Great T shirt sporting a simple statement, “I’m 100% not sure”. Ah, the certainty of uncertainty. Or, is that the uncertainty of certainty?
Theological liberals, namely some pastors, offer nuanced Christianity. Particularly, declaring a diminution of sin and inflation of humanity, while voicing discomfort with Christ’s exclusivity. Basically, a Rodney King hermeneutic of “can’t we all just get along!”. …Morality is evolving. God accepts everyone. There are many paths to eternity. Christians need not be narrow-minded. We tolerate anything… save your intolerance!…
Someone like me, who believes the Bible is God’s inspired Word, and therefore authoritative in faith and practice, is often viewed with suspicion, sometimes scorn. A naive and superstitious simpleton, ready to drop the judgmental hammer. The accusation is sounded, that being certain of belief is akin to spiritual conceit.
You don’t say? Lets, think logically. Truth is exclusive. 2+2=4. Not 3, not 5. By definition truth implies error. (While likewise, right infers wrong, and correct assumes incorrect.) Science best be exact, particularly when diagnosing cancer or toxic infection in your body. In daily life, you and I operate on assumed certitude when crossing a traffic light. Boarding an airplane, or ingesting a potent pharmaceutical, we bet our life upon it being safe. Certainty is not a bad thing.
Then, why not when banking on eternity? A seasoned missionary friend confided, “If I’m going to possibly die for something, I best believe it’s true.” When in dicey parts of the world, his words often come to mind.
As doctrinal doubters renegotiate truth, the burden is theirs to explain exclusive claims from Christ. He said, “I am the Way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” (Jn 14:6). Did He mean it? Jesus bristled to Pharisees, “You will die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.” (Jn 8:24). Judgmental? Peter proclaimed to people of another religion, “There is no other name in Heaven or earth, by which we must be saved.” (Ac 4:12). Intolerant? “I am the Lord God, besides Me there is no other god.” (Du 32, Is 44, 45, Ho 13). Narrow? —Sounds certain to me!
The most common way out of said dilemma for non-evangelicals, is to fudge the authority of the Bible. Sort of ‘pick your passage’ buffet religion. However, J.I. Packer, Oxford-educated conservative biblical scholar, once uttered a statement I heard with my own ears. “If you liberals believe so much of the Bible, why not believe more? If you believe so little of the Bible, why not believe less?” You can’t have it both ways. A veneer of faith wears thin.
I suspect you’re wondering why I compose this diatribe. Personal experience. The first fifteen years of ministry, I was surrounded by this mindset. As a co-operative denominational team player, these ears heard colleagues deny the Virgin Birth, Second Coming, and more. Nowadays in my travels, I still see unsuspecting sheep having wool pulled over their eyes by Shepherds in sheep’s clothing. Because doctrine has eternal consequences; the road to perdition sometimes sadly, runs through Church. Therefore, to be convinced and fail to speak out, would be cosmic cowardice and cruelty!
In candor, I confess, I am a confessing Christian. I believe the Bible (having duly considered Apologetic rationale for its authenticity). I have bowed the knee to Jesus as my personal Savior. My life has been devoted to sharing Christ with others, and urging them to be supernaturally converted and saved from sin. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel” (Ro 1:16, c.f. I Timothy 1:12-16). At least, I pray, I am clear, consistent, and compassionate. Of that, I’m certain.