Kevin "Mac" McClure
Unclear. Indefinite. Equivocal. Those are the words the dictionary uses to define ambiguity. In spite of our desire - sometimes it is an intense craving for clarity, we can't always have it.
We followers of Christ sometimes act like ambiguity about anything is a fault. We must know! As a pastor, I've felt pressure to have answers. Some Christian leaders gain popularity by being certain about everything. People flock to them. Among them there is an implication that uncertainty is spiritually unhealthy, weak.
I am convinced, certain if you will, that there are some things, few, in fact, that we can be confident about. We can be confident that there is no unChristlike feature to God. We can be confident that He loves us as we are and not as we should be. We can be confident that Christ alone is the way of access to a relationship with the Father. Beyond such things, how much can you be confident about?
Do you view an inability to be certain as a weakness, as if such a problem can be fixed with more information?
I've spent 41 years reading the Bible systematically. I haven't kept track of how many times I've read through it. By the way, I don't think God gave us His Word so we could read through it in a year. It's not about finishing the book (actually, it's a library of 66 books); it's about encountering God in it and being transformed by it. I've studied this book and used virtually every major resource available to unpack its meaning. I've had the benefit of sitting under scholars and other instructors. Still, in those quiet moments alone with my thoughts and alone with God, I see how little I truly "know" and I grow comfortable with ambiguity. Not being certain used to create such tension. I've grown to embrace it now, knowing I know only in part. Why? I am seeing that my confidence rests in God, not in any information I have about Him. He is near. I need not fear. He is near to you. You need not fear. Be confident in Him!