In the gray

This past Sunday, our bible study on the book of the Acts of the Apostles was about change and discernment, two words that are bound to make anxiety rise. We looked at different stories of the early church experiencing change and doing their best to discern the Holy Spirit’s prompting. 

Reflecting on the biblical stories and the conversation they generated, Dietrich Bonhoeffer came to mind.

Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who was killed by the Nazis in 1945. When he was arrested, he was working on his book Ethics, which was an exploration of Christian ethics,  how we decide what is morally right and what is wrong. Rather than having the foundation of the book be the 10 Commandments or the Sermon on the Mount, Bonhoeffer believed that the foundation of ethics for Christians was obedience to God’s will. Something that is much more difficult to pin down in black and white. 

We often want to know the one right thing to do, looking for certainty that there is one right choice, one thing God is saying to us, one way forward. But the more we engage with the stories of our faith, the less certain we become that this is how God speaks to us. Bonhoeffer certainly thought so.

What might it mean to be obedient to God’s will? What might it feel like to stay in the gray unknowingness of faithfulness, rather than quickly moving to one side or another? How might framing questions around faithfulness and God’s will for the world change us and how we make decisions?

May our senses be open to hear, smell, and see God’s will in our lives and in the world. Amen.