One of the first questions I hear atheists asking in a discussion on faith is, "What if you're wrong?" That question is generally followed by, "Why do you deny yourself certain life pleasures just because your religion says so? Won't you feel like you missed out on a lot in life if you die and found out you're wrong? Since we can't know, we might as well enjoy ourselves as much as we can."
I can certainly answer by saying that we do know God exists, or respond by turning around and asking, "Yeah, but what if you're wrong? God will be pretty darn mad." I won't do that, though. Those responses are inconclusive and leave both parties saying, "Well, I guess it just comes down to what we believe and what we don't." Of course, everything comes down to whether we have faith or not. There's really no point in arguing for the existence of God or arguing in defense of faith because arguments won't convince anyone, only faith will.
I will argue in defense of the principles of religion, though. I'll do so because it doesn't matter if we as Christians are right. It doesn't matter if we believe in a God that doesn't actually exist. It doesn't matter if all of our religion, and all of other religions, were simply man-made creations. In short, it doesn't matter if we have faith or not, the principles of religion do matter and are good for us nonetheless.
Now, a lot of people might think I'm a terrible person for saying that faith doesn't matter in any way, shape or form, or in any context. Before I continue, then, I'll make clear that I'm not saying faith in God doesn't matter. It does. Without faith in God we have no reason to be in relationship with Him, and relationship with our Father in heaven is the only thing that will bring us the inner joy we're meant to experience. All I'm saying is that faith doesn't matter in the context of whether or not the principles of religion are right and good for us. I'm responding to the question, "What if you're wrong?" And my answer is, "It doesn't matter if I'm wrong. I'm still living the best possible way."
First of all, I'm not living up to the principles of my religion, I'm just trying really hard to. Secondly, what do I mean by the principles of my religion? I mean those principles we are told to live by, namely the Ten Commandments, loving all our brothers and sisters on this earth, sexual morality, and loving God, ourselves, and others above all else, which in some denominations means no drinking alcohol, giving significant time and money to serving the poor and oppressed, avoiding gluttony, avoiding bad/immoral speech, and spending time in prayer and devotion. Personally I believe all those principles should be included in every denomination.
Sexual morality is a big one in there. It's most often in regards to sex that people ask, "What's wrong with you? What if you're wrong?" I'm sure sex is extremely pleasurable, but my faith tells me to wait until I'm married. And if I don't marry, no sex. Even for those who haven't had sex it's oftentimes hard for people to imagine how one can go through life purposely retaining one's virginity. Generally, people who aren't guided by faith couldn't care less.
I tell you, though, that regardless of whether you have faith or not, the principles of religion will increase the amount of peace and joy in your life. God doesn't want to deny us anything that would be good for us, He wants the best for us. The best for us, as individuals and as a community, includes all the things I listed above.
In terms of sex: females especially feel an incredible amount of turmoil that she wouldn't have ordinarily if a relationship ends that was sexually active. Whether we want to admit it or not, we give of ourselves a little bit to every sexual partner we have. So when that person is no longer in our lives, we've lost something. Furthermore, every time we engage in sexual activities with someone we don't love with our entire being we degrade the act of sex. Obviously you can say that doesn't matter because it still feels good. Sure, it still feels good, but having sex with your spouse will not be nearly as special as it should be if you have already had sex. Why does that matter? Well, from Genesis to Jesus we're told that man and woman are meant to be one flesh. Marriage is what reunites us together, man and woman, and transforms us into one being, our total being. Some of us are called to remain single, but for the rest of us only marriage can fulfill us. If we experience elements of marriage before we're actually married then that union cannot be truly complete.
If you've had sex before marriage, I'm not condemning you. I'm not trying to make you hopeless. What I'm saying is that the things that God has told us to do are what will bring us the most peace, joy, and contentment in the long run. We shouldn't live righteously simply because we believe in God and He tells us to. We shouldn't live righteously simply to make our separation from others more clear. No, we should live rightly because it's good for us. That's why God has worked so hard to tell us to live a certain way. If we do, we'll be more at more peace with our life. Faith doesn't matter. Living rightly, in the manner that Christians say we should, is always the best thing for us, even when it doesn't seem good at all. It's not best for us just because we have faith.
The thing is, though, that same peace and contentment can simply come from having faith and a relationship with our Father. In that sense, faith does matter. Others who don't believe must follow the law closely to be righteous and find the same peace that we receive simply by having a relationship with our loving and forgiving Father in heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment