Once, many years ago, I told my pastor that we had elections in our youth group and we chose a new leader. Probably he could tell that I was very happy about the new leader we had chosen, but instead of asking me why I was happy, he asked me “is it good or bad?” I answered naively, repeating a worldly phrase: “change is always for the best.” “Are you sure?” he asked. With hesitation I answered: “Well… that’s what they say.” “If you commit a sin, that implies a change in your soul, doesn’t it?” he asked. I nodded in assent realizing the point he was making, and he continued, “so change is not always for the best. You should always think about what you think.” Then he explained the erroneous progressive idea that is behind that expression.
I learned that there is a line of thought behind that expression that I had used, and, I had never thought about it before. My mistake is something that happens very often; we repeat expressions and opinions that we have heard, and that usually seem reasonable to us, without really thinking about them. In other words, often we think that we have an opinion about something that in reality we have never thought about, and are just repeating what others say like parrots.
This issue seems to be getting worse nowadays due to social media. We receive a lot of information through different social media platforms and we read and repeat (in social media to repeat means to forward that information to others) that information without thinking about what is said. We also tend to believe what was sent to us just because it was sent by a friend or some other person who supposedly thinks the same way we think.
To really know what we think, to really form opinions about important or deep questions is an important task in our lives. In order to walk the straight path to heaven we need to have deep convictions and clear ideas about deep questions. While it is true that faith helps us to have those deep convictions, it is also true that we can help our faith by having clear ideas on a natural level.
It is very easy to manipulate someone who does not discern the information he receives. It is much more important to learn how to use the information we receive, than to get information, although the reality is that nowadays people want to receive a lot of information without any discernment. Knowing a lot of things without discernment of those things is not helpful, but rather is dangerous since it is easy to be led astray by lies and wrong judgments.
We can benefit from the knowledge we receive from our elders; however, it is crucial that we receive that knowledge with criteria of discernment. It is also important to grow in this discernment and to get into the habit of discerning whenever we receive important information that can impact our lives. This process of discerning requires, on one hand, that we analyze and verify the information itself, and on the other hand, that we analyze and verify the source of the information.
