Some of us tend to think in terms of black-and-white, clear-cut categories. To us, a statement or a conclusion is either true or false. Others are more likely to see how the same statement might be either true or false depending on the circumstances.
Some of us work from a truth model which might say, for instance, that “The Bible says it is wrong to murder.” Others respond from a wisdom model which says, “But remember, killing isn’t always wrong. According to Solomon, there is a time to kill and a time to heal.”
The Bible feeds both temperaments. It gives us black-and-white statements of truth. It also teaches how to walk together through the gray areas of life. While encouraging us to be people of truth, the Scriptures warn us not to play God in matters that are beyond our knowledge.
No one gave the church more right thinking than the apostle Paul. Yet no one gave us more reason to respect one another in the gray fog of circumstances, motives, and interpretation. No one gave us more reason to realize that the Bible is not only a book of black-and-white principles, but is also a book of the heart.
With regard for the need to love one another in a fog of known and unknown, Paul reminded the Corinthians, “Now we see in a mirror, dimly” (1 Cor. 13:12). To the Romans, Paul asked, “Who are you to judge another’s servant?” (Rom. 14:4). Then again to the Corinthians, Paul added, “I do not even judge myself” (1 Cor. 4:30). While he wasn’t diminishing his accountability to the truth, he did acknowledge that in many different ways only God is in a position to judge us wisely, accurately, and lovingly.
We are prone to ignore what we know– and what we don’t know. It takes thought to remember what is certain. It takes patience with one another in areas for which God alone is in a position to be our judge.
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