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Unanswered Questions
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Unanswered Questions
It was Pete’s job to lead me to my campsite. I could tell that white-haired, grinning Pete was having fun whipping his cool golf cart around. I resisted the urge to ask him to drive my camper and let me drive the golf cart. Pete was one of the many senior citizens I’ve met who are spending their retirement years helping in campgrounds in exchange for free camp slots.
What is he going to think when he watches me back into the campsite? I worried. I always eventually get in but sometimes it’s embarrassing. When we arrived at the campsite, I asked hopefully, “Do I have to back in, or can I just pull in?”
“The electricity is over here so you’d better back in.”
Great, I whined silently. For some reason, I got in without humiliating myself, as Pete stood there and directed.
“I’m going to church in Middletown tomorrow. Can you give me directions?” I already had directions but I was a little unsure about what direction to take on Interstate 265.
“Sure thing,” he said. “You know you’re about an hour away.”
“Yes,” I groaned. “That means an early start for me.”
After giving directions, he asked, “I’ll bet you are going to Southeast Christian.”
“No, Middletown Baptist Church. Is Southeast Christian your church?”
“No, it’s just a huge church that many come here to visit.”
“So what church do you go to?” I asked.
“Now that’s a long story,” he replied.
I hesitated a moment. It was 8:00 P.M. and I was tired and hungry. Belle barked to let me know she needed to be walked. Oh well, I thought. I can’t pass up an opening like that.
“That’s what I do for a living,” I laughed. “I listen to long stories. I’m a writer.”
“Well, I used to be a priest. Seven years of my life went to the Catholic Church. I left in 1980.”
He still hadn’t answered my question about what church so I probed farther. “Did you leave church entirely or just the priesthood?”
“I don’t need a church when I’ve got all this land. This land is my church,” he explained waving his hand at the area surrounding us. Truthfully, all I saw was pavement, gravel, buildings, and wall-to-wall RV’s. I’d already been wondering where I could go to feel like I was outdoors.
“What made you leave the church?” I asked. “Did you want to get married?”
“No,” he said. “That wasn’t it. I finally saw the truth and how foolish it all was. I saw the politics, how men dominated everything, and how much corruption was involved in selecting the books of the Bible. Now with all that’s happened in the Catholic Church, I’m glad I left. Two of my fellow priests are in jail now for child molestation. I had no idea that was going on.”
“So if you don’t trust the selection process for the books of the Bible does that mean you don’t read the Bible anymore?”
“Rarely. I have one but I only use when I have to reference something.”
“You committed your life to Christ and went into the priesthood. The Bible must have meant something to you at some point in your life.”
“Not really,” he said. “Oh, I had to read it for my training but it was always for some project or something. I read many books about the Bible but never really read it much. I think the Old Testament had one purpose and that was to help the tribes of Israel get along. It has no relevance for me. It they want to argue about the Ten Commandments, that’s fine but I don’t care. My interest in becoming a priest was in the Catholic Church. When I finally saw the truth, I left.”
I wanted to tell him about the wonderful Catholics I’d met. I felt a voice whispering, Don’t debate. He likes it too much.
“Do you consider yourself a Christian?” I asked.
“If you have to describe me, I’m a Gnostic, Christian, American Indian. I didn’t say agnostic now,” he said as I started to respond. “I said Gnostic. There’s a difference. The Gnostic’s were the first Christians and they didn’t have all those rules about what you had to believe. They also let women fully participate. You know, the reason the Bible is so against women is that the men carefully selected books that wouldn’t allow women to be equal. I think the American Indians have it right with regards to spirituality. I agree with them about God being in nature.”
Again, I was tempted to debate. I knew absolutely nothing about Gnosticism so I had to leave that alone. My Bible says that there is no male or female in God’s eyes and that we are all one in Christ. Since a former priest probably knew more about the Bible than I, debating scripture wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
Gal 3:28-29
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. NASU
I’ve learned in talking to people about God, that it’s good to find common ground. Someone I’d met the day before agreed with his thoughts about Native Americans. “That’s interesting,” I said. “Just yesterday I spoke with a committed Catholic who said she was a Christian but had learned about spirituality from Native Americans. Are you Native American?”
“No, but I read a lot. I have great respect for their beliefs,” he said reverently.
“But you did say you’re a Christian. Does that mean you believe that Christ is the risen Son of God?”
