Winsome Conversations in Divisive TimesSample

Cultivate Curiosity 

If someone else’s convictions don’t make sense, it is probably because you don’t understand either their backstory or the conviction itself. Your first goal is to understand. That means you need to be a chimp, not a rhino. 

Rhinoceroses are notoriously shortsighted—it is said they can’t tell the difference between a tree and a human being from fifty feet away, which explains their aggressive behavior. If they don’t recognize it, they ram it. It’s hard on both the trees and the humans. It isn’t even that great for the rhino. It’s bad news all around. 

Chimps are different. When chimps see something they don’t recognize, they go investigate. They pick it up and prod it and play with it. They try it on their heads to see if it will fit. If they decide it’s not for them, they set it down and pick up something else, but at least everybody has had a good time and can walk away without being rammed. If your brother or sister in Christ has a personal conviction you don’t understand, be curious, investigate, and ask questions that you really are interested in getting the answer to. Don’t ram them. Be a chimp, not a rhino.