When "That Doesn't Make Sense" Becomes Disobedience

There's a strange comfort in deciding something doesn't make sense. Because if truth isn't understandable, it doesn't feel binding. And anything that feels unreasonable — well, we can never be required to act on that. Right?

Festus: The Confident Dismisser

In Acts 26, the Apostle Paul is sharing his testimony before a Roman governor named Festus. Paul is explaining the resurrection of Jesus — how God became human, bore the weight of our sin, and defeated death itself.

Festus doesn't wait for Paul to finish:

"You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane." — Acts 26:24

Notice what Festus doesn't do. He doesn't accuse Paul of lying. He doesn't call him a fraud. He simply classifies the message as unreasonable — and once truth is labeled unreasonable, it can be safely dismissed.

The Instinct to Domesticate God

Festus represents something deeply human in all of us: We accept truths that fit our pre-existing assumptions about life, and we resist truths that disrupt them.

When God's ways collide with our expectations, our instinct isn't usually open defiance. It's reinterpretation. We don't reject God — we try to domesticate Him. We place His divine authority beneath our own human reasoning.

This shows up in subtle ways:

• "I know what Scripture says… but that seems impractical in our world today."
• "I understand what Jesus taught… but surely there are exceptions."
• "I believe God is sovereign… but this situation is different."
• "That might be true in theory… but reality is more complex."

Each of these statements places our own logic as the final authority — above the commands of God.

Jesus Disrupted Expectations Too

This isn't new. In John 6, after miraculously feeding thousands of people, Jesus says something that completely disrupts His followers' assumptions:

"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." — John 6:53

The response?

"This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"… From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. — John 6:60, 66

They didn't walk away because they were hostile. They walked away because Jesus didn't fit their expectations. His words sounded unreasonable.

Festus stands in that same posture. Truth heard clearly, yet dismissed confidently.

The Real Question

The central question of faith is not whether God should always make sense to me. The question is whether I will trust God when He doesn't make sense to me.

In the complications of life, we crave coherence, predictability, and control. And when God doesn't conform to our categories, it's profoundly destabilizing. But that destabilization isn't a sign that something is wrong — it's often a sign that God is doing something bigger than our frameworks can hold.

Where are you not obeying the Lord because you're saying "that doesn't make sense to me"?

Where is reasonableness functioning as a deeper authority in your heart than the commands of Jesus?

We cannot require Jesus to always meet our expectations and follow Him at the same time.

This post is part of a series from our teaching through Acts 24–26 at Indy Metro Church.