“Now, I didn’t say that. I think Christ was a great man and a good role model to follow. I think it’s ridiculous to spend so much of our time thinking about virgin births. If you’ve followed the book, The da Vinci Code, you know there is a possibility that Jesus was married. Oh, I know it’s fiction but I hope Jesus was married. I don’t blame him for keeping it a secret.”
Boy was there temptation to debate The da Vinci Code. It would have been so much fun. Instead I asked, “Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?”
“No,” he said. “Not the way you mean it. I believe in one God, not in the Trinity.”
“What about your relationship with God? Mine is through the Holy Spirit. You said you talk to God and that this land is your church. How is your relationship with Him?”
“Oh, I think my relationship is pretty good,” he answered firmly.
“So does that mean you talk to Him and you hear Him talking back?”
He got quiet. I felt the moment the Holy Spirit reached him. “I wish I could hear His voice. I get frustrated because He won’t answer any of my questions,” he said softly.
“Pete,” I said. “Intellectually, I know there are many seemingly valid reasons to doubt the validity of what I call God’s Holy Word. Yet, I have no doubts and I’ll tell you why. In 1979, I made a commitment to get up every morning and spend time in meditation, prayer, and Bible Study. I promised God that if He would show me the way, I would do my best to do what He said. Since that time, I’ve skipped only a handful of days keeping my promise to Him. He has been completely faithful to me. I get up every morning and ask for knowledge of His will for me and the power to carry that out. Before I read the Bible, I always ask the Holy Spirit to interpret it. Otherwise, I’m tempted to intellectualize it. The reason I don’t doubt the Bible is that when I follow it, my life turns out wonderfully and when I don’t, I’m a mess. When things go wrong, it offers me comfort. It provides wisdom for making decisions. In my life, the Bible has been proven to be absolute truth and nothing could make me doubt that. That means I don’t care how the books were selected.”
“Then you are to a place that the rest of us can only hope to be. I don’t think I’ll ever get there,” Pete said sadly, shaking his head.
“Pete,” I pleaded. “I’m not unique. I know many people who have found the same truth. You said that God didn’t give you any answers but you admit you’ve never seriously looked in the place He gives answers. God isn’t going to tell you personally what He’s already written down for you. You’ve spent your whole life seeking truth. If you won’t read the Bible, I want you to read my book. It’s written for seekers like you. You like to read. I’ll give you one for free if you promise that you’ll read it. It has lots of Bible Scriptures in it,” I warned.
Great, I thought. I’ve been asking God to help me find a way to make the mortgage payment. I’m never going to make that payment if I keep giving these books away.
“Thank you,” he said, sounding truly honored. “I will read it.” I knew I’d made the right decision to give the book away. God was going to have to take care of that mortgage. “Is you web address in there so I can give feedback?”
“Yes it is and here’s a card. I’d love to hear from you.”
“You know,” he said. “I might be critical of it.”
I laughed. “I don’t doubt it. Actually, I have an easier time with criticism then I do with compliments. I never know what to say to a compliment.”
“That’s because you can’t argue with a compliment,” he joked.
Aha, I thought. I knew he liked to debate. He’s probably much better at it than I.
“Incidentally,” I said aloud. “There’s a story in there about a devout Catholic who loves God and her church.” I couldn’t resist sneaking that in.
The next morning, I went to church at Middletown Baptist Church. The lesson was on The Great Commission. On the board was a poster that said:
All We’re Asked To Tell Is What We Have Seen God Do In Our Own Lives And In The Lives Of Others.
I felt chills run down my spine. The night before, I’d I felt the moment when the Holy Spirit reached Pete. If I’d argued doctrine, the conversation with Pete would have gone nowhere. If I’d failed to maintain a living relationship with God, I’d have had nothing to share. God honored me by letting me be a tiny part of His call to Pete. All I had to do was be a witness for what I’d seen in my life.
The teacher of the Sunday School class heard about my ministry. She looked at me and said, “I didn’t feel like coming today. I’ve been up with a migraine and am on medicine. My backup teacher is out of town so I had to come. I asked God to send me someone to help teach. Will you help?”
I had no warning and hadn’t prepared to teach but had no trouble helping her with the lesson that went with that poster. I had lived it the night before. When I left, she took the poster down from the wall and gave it to me.
Our Great Commission
Matt 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV
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