There is nothing worse than being around people who think they have all of the answers. One thing is certain: they generally don’t. We know that sometimes it is best to be silent. We also know that humility is a characteristic that is both realized and demonstrated through our willingness to refrain from needing to be “right” all of the time or any of the time for that matter. I heard a woman comedian once say, “I looked all my life for ‘Mr. Right’ not realizing until after we were married that his first name was ‘Always.’” We might laugh. But, we’ve met people like that and hopefully we are not that person. I would suggest that a significant rub for many people against Christians is that Christians sometimes tend to be smug about their certainty of virtually everything and convey a persona that says, “I know the REAL answer and you don’t.”
We hurt ourselves and others when we act like that. We should stop conveying the smugness. We must quit giving pat answers to complex problems. We also need to stop acting as though we have all the answers before we even take time to listen to the questions or genuinely care about those asking them. And, silence is sometimes a very appropriate response. We don’t need to give the answers, even if we know them, if it is not going to be received well or if we do not have the relational capital to be heard.
Now that I have that off my chest, I want to get back to the Answer. The older I get, the more I see that Jesus is truly the answer. I don’t mean that he is the answer to question number 13 on the algebra test, or the answer to the 42 across on the crossword puzzle, the answer to why I like spinach but dislike yogurt. However, to the most troubling issues facing humanity, to the need for internal resolve and peace, to the questions of purpose and place in the universe- he truly is the answer. He may not be the easy answer we all want to hear. But, he is the answer nonetheless. He is the answer for those who are willing to risk everything and lose themselves. The most pressing questions that people have posed to me through the years are really about meaning, existence, pain and suffering, loneliness, significance, love, relationship, internal turmoil. I don’t mean to sound flippant or trite or provincial. I have just found that the answer to the truly nagging and hurtful and agonizing issues of life are found in resolving matters with Jesus Christ and pressing on with faith and confidence in Him.
To those issues, it seems that the answer is clear. I have seen God answer those issues in tangible and unexplainable ways over and over again. I have seen move from anger and despair to peace and hope. I have watched God bring meaning and purpose where none of that existed. The real issue for Christians is how to relate that answer and offer solution without smugness, arrogance and disrespect. “God help us love and share and live the Answer in ways that makes sense and allows your Holy Spirit to work and bring resolve.”