Room for the certain and less certain.
Today is testimony meeting.
Thought
Today is testimony meeting, which means thousands of Latter-day saints around the world will publicly share what they know, believe and feel.
I don’t wish to discredit the strong feelings of absolute certainty that some may have about the truth claims made in The Church of Jesus Christ. But perhaps we have put such a high premium on certainty that belief, hope and faith are almost considered insufficient, defective of sub-optimal.
During one trip to England, I had a conversation with a family member where I learned of a period in their life that they had been refused a temple recommend because their leaders at the time felt that “faith in and a testimony of” meant knowledge or certainty. When this family member was only able to express belief and hope, it was deemed insufficient.
Perhaps I am wrong, but I have never interpreted those temple recommend questions as asking me if I had absolute certainty or knowledge of Jesus Christ, The Restoration, or Prophets. If that is what it really means, I guess I should probably hand in my recommend too; because faith I have, certainty I do not.
Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge, and testimony is clearly a scale. Some of us have seen, experienced and know differently than others, some of us may be considered expert or eyewitnesses; but all of us are needed.
I must admit that I cringe a little whenever I hear “beyond a shadow of doubt” in testimony meetings. Perhaps some people are, or at least feel they are this certain about the truth claims they are making. But when we create a culture where such certainty is considered cardinal we can inadvertently create a place where faith can feel like failing and belief is belittled.
Faith is not failing and belief is beautiful. Faith is precisely what Christ himself commanded us to have. Faith is the first principal of His Gospel. Faith, we’re told, along with repentance is all we should teach. And let’s not forget that faith is not to have a perfect knowledge (certainty) of things.
Let us continue trying to create a culture that includes everyone in our testimony meetings; the certain and the less certain, the faith-filled and the doubting. Where “I believe”, “I hope”, and “I have faith” are as cherished and cardinal as “I know”.
Quote.
We must guard against the feeling that there is ‘safety in numbers’
- C.S. Lewis (The Problem of Pain, p.55)