Being a Disciple of Jesus Means Having the Courage to Journey Beyond the Right Answers

Are you plagued by the sin of certainty?

I was reflecting on my days of teaching Sunday school with those paper cut-out figures and the flannel board. I was thinking of little Barry, who always had the right answers to every question. His arm would fly straight up in the air like Arnold Horshack in the ’70s sitcom, Welcome Back Kotter.

I know! I know! I know all the right answers! Little Barry was a practicing pharisee.

(I am sure that Barry grew up to be a fine young man, I am just using him as an illustration of how Christians fall into a trap when we think we have to have all the right answers.)

Sunday School Structure (can we think outside the box?)

That type of structured Sunday school program promoted the growth of little Pharisees all over the world. Learn the stories, memorize the verses, and get all the right answers; when in doubt the answer is always “Jesus.”

I’m sure that had I asked, “What is brown and fuzzy, runs up trees, and buries acorns?” Barry would have said, “I think it’s a squirrel but I’m going to say, Jesus.”

Jesus doesn’t want robots and aspiring Pharisees as his followers. He wants flesh and blood humans who aren’t afraid to question, wonder, and admit when we don’t understand. He wants our hearts.

If Jesus had wanted disciples who could recite chapter and verse of the scriptures, he would have gone to the temple instead of the fishing docks.

Instead, he chose ordinary men and women. Some had lived far from biblical teachings and others had worked with their hands for a living with little time to devote to the scriptures. Jesus didn’t just invite his followers to church once a week where he taught them for 60- 90 minutes. He invited them to do life with him.

They lived together and traveled together. They ate together, slept together, and saw each other at their worst: in doubt, in fear, hungry, crabby, and sleep-deprived.

The disciples grew up in their faith with Jesus. They were tested, and they rarely had the right answers.

He let them practice and build their faith. Their comfort level with Jesus was such that they could ask him why: why was this man born blind?; ask him for favors: can we sit next to you in your kingdom?; express their doubts and fears: why aren’t you saving us from this storm?; and admit their ignorance: please explain that parable to us and why do you speak in parables?

Jesus didn’t lead a group of men and women who always had the right answers and we don’t always have to have the right answers. In fact, it’s best we don’t. The sin of certainty is rampant in the conservative Christian movement, with many little Barry’s with their straight arms up in the air proclaiming that they know all the answers.

What if you don’t have all the right answers? Are you brave enough to admit that you don’t? Would that disqualify you as a follower of Christ?

Here is my challenge to you today: Spend more time being with Jesus and less time trying to be right about him.

Mary Gallagher has spent way too much of her time focused on perfectionism and it’s cost her joy and the ability to live in the moment, where God is, right now. Won’t you join the slowing down movement and leave certainty behind for relationship?