Is it possible for us to be sure in our faith and yet curious in our learning at the same time? I believe so. Let me suggest that we will be held accountable for truth we know, but that doesn’t mean we know all the truth there is to know.
I fully understand that statement will bother some of you. Yet, understanding this, is how we can be curious and yet confident. We can be confident in what we know right now, and we walk confidently in that truth. Yet, we should be humbly curious to continue to learn and grow in our maturity and understanding. In the first two chapters of the letter to the Romans, Paul states that individuals will be accountable for how they handled the truths they knew, which either condemned or defended themselves.*
Some people seem to be hesitant to act because they don’t know enough. The reality is that we will never know it all. However, we need to act on what we do know now. We need to make the best decisions with the information that we currently have. This is where we will be held accountable for the information we know right now. We can be honest before God in acting on what the Spirit has taught us through his Word. We must act in obedience to what we know.
We then must display an attitude of humility and have the freedom to change our position as we learn new information. This has a lot to say about how we present ourselves and our perspective. We need to do so with grace and admit that this is what we believe, given what we now know. This attitude will be shown in the way we present of ourselves as well as the words we use to explain our position.
This was one of my fears in writing this blog. I see myself continually learning and growing, so I was afraid to put my thoughts in writing for fear that they would change over time. I would then have to retract what I had put down in writing. Malcolm Gladwell did this exactly in the “10,000-hour principle” he presented in his book Blink, which he later retracted when he wrote Talking To Strangers. Ironically, I respect him more for this, not less.
My faith in Christ continues to grow and mature. The major truths of engaging in a relationship with God through grace and growing in my relationship with God haven’t changed much, but they surely have nuanced over the years. Other aspects of my faith have changed over the years. I have learned I am not to judge others as in or out of the Kingdom by what they say or even do. (Matthew 7.21ff) I leave that to my Lord. I know what his Word says about this, and I believe it is by grace through faith, and so I will leave it to him. My understanding of prayer, worship, and spiritual growth have changed over the years as I have read, studied, matured or been exposed to Christ-Followers around the world.
I can now more fully appreciate the variety between churches and differences between Christians. Each of us must be faithful to what we know, but we must not assume what we know is all there is to know. I encourage everyone to fully commit to what is clear in scripture, however, don’t assume your distinct perspective is the ‘only’ way to view God and his truth in scripture. This is where there must be grace and humility in our words and attitudes toward other people of faith.
I believe Paul’s perspective of the body of Christ applies here (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4). Too often, his metaphor of the body is taken to only in the context of a local church. So the different members of the body refer to the different members of a local church. However, from the Kingdom of God perspective, one can see that different local church bodies could also be seen as members of the larger Church. This makes so much sense to me and allows me to embrace the distinctives across many cultures, churches and denominations.
Obviously, in some cases, Christians do step outside God’s truth, and I must be comfortable sharing that perspective when I see such, but do so graciously and with humility. I am clearly not their judge, however as I see behavior outside the Biblical intent, I can be free to say so graciously. I must allow them to then be accountable for the truth when they stand before our Lord. (See below Notes on Romans 1 & 2) Jesus was full of grace, yet he and his disciples were clear that we will all stand accountable for how we handled God’s truth.
God’s word must be the standard for truth, not my mind, our culture or the writings of others. Yet, every generation since the New Testament was completed has seen God through their own cultural eyes. It is impossible to not do this. I attempt to appreciate my own cultural influence and not allow it to cause me to be arrogant in my own beliefs or views of God’s truth. I pray that all followers of Christ wholly submit themselves to God’s truth as revealed in Scripture and yet not assume they know all truth.
*Notes on Romans 1 & 2.
In this passage, the Apostle Paul deals with a lot of difficult issues regarding our accountability to the truth. In Romans 1.18-20, Paul asserts that the very truths of God are evident to everyone through his creation. He says that individuals who know nothing of God will be held accountable by what they saw in the world around them, so no one can claim they didn’t know the truths of God.
He continues to deal with the concept of truth in the next chapter regarding the people (Gentiles) who were not acquainted with the truths of God as revealed in the Jewish Law. Paul writes…when Gentiles show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them. This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. (NIV Romans 2.15-16)
In The Message this reads, They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences. (Romans 2.15-16)
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