Recently I had the opportunity to talk with a group of people who all come from different backgrounds and all have different passions in life. I am part of a small group at my church in Colorado Springs where we are reading through a version of the Bible called Books of the Bible. It is an NIV translation where the chapter and verse numbers have been removed, and the order of the new testament has been changed to make it read as more of a narrative than it would be traditionally. The goal is to understand the bigger picture of the story of Jesus and how it plays into our lives.
Well, during small group this past week there was some very interesting points of view brought up during our discussion. I noticed, after about an hour of talking, that everyone in the group had one thing in common, except me. It seemed as though the entirety of the group blindly accepts their faith in Jesus Christ. Now, don't here me wrong on this, I am not saying that is a bad thing. Faith itself is defined in Hebrews 11:1 as "...the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." In fact, that entire chapter gives a catalog of people who, by faith, performed amazing acts.
I began to just sit back and listen to the discussion at hand, and began to ask myself "why do I believe in God and His word? Why?"
Well, as the group continued the discussion, I realized that I believe in the story of Jesus Christ because I have seen enough evidence to justify in my heart, soul and mind, that it actually happened. I don't believe it because I read and liked a book some random guy wrote. I don't believe in it because it was the "cool" thing to do. I believe in it because I questioned it, and investigated it. I investigated, for myself, what it meant for me that Jesus died for my sins. I didn't grow up in the church, which I am sure discredits my opinion for some of you, but I think it was the best thing for me. Even to this day I am skeptical of various aspects of my faith, but being skeptical is what ultimately makes my faith stronger.
Today we had a guest pastor at church and he began to tell a story to help break the ice if you will. Well during the story the entire congregation (800-ish people) were dead silent, sitting on the edge of the pew, completely enthralled by his story. Well after his story he told the church that he did not grow up in the church and what happened next is not something I will soon forget. There was a unified gasp followed by murmurs and whispers. Now, it may have just been a delayed reaction to his story, but I am pretty sure it wasn't considering it ended in a joke. Since that is ruled out I think it is safe to say that some people were taken back by the fact there was a guy, preaching about Jesus, who didn't grow up in the church.
"How can we listen to a guy who didn't grow up in the church? His view isn't right. He isn't a real pastor." - all things I heard whispered after he told the congregation he didn't grow up in the church. Which, by the way, he followed by saying that he was (and still is a bit of) a skeptic.
Personally I was happy to hear that a pastor was gutsy enough to tell that to a congregation, it made me feel more at home than I have since I left my church in Golden. In the past months I have been looked down upon or even discredited for not having grown up in the church. I should probably get back to this whole small group thing. Well, once I realized that I believe all of this because I have chosen to investigate it, I started to chime in on the discussion again. When I came back in, one of the guys said, that we can't use science to defend our faith. So I asked:
Why?...
What he said next really rubbed me the wrong way. He said we can't use science because we weren't there to see any of it happen. He said that science was testing a hypothesis multiple times in order to get results (which to an extent I agree with) and that if we did not live in the same place or time as Jesus we can't use it to determine if the Bible is true or not; therefore, we just have to believe it is.
I wanted to say "Well, if that's the case then I believe the sky was purple and clouds were green in Kansas in 1980, and you can't tell me otherwise because you weren't there." But I didn't because I didn't want to be mean and irrational. I think it's safe to say (because of science) the sky wasn't purple and the clouds weren't green in Kansas in 1980. Instead, I decided to just remove myself from the conversation and keep listening to this groups collective belief on faith and Jesus. This is an ongoing group and I am very interested and excited to be able to have conversations with them about Faith.
I think it is important to understand why we believe what it is we believe and to not be followers in this world, but leaders. In school I was taught to investigate, research and develop an opinion on whatever the subject may have been. I am thankful that my teachers and professors pushed me to the realization that I need to develop my own opinions. Outside of engineering school it is too often I see people blindly following the belief of another person because it is easy and they think he has a pretty smile. So often you read papers that say "so and so believed" or "he was the leader" or He believed this so I should too." Well I am here to challenge and encourage you to not be followers in this world but to be leaders instead. Ask the tough questions, Develop your own beliefs, and investigate the reason why? you believe it.
I thank you all for taking the time to read and comment. I encourage you to be the leaders of the world and continue asking Why?
I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically, I don't get why someone would trust someone who came to Christ later in life less than they trust someone who was born in the church. If anything I'd listen to them more, despite the fact that I definitely fall in the latter group.
Why? Because that person can't blame or credit their walk with Christ to peer pressure from time immemorial.
I wonder if any of the murmurers have ever read anything from Lee Strobel.
I'd say more, but I think I'll do so in a post, rather than in a comment.
I wonder if you didn't misunderstand the comment your friend made. Science is skepticism applied to claims about the nature of ... nature. It is skepticism that drives one to verify claims made by experimentation.
ReplyDeleteNow, there is more to it than that. There is also a bit of Hume-ean skepticism about the likelihood of past events, too. And, I suppose, future events. To quote Pascal, "Do you want to know something that no one can prove but everyone believes? That the sun will rise tomorrow."
There are limitations to science. Cosmology, being thoughts about origins of creation, are not scientific. One could, I suppose, theoretically offer plausible explanations all the way back to the big bang, but one millisecond before that is complete speculation. What's more, there are plenty of holes left to fill. It is a difficult philosophical subject, obviously, but plenty of believers are simply not interested in philosophy. Maybe that's the group you've come into.
I don't think the dividing line between "interested in philosophy" and "not interested in philosophy" runs along the same lines as "grew up in the church" and "didn't grow up in the church." For the record, I spent most of my college years wishing I hadn't grown up in the church, so I wouldn't have to worry that the only reason I believed as strongly as I did is that I was brainwashed as a kid. That's what lots of folks told me, anyway.
As for your congregation not thinking much of a speaker who didn't grow up a Christian, I humbly refer them to St. Paul.
Ed,
DeleteIt is quite possible I misunderstood him. We were nearing the end of the night when the topic arose so I did not have a chance to talk with him about it. We have 6 weeks left in this group so I am looking forward to the conversations that will arise from this. I also agree that there are plenty of believers not interested in philosophy, I suppose it is just the analytic side of me that just doesn't get why.
Indeed.
ReplyDeleteI feel that we have this intense, guttural curiosity. It is the reason that we became engineers, curiosity and creativity. In pursuit of the answer to the question "why?" and do something about it.