In the Sunday Morning Bible Class being led by Matthew Vail on the subject of “God’s Urgent Call” [which is WELL WORTH giving up a little extra sleep in order to attend], I was shocked to learn this week that preachers need to be “hard–headed” – See Ezekiel 3:9.    

The idea of being “hard-headed”, in our time, carries the implication of being unwilling to see or give any credence to the merits of the other side of an issue.  I’m guessing we have all encountered people who fit this description – some of whom might have been preachers.  Interestingly, the people we think of as being “hard-headed” would probably not describe themselves in this way.  Instead, they probably say that they are “correct”, and it is the folks on the other side of the issue who are “hard-headed”.

 One of my friends wrote an interesting article for the newspaper in Abilene, Texas, last week entitled: “I’m Giving Up Certainty For Lent”.  He mainly focused on political issues, but you can see how his Title has a wider application.  

Listen to this quote from writer, Derik Flood, from his book, “Disarming Scripture”: “Uncertainty…is not something to be feared.  Questioning and struggling are not signs of weakness, they are signs of a healthy and mature faith.  It means we are learning to read The Bible as morally responsible adults, aware of our own limitations.  Because, in the final analysis, faith is not about certainty; faith is about humility and trust.”

How do you feel about this idea?  Does it worry you to ever be less than fully confident in your understanding of, and in your position on, each and every issue?  Is it strange to think that, perhaps, there may be things upon which we don’t have to be fully certain?  That there may be matters upon which we can express reservations without saying the other side has no respect for the authority of Scripture?   

I actually experienced that very thing Sunday morning.  Would you like to hear the word that each of us agreed expressed what we had just experienced?  “Refreshing”.  Amen, my friends.  Amen.                               

Maybe giving up “certainty” for Lent isn’t a bad idea.  Maybe giving it up forever, at least in some matters, would be better.  It might, at least, move you out of the group of people labelled as “hard-headed”.  Let that group be reserved for preachers! 

Ambrose K. Ramsey III
Shepherd