Christians and soldiers have a lot in common, or at least they should (2 Tim 2:3-4). Firstly, they both know that submission equals survival. The wise infantryman always awaits the order to advance—especially when the machine gunner next to him is laying down cover fire. Secondly, both Christians and soldiers know that suffering is par for the course (2 Tim 3:12). Members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), on exercises in the outback, don’t get up in the morning, stretch and declare, “Man, I really miss my flannel pyjamas”.
There is a third attribute of soldiers that, when found in Christians, makes them very effective: ‘ambiguity tolerance’ (AT). Soldiers who can tolerate ambiguity are lethal. AT is one of the key attributes military psychologists look for when recruiting soldiers. High AT is what differentiates the special services soldiers from the regular army recruit. Let me explain what I mean.
In the regular army, you don’t really need high ‘AT’. Why? Because your roles and responsibilities are clearly defined. The Lieutenant barks a command to the Sergeant who barks it to the Corporal who then barks it to the Private. The front-line soldier is not confused about what he must do.
But in the special forces, it is different. When eight Australian SAS soldiers are dropped behind enemy lines during a war, they have a plan, but they’re always ready for inevitable stuff-ups. Let’s say they get inserted 4km east of their designated drop zone under cover of darkness. They don’t panic. They stay focused on the mission. They revert to plan B, C or even D. They can tolerate ambiguity. Not everything has to be spelled out. Ambiguity Tolerance can make a good soldier great.
Growth in AT can also increase the effectiveness of a congregation, a Christian and a pastor. AT is all about your answer to these questions: “How do you respond to a sudden change in circumstances?” “What’s your emotional response to situations that turn out differently to what you expected?”
As I observe life in Australia, it seems that people (especially those under 40) love change. They like ambiguous situations. A big part of life’s thrill is anticipating what’s going to change next. I think that’s why most believers love question time. Have you ever noticed this? During the songs, prayers, sermon and so on, the congregation looks like Obelix after he’s eaten two wild boars (i.e. drowsy). But when question time starts, their body language changes: they sit forward, they’re attentive, and they’re visibly thinking, processing, frowning, interacting, objecting, laughing, enquiring, and so on.
If a pastor can increase his AT, it can help his congregation. If the congregation can increase their AT, it can help the elect and the lost. A greater AT will help you be more ministries-minded, and it will help you focus more on your people, rather than your programmes.Here are some examples of high AT ministry and the fruit God has grown as a result:
- MOLDI dinners: In the late 1990s, the Sydney University Christian group realized that it was difficult to get ‘not-yet believers’ to come to outreach events. So they decided to go to them. They organized dinners in King Street, Newtown, designed for the express purpose of discussing the meaning of life. Dinner and discussion took place in a neutral territory: a restaurant. A Melbourne campus adopted this idea, and gave it the name ‘MOLDI dinners’ (i.e. ‘meaning of life discussed intelligently’). In 2007, this campus ran nine dinners which were attended by 45 ‘not-yet believing’ Uni students.
- Family devotions: Our daughter Isabella is seven years old, Edmund is four and Samuel is two. In the past, Isabella used to enjoy Bible reading aimed at Edmund. She doesn’t anymore. We’ve had to change the evening routine. I read to the boys, and Emma reads something ‘meatier’ to Isabella. Things change. Roll with it.
- Congregational question time: Give it a go! Is it scary for the speaker? Yep. Is it a great catalyst for edifying the saints? Yep! Give it a crack! (NB: remember, getting good at this skill takes time.)
AT isn’t anything new. It’s just another way of saying be “all things to all people” (1 Cor 9:22) or “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (Jas 1:2). By God’s Spirit, we can grow in AT over time.
