A Word from the Vine No. 547: The Question We're Afraid to Answer

Well hey there, friends. This is A Word from the Vine, and I'm Pastor Loren Christensen, coming to you from the Danish Countryside Chapel here in Exira.

I want to tell you about a moment in Scripture where some very smart, very religious men got asked a simple question — and their answer was, "We don't know."

Here's the thing: they knew. They just didn't want to pay the price of saying it out loud.

In Matthew 21:23-27, the chief priests ask Jesus by what authority He's teaching. Jesus turns it back on them — He asks about John the Baptist. And they realize: whichever way we answer, we lose something. So they dodge.

"So they answered, 'We do not know.'" — Matthew 21:27

Friends, how many times have we done the exact same thing? Somebody asks us what we believe, or what we think is right, and we say "I'm not sure" — not because we're actually unsure, but because the truth might cost us a friendship, or a comfortable seat at the table.

Silence isn't always humility. Sometimes it's just fear wearing a nicer coat.

So here's your word from the vine today: the next time you know the truth and feel that urge to shrug and say "I don't know" — ask yourself who you're really protecting. Because it might not be them. It might just be you.

This is Pastor Loren. Thanks for listening to A Word from the Vine. And remember — the Gospel isn't just something we believe. It's something we live.