to have?

sometimes

 

[Adullam]

Let's say that only God is completely right every time. Now, those who abide in Christ live in the truth. According to Paul those who walk in the truth should humbly correct those who do not where appropriate.

Some Christians are more mature than others. They have usually got that way by being teachable. Those who are not teachable become less and less "right" with the passing of time. The truth is not a relativistic thing. Some walk in it....and some do not.

 

[stovebolts]

For some reason John the Baptist comes to mind

Yeah, John was more right than others who taught what was right (Torah), but he didn't elevate himself above the words of Jesus.

 

[Adullam]

For some reason John the Baptist comes to mind

Yeah, John was more right than others who taught what was right (Torah), but he didn't elevate himself above the words of Jesus.

Very good point. It goes along with another statement...we don't exegete the word, we let the word exegete us! :P

 

[JoJo]

I'm glad that no one can be right all of the time, that sometimes others can be right and we can be wrong, and vice versa. It keeps us in balance, it keeps us humble. It reminds us that there is room for growth and learning. Because once we start believing we are the only ones with the right answers, we lose humility and we become self-righteous.

 

[joechrist]

Yes

 

[yup]

But if you are searching for truth on God and you have one Christian telling you the Holy Spirit told them A and another Christian saying no the Holy Spirit told me B and the Holy Spirit didn't talk to you he did me... then how does a baby Christian know who to believe? Obviously, the Holy Spirit would and can only tell one truth...God's truth...but if two different Christians are stating two different things and contributing it to the Holy Spirit... what is really the truth and how are we to know?

 

[JoJo]

But if you are searching for truth on God and you have one Christian telling you the Holy Spirit told them A and another Christian saying no the Holy Spirit told me B and the Holy Spirit didn't talk to you he did me... then how does a baby Christian know who to believe? Obviously, the Holy Spirit would and can only tell one truth...God's truth...but if two different Christians are stating two different things and contributing it to the Holy Spirit... what is really the truth and how are we to know?

Very good questions. Honestly, you can't always rely on humans to tell the truth. I'm not saying one may be lying, but that maybe one (or both) could be misinterpreting their thoughts. But all Christians are baptized by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 3:16), and even baby Christians can turn to Him for truth. If you question something you heard from a Christian (or even your own heart), get in the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to provide the answers and trust Him to guide you in the truth. Also, the truth will always be proven true, and sometimes we don't see the outcome right away.

 

[justvisiting]

Are some Christians more right than others? Obviously. That's what teachers are for. That's what scripture is for...so we can establish and follow the truth.
The one's that are the most UNright...usually don't want to take scripture for what it says.
A Christian is required to weigh all things. We are not universalists. The idea is not to get along with everybody...in the sense of giving in, just to make friends. I won't go to churches that teach incorrectly.
I also don't like debating with people that can't even take scripture at face value. It says what it says.
If there is undefined symbolism, I accept that. I don't believe in jumping to conclusions on it. Am I wrong at times? I'm bound to be like anyone else. I still try not to be a knothead about it, just to suit what might be convenient for me.
Those are my thoughts.
In an open site like this, there are a lot of varying opinions (some very off base). That's why I go to sites like David Hockings, Chuck Missler etc. I consider them knowledgeable in the word.

 

[AAA]

Honestly, you can't always rely on humans to tell the truth. I'm not saying one may be lying, but that maybe one (or both) could be misinterpreting their thoughts.

And how does one know when she is misinterpreting her own thoughts? How do you know when you are misinterpreting your own thoughts?

But all Christians are baptized by the Holy Spirit (see Luke 3:16), and even baby Christians can turn to Him for truth. If you question something you heard from a Christian (or even your own heart), get in the Word, ask the Holy Spirit to provide the answers and trust Him to guide you in the truth.

That's the problem that's being brought up by yup: people say the Holy Spirit has told them opposing things. Your comment can't possibly be the solution as you are only restating the problem as if it doesn't exist.

Also, the truth will always be proven true

Can you substantiate that last statement?

 

[AAA]

I'm glad that no one can be right all of the time, that sometimes others can be right and we can be wrong, and vice versa. It keeps us in balance, it keeps us humble. It reminds us that there is room for growth and learning. Because once we start believing we are the only ones with the right answers, we lose humility and we become self-righteous.

I LOVE this post.

 

[JoJo]

AAA, I appreciate your questions. But any attempt I could make to answer them would never satisfy you. I don't have all the answers and I'm not an adequate debater. All I can do is try to explain my views based on my experience and biblical teaching. I've already tried to explain myself to you in another thread and I began to feel as if I was beating my head against a wall. So, if you don't mind, I will decline your unspoken invitation to debate this issue.

 

[justvisiting]

One of the attributes of Spirit filled Christians is that we weigh things. Some believers just take whatever they are given. God calls a Christian to be as a Berean. We study the scripture to see whether the teaching is actually true.
More cults occur because one all powerful leader takes the ability of their congregation AWAY...to study the scripture and...see in fact whether what is being taught is really true.
I also cross reference with other teachers that I respect. David Hockings, Chuck Missler...but I still weigh what they say.
The bottom line is most errors in Christian Theology come from going in with a predefined stubborn view, that is in fact, not even in scripture. ie. preterism. I will probably get a retort out of that one.
To the unsaved man... Correct or incorrect doctrine is all the same to them...because they really believe nothing about the Bible or God anyway.

 

[AAA]

To the unsaved man... Correct or incorrect doctrine is all the same to them...because they really believe nothing about the Bible or God anyway.

It seems to me that the believing community cannot agree on how to determine what is correct and incorrect doctrine. There are so many differences of opinion, and no way to validate any of them. You can't even agree on which is the correct version of scripture. Not only do the world's various religions balkanize our species along lines of eternal significance, so does each religion further divide us into the countless subgroups with correct doctrine, and the countless with incorrect doctrine. The Eastern Orthodox Christians war with the Catholics, the Shia war with the Sunnis, etc.

I think that the OP asks a question that cannot be answered, even though all believers think they have the answer.

 

[unclejed]

Seems everyone responding is "assuming" what the original post meant. What do you mean "right"? More Holy, more righteous......