Should Religion Be Irrational? – Part 4
How many times have you heard this one, “It doesn’t matter what you believe.” Don’t take that one to driving school. It will not pass. “The sign says ‘STOP’ but it just doesn’t matter what you believe.” Would you tell a police officer this? Imagine the conversation: “Officer, I know I was doing 80 in a 35, but, it doesn’t matter what you believe.” One will find a deaf ear when that ticket is written. Don’t try this in a court of law either. “I know I wrote a hot check, judge, but I’m not wrong because after all, it doesn’t matter what you believe.” The judge will reply, “30 days, and if you don’t believe that it is wrong after that amount of time, you can have another 60.”
This kind of irrationalism would never pass muster in society. However, when it comes to religion, this is commonly used as an excuse for not following the word of God. How much more important is our relationship to God?! How much more valuable is the soul?! Yet we don’t hold those who claim to care for it to the high standards that we hold our driving instructors, law officers and judges. It is obvious to all that regarding matters of practicality that these sentiments would never pass scrutiny. However, when it comes to religion, people expect the irrational. So, they excuse themselves in irrational ways.
Faith is not irrational! Walking by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) does not mean that we leave our brains outside the church building! The Holy Spirit gives us evidence to believe that God exists, Jesus is His Son, and the Bible is His word (John 20:30-31). God expects us to reason about the evidence and come to the correct conclusions.
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley