A few of us went down to Caltech the other day to see a debate between an Evangelical Christian (Dinesh D'Souza) and a "militant agnostic" - Micheal Shermer of the Skeptic Society.
I left the debate feeling a little more than skeptical about becoming a "skeptic", and I certainly didn't want to form or join a society of skeptics. Here's why...
I don't think we learn our most valuable lessons from being skeptical. I think the most beautiful and exciting moments in life come in the midst of balanced and reasoned expressions of faith.
When I'm flying down a mountain on my bike, for example, I may be skeptical and cautious regarding the upcoming hairpin turn - I may even dissect the turn in my head and decide to alter my course, brake harder, or speed up. But it took an awful lot of faith to even get to the turn...
I already had faith that my bike would hold up to the forces exerted against it; that my skill-level would be up to the descent at hand; that my inner tube would not blow up mid turn... Those are just the objects of faith at MY disposal. Think about the faith it takes to descend that mountain in regards to the actions and intentions of other people: Oncoming cars, drivers who may come up behind me, mistakes made by road crews, oil slicks from poorly-maintained vehicles, water in the road from badly-aimed sprinklers... That's a lot of faith! It takes a lot of faith to even get to the point of dissecting the upcoming turn, and faith is the only context in which we really learn (skepticism is a tool we use to understand what we are learning).
The Christian in the debate (Dinesh) made a great point about this faith/skepticism stuff; if I was truly a skeptic about my relationship with my Wife, we'd never have been married. Marriage should be a well-informed and intentional leap of faith. I didn't KNOW when I married my Wife that she would be a great Mom, but I had faith she would be. I didn't KNOW that I would be a supportive Husband, but I prayed God would give me the grace to be the Husband He wanted me to be. I didn't even really KNOW, when I really think about it, that Kristin loved me. I had to have the courage and the faith to believe that she meant what she said. If I had waited with a skeptical eye until marriage made rational sense, I'd have either married a robot or remained single, and Kristin would have eventually had "faith" in marrying someone less skeptical. My skepticism would have kept me from being with the love of my life.
Faith has brought me happiness, meaning, comfort, companionship, and two beautiful kids (they got Mama's good looks).
So a well-informed and reasoned faith defines my life (Kristin and I waited 3 1/2 years to get married - we looked before we leapt, but we did leap!). I would imagine it defines yours to, at least the parts of your life that bring you joy. Our relationship with God is no different.
To learn more about looking and leaping into faith in Jesus, check out www.lifesongchristiancommunities.org
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
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