The Elephant in the Room

You may have heard that Eastern story about the six blind men who encounter an elephant. The first touches its side and says, "An elephant is like a wall." Another one touches the trunk and says, "No, an elephant is like a snake." The third touches its tusk and says, "An elephant is like a spear." Another one touches the leg and says, "An elephant is like a tree." Another one touches an ear. "No, an elephant," he says, "is like a fan." And then touching the tail, the sixth one says, "You're all wrong. An elephant is like a rope."

And who was right? Everyone, we're told. Just like everyone is right in their own view about God. But in reality, none of the men were right about the elephant. And as Trevin Wax at the Gospel Coalition points out, the parable contradicts the very point it's trying to make, by assuming that the one telling the parable sees the whole elephant.

This story is just another claim to be right and everyone else being wrong.