Teaching

"No one was able to answer Him a word..." Matthew 22:46

One of the things that has amazed me through the years as a preacher is how many people approach me with questions they expect me to have the answer for. For some people this might be flattering. To me it's about responsibility. Who am I to give someone advice about this or that? What makes me think I can give someone the competent counsel they need, based on the Bible? Thus, I really need to rely on the Lord's ability in and through me when it comes to helping others with their questions.

The Lord began to use me to preach the Word and lead a church at a very young age. I was trying to be of help to everyone who came to me. Many times it was hard, because people approached me with questions that were above my pay-grade. Thankfully, I found something very liberating early on into my ministry development. It's the power of saying "I don't know".

Not only we find ourselves humbled by Jesus when he asks us a question (see Mat. 22:46), but we must be humble before Him when others approach us with their difficult questions.

"Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?"

"Should I divorce my husband who is abusing me and yet goes to church pretending to be a Christian?"

"Should I change jobs?"

And on and on.

The first time this happened to me I was in counseling with a member of the church. They presented me with a situation that was rather complex. I was searching for the right answer to give this person to help relieve them of at least some of the stress they were obviously going through. I felt the Holy Spirit was saying something to me which I wasn't prepared to hear. "Tell him you don't know." I must have been a pastor for less than a year and I guess I had this idea that now since I'm a pastor I need to have an answer for everything. But I didn't realize that I was believing such a false concept. There are many stereotypes about what a pastor is supposed to be. Amazingly enough we can believe some of those stereotypes about ourselves, too. The light had come on for me right when I needed it.

"I don't know", I said. "That's between you and God. There are some things God has reserved to reveal directly to you. I wish I could give you the answer, but I can't."

Suddenly I felt relieved. I didn't feel like I had done something irresponsible as a easy way out of a difficult situation. I knew this was the right answer and there was power in my ability to say I don't know and be honest about it.

What is humility? Contrary to what most people believe, humility has to do mostly with the condition of our heart and mind, not with the way we look or behave. In this situation I chose to humble myself and be honest rather than to sound wise or well-versed in the Bible. And of course, when you choose to humble yourself you don't run around screaming "I just humbled myself!!!!" to everyone else around her. What kind of humility with that be? So you just have to do the right thing before God, whether people realize what you have just done or not.

This is true for pastors, moms, dads, business owners, professionals, everyone! This is a powerful life concept, not just a religious notion.

Let me be honest - the more I know God, the more I realize how little I know. The paradox is that at the same time I learn a lot more about God and life in general. So while I learn more about God and things in general, I must consciously develop an attitude of humility and honesty, recognizing there's more that I don't know than what I do know. I must protect my integrity by using the power of saying "I don't know" when I don't. I must also trust God with the things I do know because wisdom is the ability to apply the right knowledge at the right time, not just to have knowledge. God wants us to be mature in our understanding of him in the world we deal with. There's nothing godly about going around saying you don't know anything about anything.

Jesus came to enlighten our hearts and minds and make us wise children of light. But he also came to give us the power to be truthful and honest which liberates us to be human. You can be confident in what you know and yet humble in what you don't know.

There is power in declaring the truth you do know and there is power in saying "I don't know" when you're don't.

George Bakalov (c) 2010 George Bakalov Ministries Intl., Inc.