ShelfLife

A quick digression to start off – I believe one of the smartest things Keller did before starting this second section of the book was to make the distinction between “clues of God” and “proofs for God” as well as acknowledge the fact that any of the “clues” are “rationally avoidable at some point”.  To me, that intellectual honesty takes away a competitive pressure that I believe is sometimes present with discussing these topics.  I’m not sure why, but Alvin Plantinga’s quote from chapter eight is rather refreshing: “there are no proofs of God that will convince all rational persons.”

Back on topic – chapter 9:  I liked Keller’s “radical thesis” that every person’s innate sense of right and wrong (i.e. morals) indicate that they know there is a God, but they are repressing what they know.  If there is no God, then morality is not necessarily based on right and wrong, but rather on a person’s preferences.  And taken one step further, without God, then this whole thing we call “life” is also meaningless.

Right now, I work with a guy who appears to be repressing that he knows God exists and it is humbling to watch him try and explain the purpose and meaning of work, leadership, progress and “doing the right thing” without acknowledging Him.  Due to his position in the Company my co-worker often has the opportunity to get on a soapbox and pontificate about these topics and you can see the look in his eyes as he grasps for a reason why the work we do is important, why leading people well is important, why progress for our firm is important and why always doing the right thing is important.  It’s seems at times like he is trying to talk himself into buying what he’s selling.  Without the anchor of God, his reasons seem to be free floating and pointless and I think he knows it.

This chapter, like the others, has strengthened my own faith and has better equipped me to engage with folks like my co-worker.  I think the “Sez Who?” question is a great way to engage with others and quickly get to the core of what they believe about life.  The “good news” of Christ’s message has so many relevant applications, one of which is people don’t have to wander through life pointless.