The Audacity of un/Certainty

The road to all good theology starts with uncertainty.

Whoa, Josiah, back up there. What did you just say?

Sorry. Ok, let’s start from the beginning. We all understand that there are some things we just simply do not know. We hypothesize this because we are constantly in the process of learning new things. The more we learn things that we previously did not know, the more we began to suspect that there must be knowledge yet that is beyond us. Case Study: John 21:15 – “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.” We see here that Jesus did things which we ourselves do not know about.

Furthermore, we also realize that we know some things incorrectly––that is, that we are wrong about some things. Again, we hypothesize this because we have had previous experiences before when it has become evident to us that we had believed something to be true that, in fact, was false. Case Study: Colossians 2:4 – “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.” Paul here recognizes that the human mind may be deluded (even with plausible-sounding arguments!); it can believe something untrue.

So we recognize that we are neither omniscient nor infallible.

And this is necessary. I call this State One. At this state, it is arrogant to claim that you know everything perfectly. Reason and common sense dictate that we admit that we neither know everything perfectly, nor do we know everything, period. It would be like a child claiming to know all the knowledge stored in the Library of Congress. In theology, this uncertainty is good, and, I believe God-ordained. Why?

Because it drives us to certainty.

What? Yes, it drives us to certainty. It drives us to State Two. How can certainty come from uncertainty? Clearly not through ourselves. The more we become uncertain in ourselves and in our own power to understand, the more we must become certain in the ability of God to be understandable. State Two is where we realize that, though we are uncertain, One who is perfectly certain has revealed truth to us. But State Two is more than that. State Two is not only where we believe that God is perfectly certain, but where we believe that we also can be certain. State Two is where we believe that what has been communicated to us by God has clarity.

State Two is where we trust that we can actually understand God’s Word.

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).

Bold, right? What a claim. In this day and age of doctrinal “humility”, you actually claim that you can understand God when He speaks?

At this state, it is actually arrogant to be uncertain. It is actually arrogant to step back and say “I don’t know what the Bible really means.” Think about it. The God of all the universe, the Creator of every living thing, the Creator of the very concept of language, which you use to communicate, has condescended to “reveal His thoughts to man” (Amos 4:13) in a way that you can understand so that that you may know Him (Ephesians 1:17) …

…And you have the audacity to say you can’t understand? You have the audacity to complain that His Word is too hard for you?

I go to a college that lives and breathes State One. We live in a society that lives and breathes State One. The problem is that many in the visible church are content to stop at State One. It sounds so good. It sounds so humble. We see this especially when it comes to issues in Scripture that happen to be culturally or socially controversial.

It is assumed that the “humble” people are the ones who take a back seat on the issue; who throw up their hands and admit inability to understand. The “arrogant” and “cocky” people are the ones who “think they understand.” Who think “their interpretation is better than everyone else’s.” And so you hear phrases like “we need more humility in our theology,” (which we do, don’t get me wrong!) or “it’s arrogant of us to beat people over the head with the Bible.”

But all this assumes we are operating in State One. We are not operating in State One, though; we are operating in State Two. True humility is willing to look arrogant by trusting that God’s Word means what it says in a world that sees God’s Word itself as arrogant. Why might we be uncertain then?

We might be uncertain because we simply do not want to hear what the Word of God has to say. Again, think of a child whose parents have commanded him to do something that he doesn’t want to do. Or maybe they’ve commanded him to do something that will make him look dumb in front of his friends. He might say, “I just am too stupid to understand what my parents want me to do. I just can’t wrap my head around it. Besides, Billy here, who is smart, says that what my parents really want me to do is such and such.”

I shouldn’t have to tell you that this child isn’t being humble, he’s being arrogant.

Likewise, we might be uncertain because we aren’t willing to trust God as the supreme authority. Think of the child; this time his father has given him specific directions to go out as his agent and carry out a transaction at the local bank, which he owns. The child goes, but in his attempt to carry out the transaction, the banks officers tell him, “You think your father told you to do it this way, but you just didn’t understand him. He really meant to do it this way.” Or they might even flat out say, “Your father made a mistake. You really need to do things this way.” The child’s choice indicates where his trust lies.

I am not saying that there isn’t a place for reflection or reevaluation of one’s understanding of God’s Holy Word. But I am saying that it is God’s Holy Word! It is written in a way that we can understand it! And He expects us to do so.

Yes, we read in 2 Peter 3:16 that Paul “speaks about these things in all his letters in which there are some matters that are hard to understand.” I am not denying that. But look at what the rest of the verse says: “The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.” There is an over-complication, an act of obscuring that takes place here which leads to destruction.

How does Peter tell us to respond to this fact? Verse 17: “Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stability.”

The meaning of the Bible is not too hard for us. It is not in heaven where we cannot reach it. It is not beyond the sea where we cannot find it. It is not hidden away in some academic research professor’s office somewhere, where even he isn’t quite sure what all his research means. It is not to be found only through some mystical communal experience of love and unity. It is not accessible only through a musical or artistic state of euphoria.

It is very near us.

And I suspect that when we get to heaven, there will be many issues about which God will ask of us (in the deepest voice imaginable) why we did not simply take Him at His Word when He spoke to us through the Bible. We will turn to justify ourselves by pulling out all the reasons why we thought that the Bible was unclear. We will turn to retrieve all the people who disagreed with us; all the smart academic arguments that went against what the Bible seemed to be saying; all the cultural pressure that made it seem so right at the time to be uncertain.

But they will not be there. It will only be God and us––and the question: Why didn’t you believe?

And for the world, we won’t be able to think of an answer.