Why Are Some People Incapable of Admitting When They Are Wrong?
By Richard Allen – January 8, 2024
This is the final installment in this series, started on November 20th with a blog entitled: “It’s Just a Flesh Wound! – A Failure to Repent – Part 1.” I used Monty Python’s Black Knight and his hilarious denial of the fact that his arm had been cut off as a springboard to ask all of us an obvious question: “Why are some people incapable of admitting when they are wrong?”
I freely admit that I will not be able to fully answer this question, as it has some deep psychological undertones that I am not going to cover in a short blog. But hopefully, I can provide a Biblical answer that should satisfy us as Christians, as God’s Word is the ultimate authority for all Truth. And while human wisdom can provide some insight, it can only take us so far. God’s Word lays out the reasons on “Why some men and women are incapable of admitting when they are wrong,” because they are the same reasons “Why some men and women will not Repent!”
The First Reason people are in Denial when they are wrong is: Admitting that you are wrong is a humbling acknowledgment that you are gullible or ignorant, for being duped and deceived. For most, Pride keeps them in Denial their whole lives. No doubt some are ignorant and uninformed of the truth. But often, the ignorance is willful, and shows a lack of inquisitiveness or interest. I like the way a modern Bible Translation phrases Proverbs 16:18 - “Pride precedes destruction; and an arrogant spirit gives way to a nasty fall” (The Voice). It goes without saying there is not much that fallen men and women have to be proud of. Yet the annals of human history are filled with stories of human pride and arrogance. Even as things are falling apart around us, there are still people who are in complete denial as to how horrible the Democrat Party’s governance has been. We’ve become a Nation of Eagles and Ostriches. Eagles see far and wide, totally aware as dangers and opportunities confront them. Whereas Ostriches are noted for “burying their heads in the sand,” thinking, if they are unable to see the danger, it must not be there. And I’m not just speaking of people who are politically savvy, I’m talking about being aware of the imminent danger of God’s judgment to come. Repentance also requires a humbling admission of wrong-doing, without which we will perish in pride and unbelief.
The Second Reason is Peer Pressure from the culture in which we live. This Peer Pressure can come in the form of Ridicule for Not Agreeing with the Cool Kids, or this Peer Pressure can be a desire to align with the so-called Experts who double down proclaiming that Falsehoods are still true. Probably the best example is the blatant stupidity that we see from Propaganda Media outlets like: CNN and MSNBC. The other major Networks are almost as bad, but these two outlets are not much more than “spokesmen and women for the Permanent Political Class.” Even after the story was proven false and exposed as a Hit Job by the Democrat Party, the Trump-Russia Collusion story is still mentioned by the state-controlled pundits on CNN and MSNBC. Likewise, even with the daily revelations of our government’s direct involvement in the Global Health Crisis and Cure of 2019 – 2022, there are still people in the Media, Academia, and Medicine who are propagating complete falsehoods and deception. The American People should know better, the evidence is all around them – and yet, they double-down on “Stupid” because “the Experts are all saying it’s true.”
This deferring to the so-called Experts is a phenomenon of our modern age that has evolved since the Enlightenment. To those who swallow whatever these Credentialed Experts falsely proclaim, let me say: These Experts also say that we evolved from amoeba to fish, to primates and ultimately to man, a Theory that Genetics and the Fossil Record have disproved. Now the so-called Scientific Experts are telling millions of young boys and girls that Gender is Fluid, that they can be whoever they feel like, and that men can have menstrual cycles and have babies. So much for Science!
The Third Reason I can cite is: “Admitting that you are wrong requires a change of mind.” Though changing our minds and admitting we are or have been wrong sometimes happens from a human perspective, it’s increasingly rare in our current politically polarized environment. And from the Spiritual perspective, this change of mind is quite impossible without God enlightening and drawing us by His Grace (John 3:3). We should also consider that the word used in Scripture for Repentance, is Metanoia, that is, “a change of mind,” both in its noun and verb form. Here’s what the Website, “Got Questions” says about Repentance:
“Three Greek words used in the New Testament help us understand the full meaning of repentance in the Bible. The first is the verb metamelomai, which denotes a change of mind that produces regret or even remorse for wrongs done, but not necessarily a change of heart and action. This word is used in Matthew 27:3 to describe the guilt Judas felt over betraying Jesus. The second verb, metanoeo, means “to change one’s mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge.” This verb and its related noun, metanoia, denote true biblical repentance, which is characterized by four elements:
True repentance involves a sense of awareness of one’s own guilt, sinfulness, and helplessness (Psalm 51:4 - 10; 109:21 - 22).
