The Doctrine of the Biggest Mouth

Often the doctrine that wins the day has nothing to do with the truth, instead it has to do with the person in the room who has the biggest mouth.

The guy with the most imposing demeanor, the guy that gets the support of those around him. The truth means nothing to him, only his beliefs, because as we all know he is always right. Mr. Big Mouth and his friends already know everything and they are here to teach others, not to learn.

They may pretend to learn but you can watch them squirm when a question is brought up that they cannot answer, or a question that undermines their beliefs. They begin looking for a way out, a way to continue with their beliefs unchanged. Most of the time they will not even lend an ear to the truth because that would require them to humble themselves and admit they are wrong.

What is the truth? If you were talking to someone about math and the problem of 2+2=4 came up. You would understand that as the truth. The truth we see in math is true regardless of what anyone believes about it. We look at this example and due to the fact that it is simple math we might believe the truth is easy to prove.

However, suppose Mr. Big Mouth stepped up and said that 2+2=5 would that make him correct? Would that damage the truth at all? Suppose Mr. Big Mouth told you this and all of his friends rallied around him and said he was right and you were wrong. Would that damage the truth at all? Would you begin to question yourself about whether or not 2+2 really did equal 4?

However, what if the formula A= π*r² was brought up and you were asked to determine whether it was true or not. It wouldn't be quite as easy would it? You might actually have to do a little studying to decide whether or not it was true in the first place.

Now, once you determined it was in fact true how would you present it to others that had not studied it for themselves? How would you present it to Mr. Big Mouth, while he laughed at you and called you names? I suppose the unfortunate reality is that you can't. He either accepts it or he doesn't, you have to let him go his own route.

Does that cause damage to the truth? No. He is wrong not the truth. He can lift up his big mouth in protest, and he can convince everyone in the room that the mathematician is wrong. He can make fun of him and do whatever he wants to but it will not change the truth of the formula.

Now to a mathematician the more complex formula A= π*r² is just as true as 2+2=4 because he understands the deeper truth. For instance, just by showing the formula to a mathematician he would instantly tell you it was true. It is the true formula for calculating the area of a circle.

The same applies to religious truth. The Truth does exist and you either have it or you don't and regardless of what you choose it does not damage the Truth in any way. If by chance someone has a better understanding than you do because they study more that doesn't mean you can negate the Truth simply because you don't understand it.

At each point of growth we truly must humble ourselves in deference to the Truth. We cannot diminish it by convincing everyone that our particular belief is correct or that somehow we all have our own beliefs and no one belief is any better than another's.

Now this begs the question, how do we know when we don't know something? This may sound like a riddle but consider it for a second. You see, Mr. Big Mouth truly believes he is right, sure there is some pride mixed in with it but the point is he doesn't see it as pride he sees it as a righteous defense of the truth.

Since we see Mr. Big Mouth caught in this web and blinded to his faults we should also look at our own faults to see that we too are not following a similar path.

A good sign that you are walking in the truth is that your doctrine will line up with the Bible. If you are ever challenged by someone quoting the scripture it would make good sense to study that point until you ensure that what you believe truly does line up with ALL of the scriptures, not just your favorite ones.

If you find that what you believe doesn't line up with the Bible then you must change what you believe. You must line your beliefs up with the Bible and that means walking a road of oft times being wrong and having to repent. If most of your time is spent repenting and humbling yourself to the scriptures then that too is a good sign.

We cannot simply follow the guy with the biggest mouth and feel secure in the Truth. We must continually study to show ourselves approved and be ready to answer any that inquire to the hope that is within us.

Proverbs 1:7 says "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."

The Truth truly doesn't have a lot of tolerance for big mouths.