Intro
I’ve got kind of an interesting topic today. Especially given the nature of this blog. For those who don’t know (and as a refresher for those who maybe knew) my tagline for this blog is “Simplifying the Truth”. And on my front page I have “If you’ve ever struggled with understanding the truths found in the Bible you’ve come to the right place.” right in the center of it. In hindsight, this almost sounds arrogant. It almost sounds like I think I have all the answers. I hope no one has gotten that impression of me. It certainly wasn’t my intent when I wrote it. The truth is that I know I don’t have all the answers and I’m okay with that.
Which leads me to my topic for today. It’s okay to not have all the answers. Why am I writing about this? Because so many Christians fear getting asked a question regarding the Bible, God, or their faith by an unbeliever and not having the answer.
The Fear
When it comes to evangelism – sharing your faith with others – there are three major fears I believe that everyone encounters (I know I have/still do). The first is fear of rejection. Let’s face it, no one likes sharing something that they are passionate about only to have the other person go “meh”. The second is fear of judgment and being labelled a “Fanatic” or “Jesus Freak” or mocked and ridiculed in some other way. The third – and the one I aim to address here – is the fear of not having answers for all the questions they might get.
Ironically, for those of us with substantial knowledge, this is almost worse. Historically, I felt embarrassed when I didn’t have the answer to a Biblical or Theological question. Why? Because everyone around me knew that I had a lot of knowledge and could answer so many questions. Especially in highschool it was always “Got a question, ask Cory. If he doesn’t know, no one does.” At least, that was the perception I had. I don’t think anyone actually thought that, but that’s how I felt. And I was afraid of not having all the answers.
There was one gal in particular who didn’t know a lot, but wanted to learn more. She asked me questions all the time – usually over Facebook messages. Even after I graduated and started college, she reached out and asked more questions. I was more than happy to oblige. I enjoyed explaining the Word of God to her and others. But I still feared not having the answers. I hated admitting when I didn’t and I hated admitting that I Googled questions to find out the answers.
The Solution
So what’s the solution? In a word, God. Okay, but what’s the practical side of it? Practically speaking, it looks like learning to be secure in your identity in Christ. And trusting that with Holy Spirit living inside you, you can overcome any fear and doubt and, when you need them, He will give you the words to speak. Key phrase: when you need them. As my pastor has said when he preached on John 10:10 (paraphrased), “Abundance is not a warehouse that I can go get what I need when I need it. But that when I need it, I’ll have it.” In this case, it’s an “in the moment” speaking of Holy Spirit. Not a massive file cabinet in our head of knowledge that we can rely on.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 14:6 (NIV)
Over the years, I have learned (by the grace of God) to be more comfortable with saying, “I don’t know”. Learn to use this phrase in your vocabulary. The people who are genuinely curious and searching for truth will greatly appreciate it and will have no problems with you saying, “Let me find out for you”. If you’re mocked or ridiculed for not knowing, then that person really isn’t interested and you should say a prayer for them and not waste any more time with them.
Honesty is truly the best policy here. People greatly appreciate it and will respect you more for it.
My Key Verse
But what about my key verse? If you’re not sure what that is or you just need a reminder, here it is.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect
1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)
This verse sure makes it sound like we need to always have the answers. But that’s not true. The verse says to be prepared to give an answer specifically for the “reason for the hope that you have”. In other words, if someone asks you “how could you have hope even in the midst of chaos?” I think with that question, we don’t need a whole lot of Biblical knowledge to answer. And we should be prepared to answer that type of question. The world searches for hope. Every person in some form craves hope. And we have it. So we need to be ready to share it.
Remember this: the gospel is simple enough for a child to understand. We don’t need to be theologians to win people to Christ. And we don’t need to dump a load of theological textbooks on people in order to be effective witnesses to them. We just need the simple gospel.
With Tilling and Planting, I seek to give a bit more knowledge with every post to give you more confidence in your faith so that you’ll become more comfortable with sharing your faith. And God help me, I need to become more comfortable sharing it as well.
Wrapping Up
Hey! What’s this? I’m at the end already? Yes you are. This is a shorter post and that’s okay. There aren’t a lot of answers to discuss about this topic. Learning to be okay with not having all the answers isn’t all that complicated. It all comes down to your relationship with God and your security in your identity in Christ. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily that easy, but it is simple. Keep your focus on Him and eventually you’ll find that you really don’t care what other people think about you. This is something I’ve been learning for years. And I’m not there yet, but like Paul, I’m pressing on.
In case you missed my email (or you aren’t a subscriber yet), this is the first post on the new schedule – 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month. In addition, I’d like to remind you that I want to answer your questions and concerns you have about the Bible and your Faith. So, please, feel free to leave a comment or fill out the contact form on this site with any questions or topics you’d like to see me cover.
Outro
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