I was recently in a situation that I think a lot of us can relate to.
I held a basic acquaintance with some people who are related to me; we lived in different cities, and so I didn’t know them that well. Because of this I had also formed an idea of who they were in my head. However, everything changed when I moved cities and subsequently, lived in their vicinity. Living alongside them meant that I had the opportunity to get to know them a bit better. The initial discomfort and unsaid awkwardness of our relationship (we all had ideas of each other) quickly faded into gentle understanding and a greater love for each other. Doing life with them made me understand why they reacted to things the way that they did; it helped me get a grip on their perspective.
My journey with Jesus has been an interesting one. There have been many ups and downs.
If there is at least one thing that we should understand about walking with Jesus in and amidst the flurry of our crazy society, is that although the truth never changes, our revelation of it does. Our relationship with Jesus can be a lot like my relationship with those family members of mine. A lot of us have pretty bad and untrue ideas about Jesus because our only relationship with him is merely acquaintance. Not friendship or any intimacy whatsoever. Because of this, we may question a lot of what any Biblical authority in our life says (i.e. this could be your pastor, small group leader, whoever…). Now, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to question – because you must totally question and make sure that the truth is revealed to you – but sometimes your leaders have already walked a road that has brought them to a much clearer understanding of the Father i.e. the more you see, the better you can love (the real-er your expression of love will be).
In 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NIV), Paul (the super-apostle guy) says the following, “Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely , just as God knows me completely.”
For me, this means that just because I can’t see something properly now (or fully understand it now), does not mean that it’s totally untrue. If you are struggling to accept a truth or are maybe questioning an unknown something in your faith then I suggest that you take out time to spend alone with just you and God. If the conclusion that you come to while trying to understand comes with a peace (whether you end up understanding it or not) then, it is the right thing. If not, then you know what to do. Throw it out.
And, listen, I wouldn’t tell you to do anything that I hadn’t done first. HAHA! I recently thought that I disagreed with something an elder of mine said that had to do with how I believed. I didn’t mention it to them straight away, but it was worrying me so much that I had to go to Jesus. I said, ‘Jesus, please help me. I’m going to take three weeks to see if I need a heart change,’ and, that’s exactly what I needed. Although, I can’t be the judge of my own maturity, I’d say I’ve come a long way from where I used to be and I consider it a blessing to slowly learn not to hate on the stuff I can’t understand.