Free to Believe: Pluralism is Not Necessarily Agnosticism

(I need to begin by apologizing for the big words. As is often true with terms such as these, they summarize my thoughts better than a long string of smaller words.)


We live in a society that is intentionally pluralistic. The folks who decided to break away from British society, a society that included social classes and a top-down aristocracy, did so with a commitment to freedom. It was to be a society that was ruled by a representative democracy. There was to be no official religion, church or episcopacy. Everyone was to be free to believe according to their personal convictions. Although there were still a few descendants of the early Puritans who preferred a Christian theocracy, most rejected that idea (especially the leaders in the Commonwealth of Virginia). 

Even though we once again have a few who would like to see America "return" to its roots as a Christian theocracy (even there never was such a theocracy in any state after the American revolution), we are still fundamentally a pluralistic society. We are all of us free to believe according to our personal convictions.

But pluralism is not necessarily agnosticism. A freedom to believe is not the same thing as an insistence that we believe nothing at all. We are free to have clear personal convictions and clear commitments to certain truths. 

Maybe I should take a moment to review the meaning of "agnosticism." It is simply the belief that it is impossible to know anything for certain. We will never have enough evidence to convince us of certain clear conclusions. Therefore we are committed to not ever being "dogmatic" (i.e., clear or certain) about anything. We simply allow everyone to believe whatever comes to mind, knowing that those beliefs will change from time to time. Above all else, we are committed to tolerance of every position and every preference. And we condemn anyone that seems to be "intolerant," i.e., believing that if I am "right," than others are "wrong." As some have pointed out, we have learned to live with the contradictions that we are certain that certainty is not possible, and we are intolerant of intolerance.

While committed believers in Jesus find this to be a very challenging cultural environment to live in, it's also true that some overreact. It's one thing to see a difference between "right" and "wrong"; it's another thing to see a difference between "superior" and "inferior." While we disagree with the perspectives and actions of some, to treat those people with anything other than dignity and respect is to disrespect and discount their humanity. If one of our beliefs is that every human being is a special act of God's good creation, and that God has a special love and purpose for every person, than disrespecting any person, no matter what the reason, is to disrespect God.

"Hate speech" is unacceptable coming from any committed Jesus follower. But then I suppose "hate speech" needs to be defined. It certainly is not a disagreement with someone else's views or preferences. It is definitely not even the view that someone else is "wrong" or that their choices are "unwise" or even potentially destructive. Hate speech involves words designed to tear someone down. to question their fundamental worth, to devalue them as a human being. Hate speech tends to lump groups into "inferior" categories while making prejudicial, stereotypical statements about them. Taken far enough, prejudicial speech (pre-judging based on a certain category or stereotype) can result in intentional, systematic acts and policies of discrimination. (For Americans, that's when we bump into the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.) 

However, respecting all of our neighbors, respecting their worth and rights as American citizens, or even as human beings, does not mean we have to hide or feel awkward about our personal beliefs and convictions. It's OK to be very clear that we believe:

• There is a God who is the Creator/Maker of all things, and as such, owns and has authority over all things.
• God is God and we are not.
• Jesus Christ is the unique, one-and-only Son of God.
• Jesus Christ is the only sure way to reconciliation with God.
• The Good News of and about Jesus is the offer of reconciliation with God given to every human being.
• The Bible is God's written self-revelation.
• The revelation of God in Scripture is authoritative in the life of a Jesus follower.
• A life of committed apprenticeship to Jesus is the life all humans are called to.
• The church is God's only covenant Kingdom community in the world.
• God created human beings male and female.
• Marriage is a covenant relationship binding one male and one female together for life.
• Marriage is the human counterpart to God's plan for the ultimate human relationship with the Creator.
• All human life is uniquely sacred and is to be respected and protected, both before and after birth.

