By Luke

  I usually get together with my mom once a week when I have the time. I will take her to lunch and the grocery store to do her shopping. Ever since I gave my life to Christ she has witnessed a great deal of change in me. She is very curious about this new life I have been given and has a question or two about my faith every time she sees me. I am always ready to answer her questions and give her sound Biblical responses. Last week she asked me about the people in the world who have never heard the name Jesus and if they would be cast into hell for their ignorance. In most cases I would immediately quote from Psalms and how it talks about the heavens revealing the glory and righteousness of God or Romans chapter 1.  The problem with that is that my mom doesn’t think much of the Bible. You see she grew up in a Catholic family and spent 12 years in Catholic school during the 30’s and 40’s. To her the Bible is a dusty old book that nuns and priests used to condemn and manipulate her and her family with. There was something different about her expression when she asked though. This time she wasn’t challenging my faith but I could tell it was something she was honestly having a struggle with. To be honest I have often wondered and struggled with the thoughts of God condemning these people. I could sense a theological response wasn’t going to cut it this time. I had to be real and say I don’t know the answer to that one mom; I have struggled with the thought of this myself. When she heard my answer she looked relieved. I think she needed to know that someone who is following Christ is struggling with some of these things too.

     I wonder if too often we are more focused on proving our point and defending non-essential theology than loving people and seeing their struggles with our faith. Is it ok for a Christian to struggle with someone regarding theological issues and not always have the absolute truth and the only correct answer? Is it ok to be real?