“[There] are those who prefer certainty to truth, those in church who put the purity of dogma ahead of the integrity of love. And what a distortion of the gospel it is to have limited sympathies and unlimited certainties, when the very reverse, to have limited certainties but unlimited sympathies, is not only more tolerant but far more Christian.” William Sloane Coffin
I have been a fan of Rev. Coffin’s writings and his perspective for many years, but I had never read these words until today. And they resonate with me so deeply because it seems to fit so well with my own journey.
I grew up in a religious setting that valued certainty and purity over welcoming and love. Oh, I am sure they would not fully agree with that assessment, but that makes it no less true. Yet, as I got older and met more people and experienced more things, I found that this certainty that I once thought I had was getting harder to hold onto. I think that may be the thing about certainty; it is inherently slippery.
Growing less certain is a necessary part of maturing, in my opinion, because it means that we are learning to question and to push back against the things that no longer seem to work or fit. But the lessening of certainty needs to be replaced with something else. And that is with more love.
As we grow less certain about the limits of divine love, we can grow more open about the unlimited nature of divine grace.
As we grow less certain about the hard lines and categories we once believed in, we can grow more loving toward those who look and think and believe differently than us.
As we grow less certain about the “narrow way,” we can learn to enjoy the vastness of the divine welcome.
And what the world needs more of right now is not more certainty, but more love.
What the world needs is not more restrictive categories, but more open communication.
More yes and less nos.
More “come on in” and less “you don’t belong here.”
After all, Jesus did say that the way that people will know that you follow him is by how well you love.
So may we be willing to be less certain, but may we never be content with loving less.
Peace.