'The Reason for God' and the compassion of the Christ...

I got into a mild debate (they're always mild these days... where's my passion?) with my stepmother about books. I decided to buy Timothy Keller's "The Reason for God", and I started reading it a couple days ago. I'm a slow reader (i.e. an ADD reader) so don't get your hopes up for a book report anytime soon... Anyway, she seemed to get stuck on the idea that people read "these" books to either affirm their beliefs or validate their point of view, but really, that's not why I picked up this book.

At this point, I have no beliefs to validate or confirm. I'm learning. In theory, the only belief that might be affirmed by a book like this is whether or not we can rationally believe there is a God, while the rationality might be objective, I really believe that the actual belief in God is a very personal decision that nobody can really influence. Reading a book about the existence or lack thereof of God shouldn't affect your core beliefs. If it does, your core beliefs are not very solid, and you really should spend more time trying to figure out what it is you believe and why.

But where my stepmom and I disagreed was at the idea that faith-centered books are self-help books. Books about faith aren't necessarily emotionally-based, even if faith can't be proven one way or the other. Eventually, proofs about faith become unprovable beliefs, which paradoxically is kind of what the book is about, in a way. From what I've gathered so far, part of the book is about showing how, no matter how seemingly factual an argument about God or religion is, it still is based in faith, even if said faith is a sort of counter-faith (like atheism).

I read a quote once, I can't remember where, that said, "Without God, there would be no atheism." And it's true. If there was no God, "God" being either the supreme being of the universe or the fictional character we've created to represent the supreme being of the universe, there would be no debate about His existence.

Theoretically, though, there should be no debate about His existence anyway, right? It's a purely personal decision...

I understand how Jesus, in Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20, says:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;[...]"
and as a consequence, Christians become missional, spreading the Gospel, trying to get people to see the love, forgiveness and redemption of Jesus Christ. And even though, in theory, that message is solely a message of love and good things (even if the underlying message is really hard and full of rebuke for the people it changes), it is often received with bitterness, resentment and prejudice.

On the other hand, I don't understand why atheists are missional. Of course, I'll end up making generalizations based on the atheists I know (and know of), so I'm sorry in advance. But.... :D Atheists seem to be missional because they feel enlightened. They feel that they've been awakened to some sort of rational truth that dissolves any possible truth with respect to religion. It is as though once they've discovered science, or an either convenient or satisfying reasoning against religion, this new set of beliefs becomes the ultimate truth. Suddenly, religious people are irrational for believing in "supernatural fairy tales", and these enlightened individuals are overwhelmed by their desire to "set them straight".

But why?

One of my co-workers used the Santa Claus analogy in relation to Jesus. "You grow out of believing in Santa, and eventually, that will happen with Jesus too. If you're rational, there's no way you can keep this imaginary friend around for long before you wake up." But my issue with that is what's wrong with believing in Santa? I mean, obviously, if you're forty years old and you sleep by the chimney hoping Santa will wake you up, you have issues. But what's the harm in believing in the spirit and goodness of Santa?

Whether people are Christian or non-believers, Christmas tends to be a special time of year. There's a Christmas spirit that fills the air and makes us all nostalgic (or bitter, as the case may be), and as Elvis asked, "Why can't every day be like Christmas? Why can't that feeling go on endlessly?"

If Jesus fills a Christian's heart with love, hope and generosity every day, why would you want to end that?

Of course, I understand why you would want to end the hate that is associated with fundamentalist Christians. I agree. The hate is terrible and it's very unChristian. But instead of "enlightening" these people by imposing atheist doctrine onto them, why not learn the real Christian doctrine and kindly and with humility enlighten the Christians as to how they are not reflecting the Jesus they claim to follow?

And the same goes for the reverse. Instead of Christians thumping the Bible on atheists and causing animosity in the name of Jesus and the Bible, why not just love them? Show them Jesus through love. Show them Jesus through generosity, support and forgiveness.

Like it or not, every word out of a Christian's mouth in a public forum or in the company of non-believers is a mission statement. It becomes a reflection of Christianity even if in truth, it's merely a reflection of one particular individual's brokenness and ignorance.

A friend of mine forwarded a comment made by an atheist on a forum earlier today in which he spewed all sorts of ignorance about the Bible. He said people eat the unleavened bread as the body of Christ to "telepathically claim him as their master". And then he went on to say how Christians believe in God so God can come in and wipe all of the evil out of their lives. It just went on and on, all misconceptions and ignorance about both Christianity and the Bible. On the flipside, I stumbled upon a video on youtube that makes fun of things fundamentalist Christians have said on internet forums. Things like that scientists want us to believe DNA is the core of our body, but DNA is an acid and everybody knows acid burns stuff so there's no way it could be in our bodies, so obviously evolution is a sham.

