When we are willing to admit our ignorance, we are on a path to growing. But, if we think we already know everything, we will only remain in our ignorance.

|| CERTAINTY and HUMILITY ||

John 9

vs 1-3

vs 16

vs 24

vs 38

Why did certainty lead to the blindness of the religious leaders, and why did humility and uncertainty lead to belief and worship for the man born blind?

And how are we going to choose to the better path?

Cognitive dissonance: when you hold strongly to a belief or opinion but then you encounter a fact which contradicts that belief or opinion.

For most of us, cognitive dissonance is intolerable!

Certainty makes us feel so comfortable!

vs 13-16

#1, they denied the evidence

vs 18

#2, they discredited the messenger

vs 31

#2, they created distance

vs 34

The religious leaders didn’t kick the man out because they knew they were right, but because on some level, they feared they were wrong!

They were protecting the ILLUSION of certainty.

The problem with living in the illusion of certainty is that, sooner or later, all illusions are shattered.

Certainty can lead to catastrophic failure.

Breaking the illusion of certainty:

#1, “I don’t know” (vs 12, 25)

#2, learning to distinguish between what is true of God and our ideas about God (vs 25)

The blind man’s certainty wasn’t in his ideas about Jesus; his certainty was in his experience with Jesus.

Truth isn’t an idea or a doctrine – it is a PERSON!

#3, remaining in diverse communities, like the NT church

The true glory of the church is not found in our absolute certainty… it’s found in our humility, our teachability, our repentance.

“I don’t know… but this I do know – I was blind but now I see.”