We Baptists are a certain people. We are sure about our theology. We are sure about our ecclesiology. We are sure about the way we do things, or we’d belong to some other denomination, Baptists are fond of saying. As we have it all right, there’s no need to switch.
But in the COVID season, we all have to grapple with uncertainty—even the Baptists. And maybe that’s one of the lessons of the pandemic.
The pundits were all clear immediately after the shutdown: When the shelter-at-home order was lifted, we would all find that “church” would be completely different. People would abandon in-person meetings for the joy of virtual meet-ups from their own homes. People would take responsibility for their own discipleship, having learned to manage without in-person teachers. People would find myriad ways to minister based on new needs brought on by quarantine and isolation and privation. And communities which had largely ignored Christianity in recent decades would be hungry for the gospel message.
But what if they’re not beating down the door once we’re back to open it? And what if our own people stay away out of concern for their health? Or what if the uncertainty of the times—and lack of clear evidence of what God is doing right now—makes them ask questions for which we don’t have certain answers?
Dare we say, I don’t know?
A few evangelical analysts are backing off their sweeping statements that the whole world is radically changed on the other side of the pandemic. But not enough of those in-the-know are yet saying “I don’t know.” And maybe they should.
Not knowing is part of being human. It’s one of the things that distinguishes us from God. God knows, because he is God. We don’t know, because we are not God. And that distinction makes us rely on God all the more.
Uncertainty is a gift I have not opened—until now. I have lived most of my life fairly certain of things, even in extended seasons of change, illness, death, and loss. But now, in the tidal wave of uncertainty, I am more willing to say, “I don’t know; only God knows.”
Of that I am certain.
Eric Reed is editor of Illinois Baptist media.