It's clear to most people that either side has its ignorant morons and being a moron has nothing to do with religion. But the issue arises when people who claim to be non-morons (:D) base their own core beliefs on the actions and words of the ignorant.

To dismiss Christianity without research solely because of what you've heard some terrible accidental representatives of the faith say or what they've done is doing yourself a grave disservice. Similarly, if all the preaching of damnation and hellfire turns you off God completely, sadly, you're missing the message of what Christianity is really about.

I heard a sermon [from my favorite church in North Carolina] in which the pastor talked about how absurd hell is as a means of getting people to understand Christianity. He explained how ridiculous it would be for a person to be deciding where to go on vacation and say, "Siberia is cold, fairly poverty-stricken, and instead of toilets, they have 'squatty potties', so... let's go to Italy," and equally ridiculous, upon their return from Italy, start talking about how bad Siberia would have been. That's what talking to non-believers about hell is like. Hell is not what Christianity is about. It's not a reason for believing. It's not a reason for not believing. It's entirely missing the point of Jesus.

If rational believers and non-believers alike should be able to agree on one thing, it would be that Jesus was a good guy. He healed the sick. He forgave the worst sins. He redeemed the broken. He lived in poverty and gave more than he had. He simply loved in a way we are just too broken to love and even to fully grasp. And if believers and non-believers don't agree that Jesus was a good guy, whether He is real or just an idea, then they just don't know Jesus.

Why bother knowing Jesus?

Why not?

He's a very influential person in history, right? I mean, we learn about so many historical figures in great detail, why not Jesus?

And frankly, to learn about Jesus is to change your life, whether you believe in Him as the Messiah or not. His example for love and forgiveness is incredible and even if it's all fiction to some people, that shouldn't prevent us from learning from it. We all love so selfishly. We seem to truly believe that giving our love is being generous. We love people because they deserve our love either through relation, acts or experiences. But in the sermon on the mount in Luke chapter 6, Jesus tells of a different kind of love.

Luke Ch 6:27-38 (NIV), in red because it's Jesus' words:

27 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you.[...]"

If we did that, the world would be a completely different place. If we loved one another without expecting love in return, if we loved those who are hardest to love, if we forgave those who have wronged us the most, if we give to those who we know will not reward us for giving, what kind of people would we be?

The cynics in the room are probably mumbling, "Suckers. That's the kind of people you'd be." But why not be a sucker instead of an... um.. well, I can't say the word on this blog, and I have yet to figure out an equally powerful synonym that is not a swear word. :D Really, though, why be the one who takes advantage rather than the one who gives? Why be the one who hurts rather than the one who loves? Why be the one who holds a grudge rather than the one who forgives too easily?

We're so busy protecting ourselves, our families, our possessions, along with anything else remotely close to our person that might affect us, that we neglect our affect on those around us. We've become so incredibly selfish.

Yesterday, here in Montreal, a middle-aged woman was beaten in the metro (subway) and there are no witnesses that have come forward. Not only did nobody help her during the attack, nobody called the police, and nobody called in as a witness. All of us would hear about it and think, "How is that possible? I could never be so uncaring," but you know, the witnesses themselves probably thought that too, before they became involved and somehow felt put out by it to the point of just walking by and completely ignoring the situation. Or maybe, worse still, they didn't even notice.

What are we doing? What are our priorities? Where will they lead us?

And in the world we live in today, why would anybody want to dissuade somebody from trying to live the example set by Jesus?

If you're a hateful Christian, stop and reread the Gospels in their entirety. Read it all. Change your heart. You can't spread the love of Jesus through hate. Hate begets more hate.

If you're an anti-Christian atheist or agnostic, encourage the Christians you judge to be better Christians. You can't reach people through hate either.

Neither side will ever reach the other side without empathy, and really, without education. For example, you can't argue Creation vs evolution without knowing both stories. And chances are, if you knew both stories, you'd find a way to make them correlate.

When it comes down to it, it's all a matter of faith. Whether your faith is based in scientific findings you had no part of, or your faith is based on a historical text you also had no part of, it's all just faith. It's all a set of beliefs you've adopted for one reason or another. And, as I'm hoping Timothy Keller's book shows, every side of faith has reasonable arguments, even if the loudest members tend not to be aware of any of them.

But whatever it is, whatever your faith, grow in your faith. Learn in your faith. Flourish in your faith. Love in your faith.