04 Dec 07 No Easy Answers

There is a freedom in not having all the answers.

There is a peace in not having to explain.

Early on in my ministry career I felt like I needed to have all the answers - not in arrogant "I have all the answers" way - but in a compassionate "I can say the right thing to get you through this struggle" sort of way.

Part of this was the feeling that I needed to defend God so that following Jesus made sense.

And then I realized several things.

First, God doesn’t need me to defend him.

Second, following Jesus, more often than not, doesn’t make sense.

And when I figured out that it was OK to question, OK to be angry at God, OK to tell someone: "You’re right, the pain you feel does suck."  (By the way I use the word "suck" as an expression of something devoid of life and breath, something that is nonsensical - the absence of being filled - as in sucked the life right out).