Person-2-Person - August, 2023

“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” – Mother Teresa

On a recent Sunday, our pastor gave a sermon about Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares (Matt. 13:24-30). The farmer in the parable told his servants to leave the tares alone and let them grow along with the wheat, in order to avoid damaging the growing wheat (vs. 29-30). Afterward, my wife, Charlotte, and I were discussing both the sermon and Jesus’ parable. Since neither of us is from a farming background, we couldn’t understand why the farmer would tell the workers to leave the weeds alone. After all, as they grew, they would absorb nutrients that the wheat needed. Wouldn’t that do at least as much harm as uprooting a portion of the wheat?

At one point, I jokingly said, “Maybe we need to face the fact that this time, Jesus got it wrong.” Charlotte disagreed, saying that parables aren’t meant to be taken literally. And it’s true that many times, Jesus’ parables don’t necessarily make sense from a literal perspective. But there are still times when things in the Bible just don’t seem “right.” And saying otherwise is, at least to me, a cop-out, a way of avoiding dealing with our doubts and questions.

For example, why allow “God’s people” to remain captive for 430 years (Exod. 12:40-41)? It doesn’t appear to have been a punishment for sin, and even if it were, why more than four hundred years? Why not free them after forty years, when the ones who had sinned were dead and gone, as when they were forced to wander in the wilderness after they refused to enter the promised land (Num. 14:26-34)? Why continue to punish their descendants? Why punish people who weren’t responsible to save others (Exod. 12:39-30)? Why kill children—even babies—to punish their parents, since it was Pharaoh who was primarily responsible? And why are some of God’s people captive today and where is their liberator, their Moses?

Back in the days when I attended a Baptist church, an oft-repeated phrase was, “There are three answers to prayer: Yes, no, and wait a while.” But at some point, “Wait” starts to seem a whole lot like “No.” Abram was about seventy-five years old when God promised him and Sarai a child (Gen. 12:1-7). And Abram was eighty-six years old when Sarai’s servant, Hagar, gave birth to Ishmael (Gen. 16:16). So he and Sarai had waited for about ten years for God to keep God’s promise. Yet to hear some folks tell it, we’re supposed to think of them as lacking faith. It takes a lot of faith to keep going for ten years. Personally, I would’ve given up a lot sooner.

It doesn’t do any good to try and lie to God about our doubts. Sarah laughed to herself when she heard God’s promise that she and Abraham would have a child in their old age (Gen. 18:12-15), and when she denied it, God said, “‘No, but you did laugh.’” (vs. 15b New American Standard Bible). In contrast, when Abraham heard the promise before Sarah did, he laughed out loud, right in front of God (Gen. 17:13-15). He didn’t deny his doubts. And God made him the progenitor of a nation (vs. 4-7), a chosen people (Deut. 7:6-8), and a direct ancestor of Christ (Matt. 1:1-17). If God can do great things through someone who laughed out loud at God’s promise, who ran out of faith and took matters into his own hands, God can work through someone like me.

One day, Jesus encountered a man who had a son with a “spirit,” what we would call a seizure disorder. The man said to Jesus, “‘But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!’” (Mark 9:22b NASB). Jesus replied, “‘“If You can?” All things are possible for the one who believes.’” (vs. 23 NASB). And the man replied, “‘I do believe; help my unbelief!’” (vs. 24b NASB). That is my prayer as well, and I think that of many honest Christians: “I do believe; help my unbelief!” I think being honest about our doubts can do more to attract others than any profession of absolute faith. And I believe it’s important to be clear that we’re all seeking together and don’t pretend to have all the answers.

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting;” (Jude 1:20-22 NASB.)

(Inspired in part by a series of devotionals by Daniel Jongsma.)