Agnostic Christians

There are a lot of conversations within the church with regards to orthodoxy, especially in the area of specific doctrines. And we are all aware of the menial bickering over worship styles and carpet colors.

And even worse, while we are all having our little in-house brawls, the world outside the church is finding fewer and fewer reasons to be a part of the immaturity. But there is something much more scary happening within the body of believers. As Christians swagger into meetings with their meaningless opinions that lead to nothing productive, there is an even more sinister problem that has yet to make its presence fully known.

None of us are unaware of the constant decline of faith in the Western world. Evangelicals make it our spoken goal to reach the lost. But what about the found that are becoming lost. It is not just the unbelievers with whom it is becoming increasingly difficult to share the Gospel. The fact is many life-long Christians are beginning to question the very existence of the God they have spent their lives worshiping. And even worse, there is a shocking number of church leaders who are among the most doubtful. And yet, they preach and teach every week as though they are having no issues of doubt.

But, before we become too critical of those who are suffering with this dilemma, let’s consider the hearts of those who are sincerely trying to maintain their faith, but are losing the battle. It is not a simple task to lose one’s belief in God. The constant bombardments of new knowledge and insights within the world of science and technology are stripping away thousands of years of faith. It is not a simple skepticism that is taking pastors and other God-loving Christians to the realms of agnosticism and atheism, but highly educated thinkers and writers who share their doubts and struggles with faith. Those who are losing their belief in God are tormented by the thoughts of “What if?” and “If only I had some kind of proof.”

“Who wants to waste another Sunday at a church singing about a God who doesn’t exist?”

They are truly searching, but there are very few Christians who are prepared to do battle with the highly-educated thinkers who are pounding the world of faith with their eloquent speeches and very convincing studies. “They have proof! Christians only have faith. They have fossils and men landing on the moon. Christians have an empty tomb and Jesus walking on water.”

As science and technology continue to make new advances, miracles and the existence of God are placed under an ever-strengthening microscope, pulling Christians to wonder if God really exists at all.

I am in constant contact with agnostics, and some of them are pastors who ask genuine questions with sincere hearts, and who simply want to know……the truth. Many of them are deeply troubled, and are not prepared to give up their “jobs” just because they have doubts, while they also struggle with their integrity, wondering if continuing to teach in the church is the right thing to do.

Like many, I have been down the road of doubt. Fortunately, I have come out the other side with a deeper belief in God. What’s the difference between me and others. My answer is by no means exhaustive, but I would offer the fact that I’ve been exposed to incredible Christian scholars who have done battle with the secular thinkers of our time. They, like highly educated scientists and philosophers, have studied their subject deeply, and have learned things that most of us have no idea exist in the area of theology.

I am deeply concerned for those believers who are having their faith ripped out of their lives. In most cases, we are pulled away just as any cult may drag away a well-intentioned believer. We want to be right. We don’t want our lives wasted by hopes and dreams that amount to one more Santa Claus or Tooth Fairy hoax that was planted in our minds by well-meaning, loving, and important people.

This is a serious problem in the church. Agnostics and Atheists are no longer those people who stay home on Sunday. Some of them are preaching in our pulpits.

It’s time that more Christian scholars and teachers spend less energy arguing about the Trinity, the reality of Hell, and whether or not we should have Sunday school. It’s time to spend more time sharing the Living God with a searching world…..of Christians.

"With his mouth the godless can ruin his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered" (Proverbs 11:9).

In His dust,
Johnny

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