Flip the Switch

Yesterday was my first blog post and on Facebook I asked my Facebook friends to comment on it. Thanks for your comments Facebook friends. I found the comments very interesting which sparked my thoughts for today. Most of the people who commented got the point that God desires that we don't judge people to quickly but accept them where they are.
However, most of the comments focused on the fact that I mentioned beer. Whether drinking beer is OK or not was not the focus at all. I could have said my brother in law asked for coffee and I could have thought you can't drink coffee you are Mormon (if he was). And I could have went and bought my first coffee, which I have never done yet, and the point would have been the same. And I would venture to say that there would not have been one comment about the coffee. Why? because coffee is not a hot subject while drinking beer is definitely a hot subject.
You see certain subjects trigger all our preconceived thoughts and they explode into our thought pattern and often consume our thoughts even if the explosive subject is not even the point. Depending on how you were raised or taught the subject of drinking brings forth certain automatic thoughts. If you were raised extremely conservative or even in a legalistic environment, drinking is taboo and ranks at the top of sins. If you were raised in a little more open setting, drinking is fine as long as you don't get drunk and you think nothing of it. And of course, there is every position in between.
I want to challenge you to flip a switch when it comes to your preconceived ideas. God has been challenging me with this lately. Instead of automatically allowing certain preconceived ideas to take your thoughts captive, ask yourself is this a preconceived idea of mine or is it absolute truth? Absolute truth comes from God only. Ask yourself is my positions, thoughts God's position, thoughts?
Take drinking for instance. What does God really say? He says do not get drunk. Does He give any absolutes beyond that? There has been lots of interpretation, preconceived thoughts beyond that but I don't think there are any absolutes beyond that. Again, I don't drink because I don't like the taste for one, and that is my conviction for two.
But do I have the right to take my convictions, my preconceived thoughts and teach them as God's gospel when Scripture doesn't have the same absolutes as me?
My point is this. I don't think God wants our main focus to be on side issues that have become hot topics in the world we live in. I think what God wants us to focus on living a life that develops an incredible relationship with Him. And on loving people right where they are and letting God use us to lead them into an incredible relationship with Him.
So my something to think about for today is do you ever challenge your own preconceived ideas or just accept them as fact?
Robert