All of us have been guilty of that to one extent or another. But to open up to truth however uncomfortable must be a goal if we are ever to come to the truth let alone to understand it.
When people ask if you have found jesus or if you believe Jesus they typically mean have you accepted His authority or their authority as coming from Him. Those people don't put much emphasis on believing in and living His teachings. Living those teachings are what I think bring the real salvation.
Jesus teaching us to love others as He loved us, even our enemies, is viewed by most of His followers with all manner of exceptions. Exceptions that Jesus Himself never authorized.
Christians cannot lay sole claim on acts of selfless compassion, on understanding, forgiveness and unconditional love. But if one claims to be Christian those qualities must be lived that is after all the mission statement for all who claim discipleship of Christ.
Jesus defined how people would be known as His disciples:
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34-35
There is more than one path to truth just as there is more than one way to be loving, understanding and forgiving. Just because others don't do things the way we do does not make them wrong.
Life is not a one size fits all experience.
Each of our lives could have taken alternate paths. But those paths may still have led us to the same understandings.
There is truth all around us and no one has ownership of it except God. We can find those truths in a myriad of ways. As long as we find them that's all that really matters and the only person we can truly convince is ourselves.
Love is the mission statement of every Christian and we are supposed to live it not just know it. Historically accurate truths change with time but the higher truth of love remains eternal.
