"Please know that I'm not trying to talk down to you. I only write what I do for the edification of the Body. Once we recieve knowledge and understanding, it is our first duty to put it into practical use in our personal lives. Then, as our second duty, we must teach it to others, that they may come closer to Christ as we have. This is only my teaching. Take it for what you will."-Joe

i stole this from my buddy Joe's site.( www.xanga.com/akisa1129 ) One of the worst things for me to hear is for someone to accuse me of talking down to them. Because then i know that everything i have said, and probalby will say will be completely lost to the listener. Once someone is in that mindset it rarely ever changes. the reason it hurts so much is because the underlying thought is that i'm just trying to prove my intelligence, or of selfishness. This is especially disconcerting when all i am trying to do is help someone grow. I want to share want i have learned over the years. I don't like making my friends upset. To think that i would argue with someone for an hour just for the sake of proving myself is extremely insulting to me. Even if i was incredibly selfish and arrogant, i wouldn't waste my time. I have better things to do with my time than to argue.
There are plenty of people in my life that i don't waste my time asking them tough questions. That's mainly because i don't think they are open to hear anything that i'm gonna say. Example: My friend Gene said that since he was gay he was still "according to the Bible" a virgin. All i said was "haha, i guess that's one way of looking at it." Deep down i knew he was wrong, and i could have laid out scripture verses and rational to back it up, but i knew that he didn't really want to hear it. So i just let it die.
When i see someone that i love that is a Christian that has unscriptual beliefs or dangerous views (mainly things i've went through myself) then i try to decide what someone is ready to hear based on their maturity. I think this is my main flaw. I assume that if i explain something with scripture and reasoning that most people are mature enough to hear what i have to say. Instead, in my experience, when that person realizes that i'm not just making up my views as i go they get defensive and then say the surefire sign that they've run out of any resonable objection, "you just always have to be right." Converstion dead. Now everyone is on the defensive and the discussion becomes a plethora of personal attacks.
I honestly think that my main problem is not that i think too little of others, but that i think too much. Then i ask too much. I think that someone is mature enough to handle the tough questions, but if they aren't, then i'm really asking too much of them. I guess that's why i like hanging out with adults so much. I've never been accused by someone older than me of being condescending or immature. I only have these problems from people younger than me. So i guess it is my fault. I am, and will probably always be a horrible judge of chracter. Just look at my ex-girlfriends. (single tear)haha