One year, I don’t recall where we were driving, or where we were coming from, but I was sitting in the backseat of my family’s vehicle. Somewhere along the road, we passed a church sign, and I’ll never forget the words that were written on it:
Satan Loves an Open Mind
It had to have been at least four years ago that I saw this, because I was still riding around with my parents and not driving the Hyundai Sonata that I now drive; but it’s fresh enough on my mind that I might have seen this sign last week.
So what’s one possible reaction to this sign? The self-declared “open-minded” might read this sign and laugh, hysterically; they might not care at all, thinking it isn’t worth putting thought into because probably no ground can be gained toward what they would consider enlightenment; or they might see this sign as an infuriating push toward intolerance and condescension. They might read the sign and perceive this church as doing great harm to the community, seeing as they apparently propel an equation of open-mindedness with Satan and evil out into the world, and hundreds drive past every day who no doubt would turn close-minded against anyone who such an authority might tell them to turn against.
So what does it mean to be “open-minded”? If a person is open-minded, then they are receptive to ideas and concepts. They are willing to learn, they are willing to try new things, they are willing to accept notions and ideas that may differ from those they’ve experienced in the past. What this sign is implying is that when a person is in this mental state, Satan, the Lord of Darkness, the fallen angel, the originator of all that is wrong in the world, will try to find ways to wedge corrupt or distorted ways of living, however subtly or unsubtly, into the lives of these individuals. Since the “open-minded” person is often prepared to accept what they are presented with, if the devil plays his cards right, this may be the time when this person could take his first steps toward an eventual rejection of doctrine.
I had an interesting epiphany about open-mindedness while I was on the way to Chicago a few weeks ago, reading SoulPancake in the backseat of a car. Basically what I realized was that too much open-mindedness can hurt the self, but not enough open-mindedness can hurt other people. If you’re so “open-minded” that you will literally try anything – crystal meth, heroin, robbery, arson, rape, Satanism – then your body may physically deteriorate; you may become a drugged out, treacherous obsessive, devoted only to finding his next fix; and you may find yourself pursued by the local authorities, or stuck watching ten years of your life pass you by in your gray governmental cement cube with only a concrete bed slab and a hole in the ground for company.
But on the other hand, if you’re so close-minded that you won’t consent to interact with anyone of a different religion, of a different sexual orientation, of criminal background, of sketchy history, of a different nationality—if, because these people are different, you treat them like they’re worthless, then you’re needlessly squandering relationships that could be incredibly meaningful. Empathy is probably the greatest safeguard we have against hate, and there isn't enough empathy in our world today. And when we choose close-mindedness over empathy, we are about as far from doing God’s work as Westboro Baptist Church. Such a mentality is corrosive. What I think is incredible, an idea that often seems to get totally strangled today, is how Christ spent a majority of his time with the same sorts of people many of today’s church-goers would sooner die than even smile at. When someone has so little “open-mindedness” in him that he can’t bring himself to express goodwill, to live out the gospel with certain other people just because they don’t look exactly like he does, then that’s when we’ve got a problem.
I assert that open-mindedness is not equable with evil; but a state of total and complete open-mindedness about all things should not be allowed transpire in anyone. There are too many negative forces in the world that could destroy a life if some undiscerning fool would only let them inside. But if we’re so concerned about keeping the straight and narrow that we close our minds to those who just maybe don’t share the same political stance we do (or who differ far more wildly), then we’re going to fall apart. Don’t let extreme close-mindedness keep you from communing the way God would want us to commune.
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