Defending your beliefs vs being open-minded. How to balance the two?

Mar 9 (edited) in Bible Study

Context:

Moses was living in the house of Pharaoh. He had survived being killed as a newborn baby, thanks to his mother and the daughter of Pharaoh. As he grows up, he seems to have a sense that he doesn't belong in the house of Pharaoh and that the Hebrews are actually his people.

One day he goes out and sees an Egyptian attacking a Hebrew. Moses slays the Egyptian and buries him in the sand. Shortly after that, Moses witnesses two Hebrews fighting with one another. He goes to mediate the fight, but when one calls him out for killing the Egyptian, he flees into the desert to a well.

There he meets his wife, a Midianite, and protects her and her sisters from thuggish shepherds. Shortly after this, he encounters God on Mount Horeb in the burning bush.

Analysis:

Defending your Brother, Home, Faith, Tradition.

In this story, Moses is a Hebrew disguised as an Egyptian. He dresses like them, lives with them, eats with them. By all appearances, He is an Egyptian. However, we know his true heritage is with Hebrews. Moses also seems to have an inclination of that as well. Moses being confronted with the Egyptian attacking the Hebrew is a decision point for him. Does he choose to sit back and watch his true brother get attacked and even killed? Or does he make his decision to identify with the Hebrew and defend him?

We face challenges like this all the time. When your tradition, your home, your beliefs are attacked by an outsider seeking to destroy, how do you respond? Some people choose to respond by ignoring it. Others choose to respond by assuming they deserve it. The way Moses responds is to defend.

Healing Conflict inside the tradition, home, mind.

The second situation is a little different. In the second fight Moses comes across, it is not between an Egyptian and a Hebrew, but between two Hebrews. How do you respond when there is fighting inside the home?

One way to think about the difference between the two is to think about the difference between your home and your work. At work, if there is someone attacking (verbally or physically) another co-worker, the boss is warranted in cutting them off from the company and kicking them to the curb. However, if the same situation is happening between your kids or another family member, it is not wise to banish them into exile or death. (No matter how bad you may want to sometimes)

A problem with these types of "inner circle" conflicts, is that both parties can claim the same authority as the reason they are right. Between the Egyptian and the Hebrew, it is easy. The Hebrew God is the true God, they are my people, I will defend them. When it is conflict between two people inside the circle, whose side do you take? Can you make one the winner and the other the loser? That is the question the Hebrew asks Moses. "Are you going to kill one of us like you did the Egyptian?"

Usually in the Bible, getting a foreigner involved or going out into wilderness/desert isn't the go-to strategy. Most of the time, the Israelites are called to be holy and separate from the other nations. Leviticus is all about this, and there is a whole section in the book of Proverbs about how the strange woman leads to death. (This was Samson's demise as well.) However, in this situation, that is exactly what is necessary.

Moses is unable to solve the conflict between the Egyptians. They question his authority, and that is exactly the problem. They all three have equal authority in the situation. They are all Hebrews. In order to solve a conflict between equals, you need a new (foreign) perspective (think outside the box.) You need a higher perspective. That is exactly what happens. Moses marries the foreign woman. What happens after that? Moses encounters God at the burning bush, and God gives Moses that higher perspective and higher authority he needs to help the Hebrews.

This story points out two types of conflicts we face in our lives. One is the conflict between people on the inside, internal conflicts. The other is conflicts between an insider and an outsider, external conflicts. Each require a different strategy to handle. When an outsider attacks the inside, you defend. But when the inside attacks the inside, you need an outside perspective to heal the situation.

Takeaway:

When is it time to be open-minded vs when is time to defend?

This is a question that I think about a lot. What is the balance between being open-minded, and being firm in your convictions? I think this story gives us a good solution. When the conflict is an outsider coming in to attack the inside, that is the wrong time to be open-minded. When the enemy is tearing down the walls, it is not time to see if they might have a point. Fight back and defend. However, if there is fighting going on inside the city walls, it might be time to flee to the wilderness, get a foreign perspective, and encounter a higher truth.

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