Stupid Girl

I've been awfully quiet lately. Not without thought, let me assure you.

I couldn't let this one go. Not because it angered me. Rather because it intrigued me. I would never claim to be of high intelligence.. heck, I just misspelled the word twice before having to look it up. I not E. 

And clearly if you happen to be reading along this blogging journey I have come to a place in my faith walk where I am not completely sure of things. So I'm fascinated by reading about the journeys and opinions of others regarding faith and religion. I am trying to do away with "religion" and instead, truly seek out what my faith really means. 

So this article caught my attention. Religious people are less intelligent than atheists

And here is my response.

It seems astounding to me that such extensive research has taken place.  I can’t begin to imagine the numbers of people polled to gather the necessary information to in fact determine that whatever quantifies as “intelligence” actually reigns supreme in those who have denied the existence of God.

As I read the “explanation” behind what constitutes greater intelligence I was really just confused.  And left for wanting a bit more substantial evidence or points. Most of the research cited, dated back to the early to mid 1900’s so it wasn’t very clear how relevant the information is to today.  If you choose not to read it I will sum up the apparent reasons as to what makes people intelligent. Obviously further education was listed, but so was stable marriage and financial security in addition to having a clear direction and purpose with a career.  So because you have more head knowledge,  things in your life are easier and cause you to “need” God less.

“People possessing the functions that religion provides are likely to adopt atheism, people lacking these very functions (e.g., the poor, the helpless) are likely to adopt theism,” the researchers wrote.”

I read this quote and really sat with it. And realized, this isn’t really “news”. There is nothing new under the sun.  In fact, the Bible speaks to this very idea. Affirms it in a sense.  

"The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation."

Keep reading the rest here. 1 Cor 1:18-31 MSG

Our minds comprehend what we can logically understand and define. I started reading The Jesus I Never Knew by Phillip Yancey and he so eloquently and honestly explains by using examples from Dostoevsky and his own personal struggle with Christ, how it would have been so much easier during the temptation,  for Jesus to just prove it to Satan that He really was who He said He was. Instead he practiced restraint.

 “Did Jesus not realize that people want more than anything else to worship what is established beyond dispute? ‘Instead of taking possession of man’s freedom, you increased it, and burdened the spiritual kingdom of mankind with its sufferings forever. You desired man’s free love, that he should follow you freely, enticed and taken captive by you’… He surrendered his greatest advantage: the power to compel belief.”

To me it is not an issue of intelligence really. It’s an issue of courage. An issue of FAITH. One that I have personally been wrestling with. I get how self sufficiency and obtaining self regulation and self enhancement can be desirous and ultimately lead one to defy any deity. The rich young ruler for instance, who by all accounts would fit this “modern day intelligent man”, successful, wealthy, fulfilled with the best this life had to offer, walked away from Christ.  He turned his back on God because he didn’t want to give up all he had accrued and it made him sad.  And I get it. Now it makes sense why it is so much easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a “rich” man to get into the kingdom of heaven.

I’m a white knuckler. I hold onto things I feel I have earned or I think I deserve. Not giving much if any credit to where they came from or from whom they came. I want and I want and I strive and I create this world of comfort and security in an effort to afford myself the fulfillment I think I deserve. And I would venture to say no matter who you are or where you stand on the issue of faith, that you too make effort towards the same goal.

I have a degree in Performing Arts and I often dreamed of making it big. I thought about celebrities and what their lives might be like. And I wonder, who is a friend to the celebrity? I mean really? Can anyone be trusted when you are famous? Wouldn’t you always wonder if they really wanted to be friends with you because of who you were rather than your well known name, or how much money you had? And that thought broke my heart.

Then it makes me turn my attention toward God. We are such users. We use friends, family members, drugs, alcohol, status, job title, you name it we use it and as long as it meets our needs it is worth our devotion. And I start to think this is also how we often see God too. As long as He is meeting our needs he is worth our devotion. Until He asks me to give everything away, He’s good.  As long as He doesn’t mess with my comfort or security, or point out any of my imperfections or misgivings, we can be cool.  But the minute I’m forced to concede with parts of my life that I’m not proud of or admit that I am unable to perform then I have no NEED for God.  Because I am self sufficient. I got this. God has no hand in this. It is easier to walk away than it is to FACE our reality.

So to quantify my own “intelligence”, I have a bachelor’s degree. I am happily married with 2 kids. I have had a number of jobs in my life and we are stable financially. And my journey of questioning God really began when I started losing things that were dear to me. It seems easier to me to essentially “walk away” because in the end, what I’m giving up doesn’t seem to equate to what I’m getting back.  That rain falls on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. There is no “reward” for being so self sacrificing and giving. Or is there?

The message of the gospel is so backwards compared to the Westernized way of thinking. The first shall be last and the last shall be first?? Not Survival of the fittest? If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it. Not a live for the moment mentality? So I’m fighting these messages I’ve bought into and transformed into some kind of westernjesusbibletheology.

And I’m really sitting with those passages. I see the face of the rich young ruler in mine. I become sad because I fear I’m not willing to relinquish the death grip my fists have on all I deem as MINE. I fear He won’t be enough. It is easier to seek satisfaction here and now. Instant gratification but is it truly gratifying?

The thing about intelligent people is they have probably come to similar conclusions about God. They really take him at his word. And simply don’t like it. Disagree with it and would rather just dismiss it as fairytales than actually believe it to be true because it goes against EVERYTHING they have strived to achieve and build up for themselves.

Faith calls us not to stupidity, but full surrender. Which some may consider stupid, I suppose. Why would you surrender to someone you can’t see? I personally see it as a very courageous act. A willingness to lay aside one’s hopes, dreams, desires and place them in the hands of the ONE who gave them to us in the first place. It seems scary and daring. Outrageous and radical. Sounds like a life of adventure and unpredictability. A wild ride. An unfolding of those tightly clenched fists flaring open presented as an offering to the one who has offered it all.

So like it says in 1 Cor, I'm signing up to be a nobody--in a world where making a name for yourself is what matters. But I admire those that have gone before me and were fully surrendered for the sake of Christ and for the sake of love. And I can't deny that love is the whole reason behind this thing called faith after all. I just know I can't do it alone. And if you're in, we can't do it alone. We need each other. Let's be nobodies together and love all the nobodies the world could do without. Then anybody and everybody just might wonder what all us nobodies are up to. And we will look stupid and maybe feel stupid. But, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?"

And I pray just like the father in Mark 9 "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Not just for myself. But for all of us. 

And I waiver and I wander and I dilly dally away from what I hear Him saying and the promises He offers. I dissect the desires of my heart and ask am I willing to follow no matter what?

A life of ease and shelving this idea of God.

Or a life of full, total surrender. Unyielding.

This is what faith truly asks of us. Not our IQ.