Agnosticism is the default position of the American University system. As a university freshman, agnosticism was my preferred mindset. But I was a "soft boiled" agnostic. A "soft boiled' agnostic believes that it's probably impossible to know anything about ultimate truths with certainty, but wishes it was possible. A "hard boiled" agnostic is dogmatically committed to the idea that knowing ultimate truths with certainty cannot and will not ever be possible. I really wanted to know. So I set out to discover ultimate truths about God through rational processes. I carefully examined every question that pertained to the existence or non-existence of God, one question at a time. For weeks I carried around my copy of "Why I Am Not A Christian" by Bertrand Russell. And I reasoned my way through to answers. But I discovered that for every answer I "found," that answer raised two new questions. I quickly realized that drawing certain conclusions about God and the resulting God-centered way of life was never really going to be possible through rational means only. I began to realize that in the end, faith is a choice. We all freely choose what we believe. The atheist has chosen to believe that there is no God - a choice that cannot be proven rationally. Those who believe in "naturalism" (as opposed to "theism") have chosen to believe that life came into existence through a process of natural selection involving time plus chance plus nothing else, even though while that hypothesis can be tested, that belief cannot be "proven." The hard-boiled agnostic has chosen to believe that it is impossible to know - even though that conclusion cannot be proven rationally. And every choice has consequences which can be examined in human history. In the end, I needed to freely choose what I believed. And I made my choice. 

And we respect those who disagree with these faith decisions as being no less human and no less loved by God. "Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind" (Romans 14:14). The Good News of this Easter season is that Jesus died for every human being equally, and that he rose from the dead, conquered death, to give eternal life to every human being - "whosoever will may come." That is our message to the world, a message to be proclaimed and lived out in our daily work and relationships. Soli Deo Gloria!

The Promise of Justice

"That's not fair!" 

If you've raised kids at all, especially through their teenage years, you have heard this exclamation far too many times. Classically, we respond with, "Well, life's not fair!," hoping that will settle the matter. And while life certainly is not fair, the bigger problem is with a misunderstanding of the word "fair."

When a child or teen (or even some adults) point out that an action or decision was not fair, they usually mean that it didn't go their preferred way. They didn't get their way, their personal desire was not fulfilled. Someone saw it differently or made a different decision, and usually said, "No."

But a short-sighted, self-centered perspective of "fair" really has nothing whatever to do with fairness. The larger idea of "fairness" is "justice." This idea of fairness/justice is really about equality, equity, life as a "level playing field." Justice assumes that every human being is equally a special creation of God with equal worth. Justice insists in equal opportunity and equal treatment. Think about the classic image of Lady Justice with balanced scales. 

To be fair, the more I think about the big idea of justice the more I see how it is rarely if ever seen in human history. In fact, it seems that perfect justice is uniquely an aspect of God's own character. It assumes God's perspective of God's good creation, and especially of humanity. Another Bible word that refers to fairness or justice is "righteousness." We know that God is perfectly righteous and we are not. "All have...fallen short." 

At the same time, the reality of perfect justice as a core characteristic of the Creator's holy nature presents the promise of justice. If it is a core characteristic of God, it is a core value in God's Kingdom. Wherever God is ruling and reigning, to that degree there will be justice. As citizens of God's Kingdom we are commanded to advocate for God's justice in every situation. We are spokespersons for God's justice and sensitive to evidences of injustice around us. Consider these words from Scripture:

"Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly" (Leviticus 19:15).

"The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern" (Proverbs 29:7).

"Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow" (Isaiah 1:17).

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8).

And then of course there are the words of Jesus:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6).

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).

Just as sin/unrighteousness/injustice is both individual and corporate, personal and societal, so righteousness/justice is both personal and societal. We are seeking the righteous rule of King Jesus in both spheres of life. 

One of my heroes, a prophetic voice in his generation, is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of his famous sayings is a quote from Theodore Parker: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." While that certainly is a beautiful dream, it doesn't match with history. My conclusion is simply this: Perfect justice will not be seen in the world; however, perfect justice is a foundational theme of God's Righteous Rule. As subjects of King Jesus, justice is not only our dream, it is our passionate desire and commitment. Kingdom disciples are constant advocates of justice, and we are committed to "speaking truth to power" when we witness injustice. Unfortunately, rather than exposing and rebuking it, all too often American Christians seem to be on the side of injustice. 

As Americans we are optimistic realists. We are not shocked when we see injustice in the world. But we are also representatives of Christ's Kingdom, an embassy of righteousness in the midst of unrighteousness, painting a picture of the justice that is to come and that is already to be modeled by Christ's Kingdom community. After all, if we will hunger and thirst after righteousness, we have been promised that we will be filled.