In this chapter Donald Miller talks a lot about Faith vs. Rationality. His friend Laura's "process" of believing in Jesus really made me reflect on my own journey of becoming a Christian. I don't think I have ever questioned God's existence outrightly (is that a word?). However, I fully own up to the fact that faith is not entirely rational. I may once have struggled with that, but the closer I grow to God the more I not only accept the mystery of it all, but actually enjoy it. I struggle sometimes with how to explain it to someone who really needs something rational to believe in, but I'm working on still trying.
What do you make of the ideas Miller presented about faith vs. rationality and the idea that we have a "radar" inside us that leads us to believe?
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I dont think we have a radar.I think the people around us our own radar. I know we shouldnt care about what others think and we should fall into the world but we all doo. and People around us influence us alot. Its just saying you wont be a christain when every single one of ur friends is an athiest.I think the enviroment you live in or pick out is your radar.
ReplyDeleteI had such a cool experience on Monday at school that I think pertains to this very topic. It was nice outside and I had some time to kill between classes. I sat outside on a bench looking over my math homework when this guy walked up to me and asked to use my pen. I said sure and handed him an extra one I had and told him he could keep it. He was taken away by my offer. Then he explained that everyone else he had asked blew him off or gave him a dirty look and that others seemed not so friendly around here. We instantly struck up a conversation which in turn led to religion which it usually does. It started when I asked what he was going to school for and he jokingly said that he wanted to become an abortion doctor. I knew he was kidding but of course I prodded and asked why he chose that profession. He told me that he just says that when people ask to get a reaction out of them. I guess that is why no one wanted to let him borrow their pen. Anyway, I told him that I wanted to become a dental hygienist and hopefully do some mission work overseas. I told him I was a Christian and he asked me why. I told him about the radar thing and how there is this force inside me that longs to believe and has to believe. He asked me if I believe that the entire bible is true and I said yes, even the far-out stories of the Old Testament. We talked a little bit about Noah’s Ark. We just have to be careful not to put God in a box and make him small and incapable. We walked to class and talked and he said that he went to a Catholic boys school but hinted that he was not a Christian. He asked if we could meet up again sometime and talk about religion. I said sure, but he’d better be careful because I would covert him. And that was that. It was such an odd experience because it was the next morning after we read about all this Sunday morning at church. I just love the way God throws people in the mix the way He can only do. I know that I believe in Him with all my heart; I always have, but there have been these periods in my life where I second guess maybe not Him directly, but what the bible says. I struggle a lot with the Trinity and probably always will. I think that if you were to strip away all of the components of what people think Christianity is -like the bible, church, explanations, and even prayer- if none of these existed I would still have this desire to believe in something bigger and more spectacular than myself or this world. Maybe it stems from the very beginning... we were all created in His image. He is programmed somewhere deep down in the depths of our soul. Thankfully I have found Him!
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