Are the Narrow Minded Always Wrong?

I sometimes wonder what we really mean when we say that something is "too narrow," or that someone is "narrow-minded." I've been accused on more than one occasion of being this way. I don't try to be, but there are some things that Scripture teaches very clearly, and on those things I will not bend unless I am shown truth beyond what God's Holy Spirit has already revealed to me.

It seems like we put a lot of emphasis on being "open minded" within the church today. We've got liberal Christians telling those who are conservative that they're "narrow" and the emergent church movement telling everyone that they're "too narrow" among other things. Now I understand that there are people who are more narrow than the truth, and that is certainly not a good thing. But if the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is authoritative in our lives, then should we really be more "broad" in our beliefs than the Bible?

This, again, comes back to convictions. After some conversations that I have had over the past couple of weeks, I wonder if we just use "narrow-minded" as a derogatory title for those who have firm convictions. I'm not trying to say that we all need to be as narrow as we can be, but maybe it wouldn't hurt us to learn to bend a little bit less on firm convictions that come from God's Witnesses, His Word and Spirit. This does not mean that we shouldn't be open to new truth, but it's time that the church (especially the holiness movements) stand firm in their convictions. There are people that can move from holiness churches to Calvinist congregations and not even know the difference. Why are we so willing to bend on holiness? Is it not a clear command in Scripture? Regardless of what background you come from, it is an indisputable truth that the Bible says, "Be holy for I am holy" (Lev. 11:45 among others).

Maybe the problem within the Holiness Movement is that we are not "narrow-minded" enough. Maybe our lack of conviction (along with a desire for everyone to pastor a mega church) has allowed us to become more "broad" in our thinking than Scripture intended.