That was the title of the “public room” I would open, from time to time, when I used to have an AOL account. I would open it up and then sit back and wait. Invariably, someone would show within minutes, saying, “Agnostics for Jesus! What does that mean?” We would then have a discussion about who Jesus Christ is and how one can know the Truth.
Though it really is an oxymoron, I am an Agnostic for Jesus… that is a former Agnostic. I was raised in a church-going home but stopped going to church in junior high school. In high school, I was into Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and the Virtue of Selfishness. The first year I was at the Naval Academy (my “plebe year”) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that West Point Cadets and Annapolis Midshipmen could no longer be forced to attend chapel or religious services. At first, the Academy set up an alternative, the “Morals and Ethics” class on Sunday mornings. I was one of the first to sign up.
The Morals and Ethics Class
That was a turning point for me. The Morals and Ethics class was held in a large amphitheater classroom which was close to full the first Sunday it was held. It was moderated by one of the Navy Chaplains. One by one, Midshipmen would stand up and say, “I think truth is…” or “I think reality is like…” blah blah blah. That’s when it hit me… the futility of humans ever being able to figure things out on their own. Everyone had their own opinions. Everyone conjured up in their own imaginations who “god” was or what’s right and wrong or what “truth” is.
It was still to be five more years before I would surrender my life to Jesus Christ, but the “Morals and Ethics” class was an important step the Lord used to prepare my heart and mind for him.
The Dilemma of an Agnostic
I really do understand what a professed agnostic goes through. How can one know who is right? “You’re right and you’re right? You can’t both be right!” Can they? Can everyone be right? Does the truth really matter? Is there a God? Does he have an opinion? How can one know?
An excellent illustration I heard once describes the dilemma of an agnostic: “If there is a God, it’s as if there is a sort of veil between this God and us. And there seems to be no way to penetrate that veil to prove God’s existence. So… I will just go on living my life the best I can. Apparently, I can never really know.”
Who Can Penetrate the Veil?
What most agnostics don’t realize is, even if there is such a veil that prevents us from proving God’s existence… If there is a God who cares about us… Perhaps he is willing and able to penetrate that veil and reveal himself to us! And maybe we aren’t just left with our own imaginations about who he is and what he thinks.
Perhaps God has penetrated the veil to reveal himself to humans in history and to reveal what his priorities and purposes are.
Once a sincere agnostic realizes this, then his purpose in life shifts from speculating and philosophizing to searching and seeking for claims and evidence that God has revealed himself to humans.
“Seek Me, Find Me”
I know of no one in history who lived the life that Jesus did and who made the claims that he made. There are no people in history like the Jewish people. There is no book that rises to the unique power and history and claims as the collection of the 66 books called the Bible. A sincere agnostic ought to examine the life and message of Jesus, including his claims to be God, and whether or not he rose from the dead.
Are you such an agnostic? If there is a God, do you want to know? Do you want to care about what he cares about?
Similar to what Jeremiah told the Jewish people held captive in Babylon, God calls to you:
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
And as the Apostle Paul said:
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
If you have questions, please email me. I’m eager to help by the grace of God!
And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.
Exodus 26:33
And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Mark 15:38-39