We've all asked this question (I hope): "What if I'm wrong?"
Today I watched a video (note: please watch/listen to the video before you continue reading to help you better understand what I'm writing about) on YouTube that my mom
recommended to me over Thanksgiving. What the guy says struck me as
exactly what the church needs to hear. Can atheists be closer to truth than those who claim to follow The Truth?
I
empathize with atheists because I have asked many of the same questions
as they have throughout my Christian experience. In fact, one of my
friends was actually raised Christian and home-schooled (like me), and
is now an atheist. During our conversations, I discovered that the
questions that led him to atheism were the very same questions that led
me to where I am today (which I cannot define with a singular "-ism" or
"-ity").
When you grow up in the Christian community, when
bible study is a serious and daily activity, when worship music fills
your ears each evening while mom makes dinner, the world feels
comfortable and safe and good. Many people never leave the comfort and
safety of a theology built using bricks backed by great thinkers (such
as Aquinas, Augustine, Calvin, and Luther). Many people never ask the
questions that lead them out of the safety of what I call "the Christian
Cave" (an allusion to Plato's allegory of the cave). Those who do ask
dangerous questions often brush them under a rock or dismiss them. Why?
Because they don't want to leave the safety of the cave, of course!
People want to be safe, they want to understand things. Inside the cave,
everything is simple and comfortable. Asking questions AND following
where the answers lead takes us outside where everything is
unpredictable and we have to trust completely in God instead of our own
understanding.
At this point, you're probably dying to know--what are these questions I'm referring to?
Here are a few of the basic questions that every good philosopher will ask:
1.) If God is good, why does he allow/cause suffering?
2.) If God is love, how can he bear to send people to hell for all eternity?
3.) Jesus came to save us, but from what?
Here are some examples of answers that mainstream Christianity will provide:
1.)
God's ways are higher than ours. He has a purpose in suffering. He is
sovereign over all. In our limited view, we cannot see his wisdom and
purpose for all things (in other words, the ends justify the means).
2.)
God is not just love, but justice also. God is just and demands payment
for sins. Also, he will not force people to be with him in heaven if
they do not want to. They made their choice on earth. It's their own
fault if they didn't trust in Jesus.
3.) Jesus came
to take on the punishment for sins on our behalf. He paid the price of
death and hell so that those who believe in him don't have to.
I
remember the time when I both heard and repeated those answers. Answers
are security, safety, comfort. Questions bring doubt, questions lead to
a quest, a journey. Most of us just want to sit in the repose of home.
Anthony
DeMello put it like this: People are asleep. Most people spend their
entire lives asleep. True spirituality wakes us up.
...The question is, do you want to wake up?
If
the answer is yes, then the three questions I originally asked will
lead you on a journey outside of mainstream Christianity. You may have
to leave the church. You will have to take a wrecking ball to your
theological house, break those bricks, and start from scratch. You might
even have to make the bricks from scratch too.
That's
what happened to me. I faced those questions, and I was tired of the
cookie-cutter answers that ultimately made absolutely no logical sense
(any philosophical atheist can tell you that). So I tore down the house,
and started rebuilding. At first, I thought I didn't have to tear down
the entire house. I thought maybe replace the roof, a few windows, maybe
remodel some rooms and get new siding. Nope. The more questions I
asked, the more I began to make out some parts of the answers, the more I
realized the whole house has to be destroyed. Everything. Which left me
with only the foundation: Love. Intelligence. Beauty. Truth. Life.
God is love. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. That's it.
From
that foundation, I began building again, but progress is much slower
because I know how hard it was to tear down the original house. The last
thing I want to do is have to tear down and rebuild again.
This
blog is a collection of my thoughts as I rebuild my theological house.
Join me, share your thoughts, and let's get building!!
