It is nearly two years to the day since I last wrote. Recently I have found myself with much time on my hands, a situation not of my own choosing, but which I receive as providential for reasons I cannot fully understand. However, the posts to my blog which hopefully will follow in the next several days are an attempt on my part to be more faithful in redeeming the time. The course of action I have decided to pursue is to set forth some sort of theological legacy for my children, especially, and for any others who might happen upon these writings. My first thought was to set forth 30 days of devotions or admonitions, one for each day of the month, but time will tell whether I follow through with the entire month. But it is obvious that I can't finish unless I begin. Let us begin, therefore, with my first admonition, or life-lesson, if you will.

CERTAINTY AND AMBIGUITY

In your life you will find yourself in an ongoing battle in determining what things are certain and what things you should allow for a certain amount of ambiguity. Over time, you will change your mind more than once concerning many issues. For the Christian there should be a place of certainty on which you, like Luther, take your stand. "Here I stand, God help me, I can do no other." For me, that place of certainty is that "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Included within this statement of certainty is that Jesus was crucified and resurrected for my sins and that I am, therefore, forgiven of my sins and have within me the hope of eternal life.

From this central core of Christian belief there exist ever-widening circles of theological propositions to explain and expand our Christian understandings to virtually every sphere of life and thought. It has been my observation that the more fundamentalist one is in theological thought the wider the circles of certainty expand to cover virtually the entire spectrum of Christian theology. For these people, being wrong on any point, no matter how far from the center, makes one wrong on everything. On the other hand, religious liberals narrow the content of certainty until there may be nothing at all which cannot be compromised. There may be no concrete place to stand, other than on some statement of human solidarity in the search for truth. Everyone who wants to be a part for whatever reason is welcomed with no questions asked, other than perhaps the question: do you want to be a part of the journey?

In Jesus' day, the people with the most certainty were the religious leaders. And it is to these people that Jesus gave his harshest utterances. For them, certainty demanded a precise answer to every theological inquiry, right up to and including how far a person could walk on the Sabbath. Jesus frequently broke their religious laws and was called demonic as a result. The ever-expanding circles of their certainty drove people away from the kingdom of God. As a result, Jesus was kinder to those outside the religious spheres of his day and to those who came to him with uncertainty rather than certainty, i.e., Nicodemus.

My admonition for today is to find certainty in Christ but resist religious certainty that demands agreement on far-reaching issues of theology. Subjects with which we may find ambiguity are: 1) precise definitions of what exactly the Bible is or isn't; 2) eschatology, or end of time theology; 3) church polity; 4) baptismal form; 5) precise descriptions or definitions of conversion; 6) the literal existence or precise definition or description of hell; and 7) manifestation of the Spirit in the Christian's walk with God.

Obviously, more subjects could be added to the list and I may come back to this blog and do so as they occur to me. I suppose the ultimate admonition on this subject is this: do not allow the existence of ambiguity rob you of the joy that flows from your certainty and do not expect or require agreement from others in areas of ambiguity. The test for the Apostle John was that one be willing to proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Amen.