Elemental: S2 - Day 11

“From out of a storm, the LORD said to Job: Why do you talk so much when you know so little?”  Job 38:1-2

Agnosticism [ag-nos-tuh-siz-uhm]
The belief that the answers to the basic questions of existence, such as the nature of the ultimate cause and whether there is a supreme being, are unknown or unknowable.

I spent a few years as a chaplain in secondary education, teaching junior and senior religion classes. During that time, the consistency of specific questions and conversations caused me to write a list of ideas titled “Pastor Dave’s Personal Rules for Believing.” I want to share the first two with you, if you don't mind.

RULE #1: I’m wrong about stuff.

This isn’t a suggestion or mere possibility. It’s a truth. I don’t understand how it could be arguable. Not because we are talking about me specifically (though some might make that point) but because we are talking about human beings. This is a bankable truth: humans are fallible, flawed, problematic, and broken. We’re wrong about stuff. Rule two flows quickly and smoothly out of the first.

RULE #2: I don’t know which stuff I’m wrong about.

This might seem obvious. But it’s a profoundly complicating factor. If I knew I was wrong about which day I should set aside to worship God or that you are in an unconscious sleep once you die, I could gain ground on becoming right about it. Beyond that, everything feels more fragile when I don’t know which stuff I’m wrong about. Could the thing I hold dearest be incorrect? Does the Bible matter? Did Jesus really exist? Were we created or just an accident? Does my life have a purpose? Why are painful things happening to me? Can we know anything for sure?

Ahhhh…agnosticism. We find ourselves at a crossroads by the end of these two rules. Some might slide down an offramp from these rules with the tidy conclusion that you might as well not even try to figure anything out. About the time you’re sure of something, you might be wrong and not even know it. So, agnosticism makes sense…if certainty is our goal. But it is not. Certainty is not the goal of Christianity.

If you’re frustrated, I understand. Hold on—good news is coming in rules three and four. But I’m going to ask you to hit the pause button and wait in the rubble until tomorrow.

1. What spiritual belief matters most to you? What if you were wrong?
2. Have you ever considered agnosticism?
3. Is there a passage of scripture that comforts you when you’re confused?  What is it?