What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done? Bungee-jumping? Skydiving? Motorcycle racing? Alpine skiing?
I bet it’s none of those. I bet the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done is make an assumption.
It’s the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done, that’s for certain.
In between my first and second year of college, I interned at a church in the Midwest. The pastor gave me a combination of manual labor and teaching/leadership stuff to do. I put most of my time and energy into the teaching/leadership stuff because I assumed that was most important to him.
I was wrong. That was an awkward conversation.
“I just assumed…” Those are famous last words, aren’t they? And some of us are in the most dangerous spots we can possibly be in at this very moment – simply because we’re in the middle of an unwise act of assumption.
- We’re employees and we’re assuming nobody notices how little work we’re getting done – after all, we’re not as bad as that guy down the hall, are we?
- We’re moms and we’re assuming our kids will still grow up healthy even if we let them get away with everything – after all, the worst thing is for them to dislike us, right?
- We’re husbands and we’re assuming our wives will continue to tolerate our late hours, stony silence, or “harmless” flirtation with a friend – after all, she’s not exactly perfect herself, is she?
- We’re Christians and we’re assuming God is okay with some area of our attitude or action that flies in the face of his word – after all, he knows our heart, doesn’t he?
The most damaging thing about an assumption is the disrespect it represents for the other party who is being affected by it (and who will eventually have to respond – or react – to it).
The boss who’s being ripped off by us assuming our work doesn’t matter… The kids who are missing out on healthy boundaries by us assuming it’s better to be popular than to help them grow… The spouse who is being defrauded by us assuming that a lack of reaction so far means their heart isn’t deeply wounded… And the God who is being dishonored by us assuming we don’t need his guidance.
If you feel the need to do something dangerous, go bungee-jump, skydive, race a motorcycle, or ski a big mountain.
But don’t assume. It’s the most dangerous (and foolish) thing you can do.
Don’t assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil (Proverbs 3:7 – MSG).
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