The Journey To Reverent Agnosticism

Often when I hear of other worldviews offering their critic of the Bible, Christianity, or Jesus, I either start putting on my thick skin for a sound "tongue lashing" or by getting into my defensive to lash back with all my "right" answers. By enculturation, I have to protect. I dig in my heals to get ready to fight back.

So when my brother sent this link about an agnostic and his lifestyle choice to live biblically for a whole year, the veins in my neck began to pop. But I read anyways. And I liked what I read. His perspective is great on the power of lifestyle and the idea of sacredness. Here are couple of insights from the blog:

Do you think many people are misguided in their “creed over deed” mentality?

[Note from Tim: “Creed over deed” refers to people who value religious belief more than moral behavior. “Deed over creed” would be the opposite.]

I wouldn't say misguided. But I'd say most of us do underestimate the power that behavior has to shape thought.

It's astounding. I watched it happen to myself. For instance, I forced myself to stop gossiping, and eventually I started to have fewer petty thoughts to gossip about. I forced myself to help the needy, and found myself becoming less self-absorbed. I never became Ghandi or Angelina Jolie, but I made some strides.

What would you call yourself now?

I'd call myself a reverent agnostic.� Whether or not there is a God, I believe there's something to the idea of sacredness. Rituals can be sacred. The Sabbath can be sacred. And there's an importance to that.

I'd also say that I'm a fan of cafeteria spirituality. During my experiment, I learned that you cannot follow the entire Bible. It's impossible. You must pick and choose. Everyone does it, whether they admit it or not. Otherwise, we'd end up stoning adulterers on the street.

So check out the rest of the article here. It was a great read has some great insight for those near or far from Christ.

(bu to Matt)