The Day a Radio Presenter Was Surprised That I Didn't Have All the Answers
Why changing my mind has become one of the deepest parts of following Jesus.
Welcome to today’s reflection.
Each weekday, paid subscribers receive an exclusive reflection designed to offer a thoughtful pause amid ordinary life. My hope is that these brief pieces create a little space for curiosity, contemplation and wonder amid the noise of the day.
If you’ve recently joined us, you may also be interested in my new book, Sacred & Secular: Find God in the Ordinary, which brings together some of the most popular and thought-provoking essays from this journey so far.
A few weeks after arriving in a new parish, I was invited onto local radio to talk about my hopes for the community.
The interview was going exactly as I expected. We chatted about the village, the church, and the sort of place I hoped we could become together. Then, almost casually, the presenter changed direction.
She asked one of those big questions that Christians have debated for generations. It was the kind of question people often expect a priest to answer with complete certainty, and one that could easily have dominated the interview.
I remember pausing before replying, “I’ve actually changed my mind about that several times over the years. And I wouldn’t be surprised if I changed it again.”
There was a long pause.
For a moment, she seemed genuinely bewildered. She stumbled over her next question as though she wasn’t quite sure where to go next, and I had the distinct impression that this wasn’t the answer she had been wanting or expecting. Surely a vicar should know. Surely faith meant certainty.
Looking back, I suspect she wasn’t really asking about that particular issue at all. She was testing whether faith could cope with uncertainty. Somewhere along the way, we have absorbed the idea that believing in God means having an answer for everything. When someone who wears a dog collar admits they are still learning, it can sound almost like a contradiction.
Yet I have come to believe the opposite is true. If God is infinite, why would we expect to finish learning about him?
