The church teaches, in fact demands, honesty. But in many
instances church is not a place for honesty. Of course, I do not speak of the whole
of the Christian church, only that which I know by observation and experience.
(Let the reader understand.) The church’s response to honesty can reveal it is not
well-equipped to handle full-disclosure honesty. While the church requires
honesty, it may show it does not know quite what to do when there is
transparent honesty.
Honesty is particularly dangerous when Christians admit to
two struggles – struggles with doubt and struggles with sin.
I believe in truth
– transcendent, timeless, universal, propositional truth. But, I also
believe
in doubt as a reality of human and Christian experience. Perhaps it is
because the church believes in truth and certainty that it has so much
trouble
dealing with doubt – sometimes ignoring it, sometimes denying its
existence,
seldom inviting its expression. Doubt is an ugly step-child in the
church.
There are those who know little, perhaps nothing, of doubt. For them all things are clear and certain. God
is there. He is good. The Bible is God’s Word. Jesus is their Savior. They are
going to heaven when they die.
In some cases I think this certainty is a gift of
temperament. In other cases I believe it
is a blessed gift of grace. But I know it is not a universal bestowal of
nature or of grace. I also know that when such certainty walks through
the
valley of the shadow of prolonged illness, devastating defeat, severe
depression, or death it sometimes stumbles. For others nothing daunts
such
faith. For some doubt grows into strong faith. For others doubt is a
constant companion.These differences are aspects of the mysteries of
human existence and God’s
providence. Continue at Christian Curmudgeon
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