True repentance apprehends or takes hold of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ (Psalm 51:1; 130:4).
True repentance means a change of attitude and action regarding sin. Hatred of sin turns the repentant person away from his or her sin to God (Psalm 119:128; Job 42:5 - 6; 2 Corinthians 7:10).
True repentance results in a radical and persistent pursuit of holy living, walking with God in obedience to His commands (2 Timothy 2:19 - 22; 1 Peter 1:16).
The truth is, Biblical Repentance is a Gift from God! The condition of our fallen minds and hearts are such that men don’t have a change of mind without God working in our hearts to change them! Here are several New Testament References to this marvelous Gift from God:
“When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said 'We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life' ” (Acts 11:18).
“And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
As we watch 2024 unfold, it certainly appears that this coming “Election Year” will show pitifully little change of mind by those who have done great damage to the American Economy or to the Confused Children whose minds they are poisoning in government indoctrination centers (we used to call them schools), and even to poor minority voters in the inner cities as they are overrun by an invading army, solicited and organized by the Political Ruling Class. No matter how you spin it, many people are starting to wake up to the insanity, that is the Democrat and RINO Ruling Class, and their indifference to the plight of Middle-Class and Poor Americans. What is encouraging is that so many have figured out that “Build Back Better” was a meaningless “Campaign Slogan” with no real policies or intentions to build anything. And whatever they touched they have destroyed – never made better! The millions who finally figured out the scam didn’t do so because they understood the dangers of Socialism, or even because they figured out that the Global Health Crisis was created. This was done to enable the Great Reset, so the Ruling Class could enslave and control most of the world’s money, people and resources. No, they’ve only figured it out as they have watched 8 million Replacement Voters ushered into our Southern Border – many of them from countries that hate America and the Freedoms it stands for. They have also felt the pinch from a deliberate smashing of the economy – raising energy and food prices unlike any time since the Great Depression. They watch helplessly as our “so-called leaders” and their acolytes kiss up to foreign dictators, give billions in cash to avowed enemies who sponsor terrorism and escalate a senseless war in Ukraine to line their own pockets.
God also uses a chastening rod to drive his unrepentant children to change their minds. And just like the three reasons I’ve cited earlier: 1). Being too Proud to admit that we have been wrong: Wrong about God, wrong about our sins and wrong about Jesus Christ! This will require: 2.) Resisting the Peer Pressure of fallen man and his thinking. The Experts are wrong: Wrong about the Gospel, wrong about God’s Salvation – Found in no other name except that of Jesus Christ. Embracing Jesus in Faith will cause men and women to be shamed by the worldly-wise men and experts (1 Corinthians 1:26-31), but in the end those who trust in Jesus and His so-great-salvation, will be vindicated when He comes again to receive His own and judges this sorry sin-sick world. 3.) Receiving the gift of Repentance changes our minds and our future. I do realize that we can no more “change our minds” about God and the Salvation He offers us by faith in His Son, than a “leopard can change its spots,” or an “Ethiopian can change the color of his skin” (Jeremiah 13:23). But we can cry out to God to open our blind eyes and give us ears to hear His voice as He calls us to Repent and Believe!
My prayer for all who hear this good news about Jesus is that God would grant them a change of mind as they turn away from sin and death in true Repentance, and that He would give them Saving Faith as they turn toward God in Christ – asking Him to save them. We can’t turn to Christ in faith if we won’t turn away from our sin!
“Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them: ‘You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ’ ” (Acts 20:17-21).
Being deceived or in denial about current political events may keep you from voting to stay free, but being in denial about your sin and need to Repent and Believe in Jesus Christ will keep you in bondage to sin and death for eternity! “Repent and Believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Soli Deo Gloria!
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