Gray

I was just interviewed to become a member of the church that I have been attending for the last three years. I did not choose to become a member until now because I was afraid of the commitment. I was taught that becoming a member is a serious step to take, and I was never ready to take that step.

I was nervous about going to my interview because of the gravity I assigned to it. When I got to my interview, I was asked a series of questions by one of the pastors. It was annoying. He pretended to be the "skeptical inquisitor" which, in my opinion (and I could be wrong) is not how unbelievers ask about religion. They may be skeptical, but each time someone has asked me about my beliefs, it has been because they were curious. I believe that people can come to their own conclusions, when they're ready. I dislike debates, they do not prove anything except that the people who participate in them like to argue. I wish he would have just asked me what I believed about these issues of faith.

I was talking to a friend about my interview experience, and I admitted that one of the characteristics that I dislike in some pastors I know is their belief that they are right about all matters of faith. I will admit, they have to go to school for a long time in order to become ordained ministers (at least in my denomination), but I believe that there are some things about God that we will never know. I told my friend that I think most people believe that issues of faith are black and white, and therefore can only believe one way or the other about certain things like evolution, baptism, social justice, predestination, free will, and other such issues. Since I dislike drawing conclusions anyway and there IS evidence to support both sides, I am okay with being gray--not drawing conclusions one way or the other.