The Emptiness of “None”

Most of you who know me and read this blog know that I am not a preachy kind of guy. I started this blog to share life experiences, not to impose my expectations on anyone, not to judge anyone and certainly not to imply that I know more than you do. No – it is quite the opposite, hoping that sharing some of my experiences might help my readers avoid the mistakes I have made and learn from the successes and great experiences I have had through the course of my life. Well, today is a little different because I am going to get a little preachy. Please understand it is only because I care about what happens to you.

Part of my daily routine involves reading the morning newspaper. I know it sounds contradictory but I really dislike the newspaper. Back in the day, papers were a legitimate way of getting current news and information – most of it local, non-biased reporting of “news.” I remember when even a small city like Albuquerque, New Mexico had two newspapers, one was published in the morning, the other in the afternoon. The Albuquerque Journal was the morning paper and covered the news from the previous afternoon and evening and the Albuquerque Tribune was delivered in the early evening and continued everything the Journal couldn’t catch in time to write about. Today the “local” paper, if there is one, is filled with syndicated articles written by people who are from news agencies all over the country, maybe all over the world. Unless the news is about a natural disaster or some other event that has resulted in human suffering the “reporting” in todays papers is usually ideologically biased, meaning it really isn’t reporting at all but leans toward comment, not reporting. I am a little off track here but it is important you know how I approach “news.”

A few days ago, in the Denver Post, there was an article titled “Nones Continue to Grow in U.S.” True to form this article came from The Associated Press and was collaborated on by three writers. The foundation of “noneness” is a rejection of Christian faith, rejection of the person God created you to be and creation of one’s own god. Some nones go as far as inventing their own god by taking pieces of the “god” from various religions, pieces that fit their need, and combining them to create their vision of what god should be like. It is estimated by Pew Research Center that 29% of American adults are now “nones.” From what I have read, for the most part, “nones” cite some sort of damage or unbearable restrictions from religion as a reason for rejecting the Christian faith and for going it alone. Those reasons run the gamut from sexual identity to being banged over the knuckles by a nuns ruler, to race. Hey, I catch myself talking cynically about my religious upbringing and how it impacted my relationship with God. I sometimes go out of my way to identify with “damaged Catholics” and “suppressed” Lutherans like myself just to feel like I’m part of their crowd. I believe that too is part of “noneness” – it is popular to set yourself up as different, to be part of the group that rejects anything “normal.” They want to be identified as being “out there.” In my case wanting to be part of the religiously damaged group is another way of giving myself an out if I come across something in my faith walk that does not exactly meet “my” expectations. What a trap! We are exceptionally good at finding scapegoats to justify our self-righteous behaviors. As I continued reading the article, all I could think about was when I was a “none.” I didn’t call myself a “none” like people today do. I was simply a non-believer who like the “nones” was self-reliant, self-righteous and very, very empty spiritually. Like the “nones” of today I attempted to design my own “higher power.” Over the years I came to realize the path I was on had no real end. Every time I thought I had the answer to all the questions I would realize that I had made up more stuff to meet my needs at the moment and all I was doing was hurting myself and my family. Think of it in these terms, I rejected millenniums of human experience with the one true, living God, in favor of me! Because I convinced myself I had been held down by religion I rejected the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in favor of me!

So where does the “none” way of life end up? It ends up in frustration, never ending searching and complete loss of identity. Nones might attempt to build community through organizations like the one cited in the Denver Post article, Secular Student Alliance, but what bonds them together? The embracement of none? I know from personal experience how empty and alone it is. In addition, being a “none” is a scary existence. We have all experienced the fear of being alone but I am not sure there can be any fear greater than being separated from the one who created you? Separated from the one who has offered you everlasting life in a paradise He has created for you.

Look, you can reject religion – I totally get that. As I have said many times in this blog religion is a man created thing but far too often our rejection of the man-made rules and bindings of religion translate into a rejection of faith. Don’t let that happen to you. Going back to my experience, when I ran away from the shackles of religion, I didn’t know enough or care enough to search for faith. Instead I embarked on a search for myself that ignored the truth and became silly in its futility. Thankfully, God never gave up on me even though I did my best to ignore that grinding in the pit of my stomach, that ever present yearning to be reconnected to a loving, patient father.

We have all heard or seen the Bible verse, John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Verse 17 goes on to speak to the plight of the “nones.” It says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” The “nones” want to believe in the condemnation and reject the freely given gift that answers all questions and relieves all uncertainty.

It is Christmas time. I’m not going to bore you with cliches or plead with you to go to the candle light Christmas Eve service. What I will request is that you consider the plight of the “nones.” Consider the load they put themselves under by trying to invent their own God. They are enslaved by the self-created futility of their refusal to believe true freedom can only be achieved by giving their life to Christ. Galatians 5:1 says, For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Take time to examine your own heart. By accepting the freely given gift of Jesus, what can you possibly have to lose?

There, I got a little preachy and no one got hurt!