Daily Java: Acts 28:26 'Go to this people and say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving."
It is strange to try to talk to someone whose mind is made up. They do not care what great arguments you may marshal for your point of view, and they don’t even care if they are wrong. What they believe is what they believe.
I was in a denomination like that most of my life. And I have noticed since I left that most denominations are like that. Not quite to the extent to the one I left, but still. Folks do not want to learn something new, and will do everything they can to stop it.
The fact that you are right doesn’t matter. When the Lord sent Isaiah on his mission, he told him that no one would listen. Now we all as preachers know that is true but it would be a bummer to be told that by the Lord as we started. “Now, Johnny (the Lord has known me a long time), you will study and prepare and deliver and all, but, when it comes down to it, no one will listen.”
The only real impact a preacher makes is through several years of talking, constant reinforcement of what he is saying. After a while, it comes through. Telling people how the cow ate the cabbage will do not good. Only patient teaching. After a while, people began to grasp what Isaiah was saying, and it really didn’t take a lot of effect until it was read centuries later.
It is true that sometimes people's minds are so made up that they will not listen to anything that they do not already believe. It is a sad way to live.
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