Accepting Uncertainty

The question is often asked by church members and others, "Tell me what you believe about doubt. Is it wrong to have doubts?  How do you understand doubt in relation to faith."  Here is my imperfect response.

Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers, used the expression, “Accept Uncertainty.” Uncertainty, doubt, is indeed a precious commodity.  Without the ability, freedom, to question, we are left with a rote, uninterpreted faith; if we accept what our forbearers have handed to us without question, we are robots and mechanized practitioners of faith. If we explore, question, and test what is taught to us, we make it our own.  Each generation must do this; each generation must make the faith its own or the faith will become an ancient artifact which is looked upon a couple of times a year and forgotten the rest of the time because it is not relevant to our living. 

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.                                                                                 1Cor 13:11-12

For a young person to become an adult, they must be fully self differentiated from our parents and our families.  The process of differentiation is necessary for a person’s self identity.  From the time we are very young, we test the boundaries.  As toddlers and preschoolers, we are

comforted by those boundaries; they keep our world safe.  As teens, we push against them with the desire for independence from our parentally imposed limits; we desire freedom.  As adults, we set our own boundaries when we are more confident in our identity and values; these often reflect the lessons we learned in our youth. 

Paul reminds us in 1Corinthians 13 that even as adults, we see only dimly what we will see clearly; we know only in part what we will know fully.  Paul affirms that even in our adult faith, we do not know everything. If we are content that we know everything, we are not only arrogant; scripture tells us we are wrong.  We must never be content with what we know; we must continue to learn.  Without curiosity, we cannot learn. We need to question, test, and probe to continue to grow throughout our life journeys.  If we stop learning, stop questioning, stop testing, stop probing, we remain a child with immature faith.

God creates us to be inquisitive. The creation accounts in Genesis give us a picture of humanity exploring and seeking to understand what is around them.  These narratives expose the testing of boundaries and the questioning of authority; like growing young people, the first humans are exploring, seeing differentiation, and defining values and identity.  When we can see only dimly, we naturally question what is not in focus. 

“Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’” Mark 9:23-24(NRSV)

The man has brought his beloved son to Jesus for healing.  He stumbles on the “if” word:  “if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”  No one else has been able to heal the boy; this father has experienced the failure of his hopes.  He’s not about to set himself up for a complete dashing again.  “If you are able….” allows him to give this itinerant healer/teacher an out.  After all, no one else has been able to do it. 

But notice how Jesus does not respond.  He does not scold the man for his doubts.  He does not tell him he will be condemned to death for questioning the ability of this Man of God.  Instead he responds to the man’s request: “Help my unbelief.”  Jesus orders the unclean spirit, which has kept the boy from hearing and speaking, out of the child.  In doing so, Jesus has not only placed the child back into the realm of health and well being, he has also given the father a ladder rung toward faith in the power of God, hope in the ability of God’s love to overcome evil,

and a reason to further explore the teachings of this itinerant Rabbi.

No human mind, no community of faith can completely capture in words or creeds the fullness of the mystery of God. To claim that we have done so is idolatry and (again) arrogance.  To say that we have the complete and only answer places limits upon God by suggesting that God cannot reveal Himself to others differently from our experience of God.  This leaves us only the option to say, “I don’t know God that way.”   I believe; Lord help my unbelief!

Jesus doesn't ask that we believe him; he tells us to follow him.  Following Jesus necessitates

walking the journey called The Way; it requires us to keep our attention on where we are being led.  It does not keep us from asking questions along the way.  Jesus asks a lot of questions! Those whom he encounters and who follow Him ask a lot of questions as well.  The basis of a question is either to test the other or to expand one’s knowledge and understanding; questions are the evidence of doubt.  Jesus does not scold the questioner, does not lash out defensively when faced with doubts, does not send the unbeliever away.  He embraces the other where they are and seeks to open their eyes, ears, and hearts with understanding recognizing that mere humans cannot possibly contain all that there is to know about God.

In order to have any doubts, one must believe something first.  Faith is stronger than doubt; but doubt fuels faith; nourishes it; keeps it alive, active and relevant to one’s life and living.  Defenders of the faith – be so confident of what you believe that you are free to question it, probe it, and test it.



12/05/2013 Post Script:  Here's a link to Nadia BolzWeber's sermon on this topic.  Well worth the read!