While I in no way promote reading horoscopes or looking to astrology to predict what life has in store for you, I do think fortune cookies are a great deal of fun. I especially like it when they pay me a compliment, “your personality will open up great opportunities”, or “friends are attracted to your blonde hair” (okay, I’ve never received that one, but maybe someday). Consequently, they seem fairly harmless. However, today after lunch at Pei Wei I received a fortune, which is so fundamentally opposed to Truth that I had to blog about it. It read, “Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.”
While I can appreciate what the author of the fortune was trying to tell me, I think this very notion summarizes an often misguided approach to Christianity. Lest we forget, “Fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING of all wisdom.” God is not to be understood first before we should worship Him. I think all too often we approach our faith from the “understanding seeking faith” mantra rather than the “faith seeking understanding” foundation we must ascribe to. While God in His communicable attributes—mercy, love, justness, jealousy, etc.—has made Himself known, he also possesses incommunicable attributes that leave us ignorant to the vastness and greatness of His glory. Yet, despite the unknowability of certain aspects of God, we are still obligated to worship Him.
The modern day Atheist and Agnostic would would have us believe Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood, but our Lord has revealed enough for us to know He exists (reference Romans 1 if you doubt that claim). Therefore, while it is in our desires to know about God and He has promised that “if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us”, we cannot expect to know everything about Him. Nor can we expect to have our every query answered. Furthermore, it is not our privilege or our right to become discontented when our questions remain unanswered. Instead, God has revealed what He in his perfect sovereignty has chosen to disclose, and where our understanding terminates is where our Faith begins.
Thus, on this Good Friday, a day where so much uncertainty loomed upon the Disciples and followers of Christ, understanding was not necessary. Rather, Faith that our Lord would rise and take his proper seat by His father in heaven was the only thing that could have solaced those few. Therefore, I propose that we become people seeking not to understand every facet of God, but rather we become people that seek to worship our God. Yes, pursuit of knowledge is a noble task, but if that quest terminates on simply knowing more then we have wasted our time. Seek God with all your mind, but seek Him so you may worship Him, even when you don’t understand.
