Brendon, 04/22
When it comes to religious faith and Christianity in particular, is it possible to know too much?
If
I say yes, sceptics will be quick to ask “how could anyone know “too
much”? What are you trying to hide?” Nonetheless, I will say that yes,
it can indeed be bad to know "too much" about Christianity, and I’ll
just hope that you’ll read on to find out why.
Sceptics from a
church background are often of the opinion that, though they once knew
and accepted the basic Gospel message, they have now been enlightened
with further knowledge that allows them to move past Christian faith
with a “been there, done that, but now I know better” attitude.
Other
sceptics who grew up outside of a Christian upbringing often feel they
have learned enough about Christianity simply by reading the Bible all
the way through, or studying the history of the church, or watching all
the latest documentaries on the history channel, and now they know
enough to reject it.
That, I think, was the case with a well-read
man named Brendon, whom I talked with at a coffee shop. Brendon
described his upbringing as a “hippie” household, wandering between
different idealistic pursuits, and that his parents encouraged him to be
curious and learn about all the different forms of religious expression
out there. So he spent a lot of time in public libraries, and has read
much such as the major religious texts all the way through, including
the Bible, the Quran and the Bhagavad Gita, as well as learning about
and experiencing many different alternative religions.
The result
of all this knowledge? Brendon seems to have learned to be very
accepting and appreciative of the beliefs of others – no matter what
they are - and quick to proclaim his own inability to judge any of them
one way or another. He claims to be basically uncommitted when it comes
to religious belief, and he did pretty consistently maintain this
neutrality throughout our entire conversation.
In my outreach
experiences, most people fall short when it comes to how much they know
about Christianity. What they do know is often just the opinions of
others rather than studying and learning for themselves. They know some
facts but can’t see the big picture, like losing the forest for the
trees.
But some people, like Brendon, go far beyond a basic
knowledge of Christianity and religion to the point of information
overload. The vastness of the forest makes them lose sight of the
trees, and in this case the trees represent the basic steps we are
expected to take in response to the Christian gospel.
Brenden
seems to know a lot about Christianity and other religions, but the
Gospel calls us to respond to its basic message with repentance and
faith sooner rather than later. To move past these calls to commitment,
even if only to seek additional knowledge, is very often simply an act
of rejection through procrastination.
In Jesus’ parable of the
Sower, God’s word is planted in various types of “soil”, and in one type
of soil the seed is choked out “with worries and riches and pleasures
of this life”. People like Brenden can be exposed to God’s word at
various levels, but in the end it is just too much distraction caused by
too much of any number of things, including information overload.
“Too
much” of anything is too much, and too much information without acting
on what one already knows can be just another distraction to the Gospel.
Thanks for allowing me to record our conversation Brendon! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/oPm4X6_VQRI on my YouTube channel.
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