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Not Maybe - Unlike us, God is never tentative in relating with us whole-heartedly
The strong statement by Jesus, “Say ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil,” (Mt. 5:37) seems to eliminate “Maybe” from our relationship with God, and offers a caution about using it in our conversations with one another. If we reflect on how we have asked God for something or shared with God some of our thoughts, feelings, and concerns, we did not come with a conscious attitude of “Maybe God can do this,” or “Maybe God cares about me.” However, we might still have had thoughts that God might not answer our request or fully appreciate or respond to us. This is where it can be very helpful to ponder Jesus’ words and seek to focus more clearly on God’s infinite power and love, so that we can trust more deeply in those qualities rather than on our thoughts of how we think God might not relate with us exactly as we want.
In all our other relationships, we cannot have the same certainty about trustworthiness as we do of God and might reasonably think that “maybe” is an appropriate and normal part of human interactions. But Jesus was talking to people about how we speak to one another, which offers us an opportunity to reflect on our own experiences of communicating our intentions to others. When we say “maybe,” we know the difference between stating that we do not have sufficient information or clarity about a situation, and when we are attempting to avoid stating a decision that we have already made.
Jesus’ declaration is about honesty, which is the basis for establishing trust. The “maybe” of equivocation moves in the opposite direction, which is damaging to speaker and hearer alike. Fear of what people might think or how they might respond is often the impetus for avoiding the “Yes” or “No” that is our truth. There are times when “maybe” is the only proper word to convey what we know, making it a gift and mark of authenticity, even if it is not what someone else wants to hear. There are other times when we might not want others to know of our intentions, and the same word would be neither a gift nor a mark of authenticity.
Rather than concerning ourselves overmuch about our choice of words, we can look again at what Jesus said and hear in them how God deals with us: always saying “Yes” in terms of loving and accepting us at every moment, while any “No” from God is not about us, but is a response to questions, proposals, and requests that will ultimately be less good, harmful, or wrong. Love is like this even among us, as when we say “No” to people if they ask us to do something that we know to be inappropriate. In like manner, we cannot imagine God’s love being manifested in a single word, “Maybe,” which would supposedly be based on whether we behaved properly and were therefore deemed worthy.
We sometimes have reason to express a truth with “maybe.” Not so with God.
Last Updated 10/24/2026