In our discussion about how a church can develop into a breeding ground of all kinds of people, where everyone feels safe to express who they are, how they feel and what they think, I posed the question about my own ambiguity: how do I deal with mixed thoughts and emotions within myself. Once I figure that out, I can relate to others in the same way.
I have been thinking about that and the truth is that I am OK with not knowing. I'm OK with not knowing whether the Bible is all true, or partly fictional. I'm OK not knowing whether only Christians go to heaven or others as well, or everyone for that matter. I'm OK not knowing whether God is a man, a woman or both. There are plenty more of these issues, and it's OK. Some things I have figured out for myself, some I hopefully will someday, and some might be mysteries forever. All I know is that God is bigger than we can imagine. Our imagination, our picture of who God is, is not God, it's a picture. Jesus used many stories to explain aspects of God. These stories are not God, they are stories.
I think it's easier to worship a God I don't understand. The less I understand about who He is, the bigger he becomes. Pictures of God as a Friend, a Father, a King, or a Judge, are all aspects of who God is, but they are not God. He is who He is. Can't get much more mysterious than that.
The community of believers would be best served if we go on this journey together, finding each other rather than pushing each other away, celebrating our differences, trying to understand rather than convince each other. Celebrating ambiguity, rather than pushing it out.
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