We humans, ardent seekers of certainty, love to categorize things. If we can make an issue black and white, we can relax about it because it’s “settled.”
Unfortunately, while this may feel good in some ways, black/white thinking disconnects the heck out of us!
If I’m on one side of an issue and you’re on another, seeing each other as “wrong” leaves little space for vulnerability and connection. “Loving your neighbor as yourself” goes out the window when one side thinks what the other believes is “stupid, wrong or unbiblical.”
Black/white thinking also disconnects us from God.
When an issue is settled in my mind, how open am I to hearing a differing thought or opinion? Thinking in black/while allows no space for nuance. No space for special circumstances that always exist because each of us is a special person with special circumstances. No space for breath. For life.
I think God’s favorite color is gray.
When we reach the end of our certainty about ourselves, our abilities, and our knowledge, we’re more likely to seek His presence. God inhabits the gray areas of our lives and meets us where we give up relying on ourselves.
Where can you give up black and white thinking to allow for more gray areas? It’s in the tension between black and white that connection thrives.
