The sociologist in me is fascinated by what people will put on the back of their vehicles.
“Not all who wander are lost.” My next thought is, “But most are.” I was certainly lost as an agnostic.
Another bumper sticker uses the icons of various religions to spell out, “Coexist.” While the encouragement of everyone to get along is admirable, it often feels more like a protest against organized religion. I would estimate the odds at 12 to 1 against them having any discernible religion/faith of their own.
This rear vehicle artwork feels emblematic of a larger cultural shift where people identify as “none,” or not religiously affiliated. For an increasing number of these nones, coexisting is seen as a more favorable path through life than a life tethered to faith.
Having wallowed in this sort of unattached spiritual stew, here are my top four reasons people identify as “none.”
1. Don’t know what to believe is true
There are many competing narratives and claims among religions, including within Christianity. Many of us see various religions sharing some similar core teachings and think, “Why can’t I just skip the dogma and be a good person?”
I know I didn’t want to commit to something I didn’t entirely understand or believe to be true, and I think this describes many people of good conscience that identify as “none.”
There are also forces in the world that work to deny people truth. It is a commonly used propaganda technique to spread misinformation simply to muddy the waters about what is true.
2. Don’t want to believe what’s true
The next group has likely encountered truth, but find it difficult to accept. “It wants me to do (or not do) what?”
Philosopher and writer G.K. Chesterton once said, “It’s not that Christianity has been tried and found lacking. It’s that it’s been tried and found difficult.”
You may hear someone say, “Every person defines their own truth – whatever works for them. Who am I to judge?” We all know better than this, but don’t want to confront another person (or ourselves). We would rather accept a comforting lie than an inconvenient truth.
There is also the issue of relativism, which claims there are no absolute truths. In this case, we tend to pick and choose which beliefs we accept and reject. We want God to fit our sensibilities, rather than accepting that we are created in his image and likeness.
We become our own God.
3. The problem of evil and suffering
Here, our “none” has likely accepted truth, but is troubled by why a good God would allow, or even cause, evil and suffering in the world. It may be something distant yet overwhelming, like the death toll from a tsunami, or something very personal, like a battle with cancer, divorce, or the loss of a loved one.
Back in my “none” days, I considered attending a religious retreat, hoping something might spark. The week before the retreat, my neighbor committed suicide. Suicide, in particular, seems to strike directly at the heart with its sense of utter hopelessness. I remember yelling at God, “I make an effort to get to know you and this is how you treat me?”
That was probably the most distant I ever felt from God.
When we don’t recognize that God is love itself, and that everything in life is reconciled under that overarching truth, evil and suffering feel arbitrary and vindictive. Even those strong in their faith can be tested by these trials.
We can become so angry with God, that we walk away from truth.
4. Hypocrites
There is one thing that is almost universally reviled – the hypocrite. They say one thing and do another. It’s good for you but doesn’t apply to me.
Faith admittedly sets a very high bar for its believers, and one that isn’t always met. I remember saying, “If that’s the way they act, I don’t want to be part of the club.”
It’s even more egregious when the hypocrisy comes from religious leaders. I would occasionally go to church with my wife to be supportive and hope that I might eventually see the light. That all ended when the priest scandal erupted. I was angered enough to vow to never darken the door of a church again.
We want to see people that talk the talk walk the walk.
=====
I struggled with each of these to varying degrees at different times as a “none.” So how do we reconcile them?
1. Recognize there are absolute truths
The irony with saying there are no absolute truths is that it is attempting to state an absolute truth. Even arguing science and reason is difficult without a foundation in fundamental truths.
We must also recognize that there are partial truths along with the potential to reach the fullness of truth.
Take science - do you accept half-baked scientific proofs? Science is all about striving to find the full truth of the natural order. We should also strive to find the full truth of the supernatural order - you deserve the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!
It makes sense that people of good conscience wouldn’t accept a religion they felt was right here but wrong there. And if God really did create you as an act of love, and has a loving path for you to walk through this life that brings sustained peace and joy, wouldn’t you want to grasp that in its entirety – to be fully equipped for who and what he uniquely created you to be?
2. Recognize truth can be difficult to accept
Discerning faith entails confronting our shortcomings, which isn’t at the top of most of our to do lists. Let’s face it - we can be prone to laziness and the status quo, saying, “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” And many of us don’t realize or want to admit how broken and spiritually bankrupt we are.
Accepting and living in the fullness of truth seems difficult (and it is), yet paradoxically delivers nothing short of true love, true joy, true peace, true freedom. Jesus even promised that the truth will set you free. It’s like most things in life – we are rewarded for putting in hard work.
That true joy led 11 of the 12 Jesus’s student disciples to die as martyrs (the 12th was exiled) rather than renounce what they had been taught. By making the difficult choices required to live in truth, their consolation was an unshakable peace even in the most dire circumstances. People don’t knowingly die for a lie - or even for partial truth.
3. Recognize the overarching truth that God is love when confronting evil and suffering
This is essential to understand - God does not cause evil, but allows the existence of evil as a natural consequence of the nature of love and our free will. Love must be freely given and freely received – it is never forced on us. So we can turn away from that love, that natural design for our life. The consequence of that is evil and suffering. God therefore doesn’t cause evil, but allows it to happen.
But why?
Based on what God has revealed, we trust in faith and hope that God is love, so evil and suffering are part of a bigger plan to accomplish a greater universal good. That greater good makes more sense when we recognize we are not isolated individuals, but part of a collective being – the body of Christ, with Jesus as the head.
That means my suffering may help another person within the body. What if your suffering caused someone to confront their alcoholism? What if the death toll from a tsunami awakened a culture to their selfishness and brought about a renewed respect for their neighbor, their culture, their environment?
We may endure so another might thrive. Love is necessarily sacrificial.
That is the unbridled optimism of Christianity in the face of the worst of humanity, and a central theme of this blog. Evil and suffering exist as a natural consequence of our free will, yet we know how the story ends – we have been promised that love wins in the end.
4. Recognize that we are all hypocrites and none of us is perfect
The Church admittedly sets a very high bar, and yet it is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints. There is a line from Jesus about removing the wooden beam in your own eye before removing the splinter from another. We can exaggerate other’s flaws while remaining blind to our own.
This by no means excuses hypocrisy. But it does recognize that even with the best of intentions, none of us is perfect. It is much easier to accept another’s faults when we first recognize our own. We love and forgive when we see our own failings and need for love and forgiveness.
That humility also helps keep our eyes open and up, fixed on the source of all that is good in our lives. It helps us aspire to perfection, and inspire others to strive for the same. We lift one another up rather than being mired in judgment, envy and resentment.
You are a hypocrite. So am I. But tethered to love himself, we can more consistently live a joyful life of love in truth.
=====
By acknowledging the existence of truth, the value of living in truth, that evil is allowed to exist to bring about a greater universal good, and that we all fall short of perfection, we can truly not only “coexist,” but thrive.
From experience, I know that many who wander are lost, and those who want to coexist are really yearning for unitive truth and love. And the journey from “none” to God, the path from wandering to the heart of love, passes through the heart of truth.
So my bumper stickers would say, “God is Love,” “Truth in Love,” and “Lead with Love.” For Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And God is love. And that is where we will find the peace, the joy and the happiness we all long for.