Why Does it Matter if God Exists?

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Can’t we wait to worry about God until after we die?

A lot of people seem to think that they don’t need to spend any time now worrying about whether God exists. After all, they figure, if God doesn’t exist, then worrying about Him would obviously be a waste of time. It would be like worrying about what Superman thinks of you. There is no Superman, so you don’t have to worry about staying in his good graces.

On the other hand, if God does exist, then presumably He’s a good God, and we won’t have anything to worry about when we meet Him. After all, all a good God would care about is whether we’re good people, and we know how to be good people, right?

So plenty of folks figure they can just cross that bridge when they come to it. No need to worry about whether there’s a God. We’ll find out soon enough.

And that’s true, you will find out soon enough. And then you’ll wish you had spent more time preparing when you had the chance.

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Analogy of a College Class

People who think they can just put off the question of God’s existence are kind of like those college students who simply decide not to show up for class throughout the semester. Imagine one of these delinquent students, imagine this student who never goes to class has a roommate, and the roommate says, “Listen, first of all, what if your classes have attendance policies? I’ve heard that teacher really cares whether you show up.”

And the delinquent student says, “Well, you know, I’ve never actually seen the teacher. I’m not sure there is a teacher.”

And his roommate says, “Uh, I’m pretty sure there is a teacher. And I’m pretty sure there’s an attendance policy, and that there’s a final exam at the end of the semester”

And the slacker student says, “Well, I’ll just cross that bridge when I come to it. I’m sure if there is a test, all the teacher cares about is whether I’m a good student. And I am a good student!”

And his roommate says, “Wait, how can you be a good student if you’re not showing up and you’re not studying the material? You’re going to fail this class, man!” And there’s a good chance you’re going to fail this life if you don’t start taking it seriously.

That means you have to do three things. You have to get in touch with the Teacher, you have to show up, and you have to prepare for the exam at the end.

If you don’t do these things, you can call yourself a “good person” all you want, but if you don’t get with the program, follow the instructions, and do what it takes to master the material, then actually, it means you’re probably not a good person because you’re ignoring the whole point of being here.

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The Teacher

A university class exists so that the teacher can help guide the student to a greater excellence in some area.

If the student ignores the existence of the teacher, as many students do, then, unfortunately, the student is wasting his time. He’s missing out on the value of an education, which is to cultivate his humanity under the guidance of an instructor. He’s missing the whole point.

That’s the point of human life – divine education. God has placed us, for a limited time, in this learning environment so that He can guide us to greater excellence, the excellence of love, self-mastery, and an understanding of His astonishing plan for us and for the world.

If you ignore this fundamental purpose of human life – then there’s no way to live a good life. Because you’re missing the whole point.

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Showing Up

Most teachers have attendance policies because they know that unless the student shows up to class, learning doesn’t happen. He’ll miss the quizzes, the assignments, and the basic structure of the lectures. You can’t benefit from a course you don’t go to, from a teacher you never see, and from a class session you don’t participate in.

Daily Meditation is like showing up for class. The Divine Teacher lives in your soul. We go to meet with him when, as Jesus said, we go into our room, shut the door and speak to our Father who sees in secret. Daily meditation is where we think about God. It's where we learn about Him and His plan for our lives. Its where we see the new ways of living we need to put into practice and we make the commitment to do so by our resolution. It’s in daily meditation that we evaluate how we are living by our examination of conscience.

Immature, childish people often opt for not showing up. They don’t show up to class, and they don’t show up to work. And they don’t make it.

If somebody doesn’t show up to daily meditation, that’s scary. That means they might not make it. You have to show up.

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The Test

In a college test, your grade isn’t a measure of how much the teacher loves you. It’s a measure of how much you’ve gained over the course of the semester.

When the soul stands before God to be judged at the end of its earthly life, the judgment isn’t a measure of how much God loves you. It’s a measure of what you’ve gained over the course of your life.

Have you used the time to acquire the kinds of excellence, humility, love, courage that this life was designed to give you? Or was the whole thing wasted? Did you just flake out? Are you going to fail at life because you didn’t take it seriously, because you didn’t worry about the teacher or the assignments or the test at the end?

That is the final, ultimate, human failure.

So, when it comes to God, or the final judgment, or the ultimate meaning of life, don’t say “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

Make the commitment to show up to class each day, commit to daily meditation, to a daily resolution and to a daily examination of conscience. If you do this – God, the Divine Teacher, will transform you and you will become light for the world.