Caught Up in God

When I lived on Long Island, I applied to teach a class at the local community college. During my interview, the dean expressed a concern:

“Would your religious background make you rigid?”

Disregarding the fact that this was not only an improper question, but probably also an illegal one in a job interview, I replied,

“No, I believe that my religious background makes me less rigid.”

But yes, some Christians are indeed rigid, and, beyond rigid, even harsh toward those who disagree with them. This is a puzzle to me, for the spiritual journey leads us nowhere if not into the broad graciousness of God.  Consequently the most deeply spiritual people I know are also some of the most open-minded, loving, and welcoming of heart.

On the other hand, I have encountered unbelievers who, while priding themselves on being open-minded, seem to be closed to anything pointing toward the reality of God.

“Josh,” the ex-Christian with whom I have been having an on-again, off-again e-mail correspondence (see “Answered Prayer” and “Heroic Faith“), provides an illustration.  A recent message sent out to his mailing list concerns the end of brain activity, bringing about, as he sees it, the end of human awareness and existence. He concludes by expressing sorrow for us poor benighted Christians who need to believe in life after death. But with a magnanimous flourish he adds:

If they need it, then I suppose it doesn’t hurt for them to believe it. It is like children who need to believe in the Easter Bunny. It does give them a certain amount of comfort.

I decide to overlook the condescension.  I write back:

On the question of the difference between brain activity and mind activity, you might want to read The Spiritual Brain by the neuroscientist Mario Beauregard.

Josh responds,

I suppose the author believes in the spiritual, so what he writes is influenced by that.

Never one to give up a good argument easily, I reply:

If you reject the intelligence and knowledge of everyone who believes in God, your sources of information will be very limited. I wouldn’t refuse a knowledgeable resource just because the author is an atheist.

Now granted, I would not rely on a confirmed atheist for wisdom concerning experience of God, any more than I would rely on someone who had never been out of Florida to describe for me the experience of walking through fresh snow. But I do respect the knowledge of anyone who is an expert in his or her field.

And in his own way, Josh has taught me a great deal:

• about the failure of Christians to witness adequately to the beauty and love of Christ
• about how mysterious faith is: why do some believe and not others?
• about the hold religion can have on a person, as it does on Josh, even when it has been renounced.

Whether or not he has learned anything from me, I can’t say. But I remember the words of Jesus:

Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. (Matthew 7:1)

…and of Paul:

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.  (Romans 15:7)

So I pray to be led with the saints into God’s broad graciousness.

. . . . . . . . . .

P.S. During the interview mentioned above, the dean posed another unusual question.

“Looking at my office,” he said, “what do you notice about me?”

I paused for a moment.

“That you are organizationally challenged,” I answered.

He laughed.  I got the job.