Economist John Maynard Keynes once said something to the effect of "When the facts change, I change my mind, what do you do, sir?"
Like many things, humans generally think that changing one's mind is something that others should do (unless you are a politician in which you are then called a flip flop). We also think that we would change our mind if we were given direct information that confronted our position. But lets face it, generally we are much better at altering the interpretation of the information than changing our mind.
I wonder if Christians are able to change our own minds at all.
Traditional evangelism is rooted in the idea of getting others to change their minds about how they will live and convert to Christianity. But, how many Christians have changed their minds about their faith since becoming a Christian?
There was a time when I thought that it was acceptable for a violent response to a situation. There was a time when I thought the Bible was the literal words of God and the Bible was infallible. There was a time that I thought that Jesus was literally born of a virgin and that mattered more than a number of other beliefs.
Yet over the course of time, I have changed my mind.
I am unable to see how God desires or approves of violence of any sort. The Bible no longer contains the infallible words of God. The virgin birth is something that is a beautiful truth that is not important to me if it was literal.
As I get more information I change my mind. My understanding of faith has changed over time and in some ways it is difficult for me to imagine my previous mind.
Admitting that my faith as evolved and changed and that I believe new and different things, may be something that a pastor should not say.
But I have changed my mind on that too.