Shades of Gray

In early 2013, during a season of increasing polarization within the Church—where voices demanded absolute clarity on complex issues—God spoke through a Monkees lyric that surfaced in a dream (Dream 6921, February 2013). The phrase was isolated, stripped from the song's broader narrative, and set apart as a single, corrective word.

The Spirit was not endorsing relativism. He was challenging a form of spiritual immaturity that confuses discernment with binary judgment. Some realities require wisdom, not simple categories.

"When the world and I were young, just yesterday. Life was such a simple game, a child at play. But then you came and I was old, to see the way. Not in shades of black and white, but in shades of gray."

When God speaks through a lyric, the lyric is never the doctrine. It is a signpost. The line about "shades of gray" was not promoting moral relativism—it was pointing to the biblical call for mature discernment, which refuses to reduce every situation to simplistic judgment.

God was saying: Stop demanding that every issue fit neatly into black-and-white categories. Mature faith requires wisdom, patience, and the ability to hold tension without forcing immediate resolution. Not everything is as simple as you want it to be.

This was a word about maturity. Children see in absolutes. Adults who walk with God develop the capacity to discern complexity without abandoning truth. There is a difference between compromise—which dilutes conviction—and wisdom, which holds conviction without demanding false clarity.

In Hebrews 5:14, mature believers are described this way:

"But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."

Discernment is not automatic—it is trained. Maturity requires wisdom, not just conviction. Binary thinking often masquerades as spiritual clarity, but Scripture calls for something deeper.

In 1 Corinthians 13:11, Paul writes: "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." Spiritual maturity involves moving beyond simplistic judgment into the capacity to hold tension without abandoning truth.

In Proverbs 18:13, wisdom is described: "If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame." Mature faith listens, discerns, and weighs—rather than rushing to binary conclusions.

If you find yourself demanding absolute clarity on every issue, or if you feel uncomfortable with ambiguity, ask yourself: Is my demand for simplicity a sign of spiritual maturity, or am I resisting the hard work of discernment?

Maturity does not abandon truth—it holds truth while refusing to flatten complexity into binary categories. Not everything is black and white. Some things require wisdom, patience, and the humility to say, "I don't have the full picture yet."