Being Right Isn't All That Helpful

“But, I was right!”

– Every perplexed failed leader ever

This probably sounds like heresy. Maybe it is. But the sad reality of our broken world is that being right isn’t nearly as helpful as we think. I’m not saying it doesn’t matter, because it does. It matters a lot. I’m certainly not advocating that truth, honesty, accuracy, and integrity don’t matter. I’m saying that being correct is almost never sufficient to advance, solve, or resolve anything. It takes more than being right to do good in the world.

Being right won’t help you if you aren’t trusted.

Being right won’t help you if you haven’t earned the right to speak with credibility.  

Being right won’t help you if you are a jerk.

Being right won’t help you after things you warned about have already broken.

Being right won’t draw people to you or change their lives.

Being right won’t protect you from criticism, opposition, or prosecution.

Being right doesn’t make you righteous.

Being right doesn’t give you the right to be arrogant, condescending, controlling, or dismissive.

In a culture where Christians have often been obsessed with truth and think that winning arguments is the goal, often while pushing people away because of our way of treating those with whom we disagree, we need to learn that being right is not all that helpful. This is especially true if our “rightness” is missing grace, mercy, righteousness, justice, humility, patience, and all the other ways that love manifests itself in the world. And it may turn out that we are not as right as we think when we humble ourselves and listen to others who think differently.

Jesus is right. He is truth. But that alone is not what draws us to him. We are drawn to Jesus because he is love. We are drawn to Jesus because he is good. We are drawn to Jesus because he is awesome, holy, and worthy of praise.

You can be right about Jesus and not be like Jesus and not help Jesus’ cause at all.

Being right is important, but by itself, it isn’t all that helpful. So perhaps we should worry less about being right and focus more on being Christlike.