Tests and Experiments

I once had a saying posted on my office bulletin board that said:

“Life is a test, it is only a test. If this were your actual life, you would have been given better instructions.”

It’s a funny line as far as it goes. It points up how many times human beings are confronted with having to make essential decisions without adequate information. As I consider this saying, I wonder, though, if it might be more accurate to say: “Life is an experiment, it is only an experiment. If life were an actual test, you would have been given better instructions.”

Actually, I think my revision is what the original statement really means. The kind of test it refers to is more like a practice run (an experiment, if you will) to see how things operate so you can make modifications based on what you learn from the results.

My concern is that so many people think about life as the kind of test one takes in school or the kind of test that determines if one “qualifies” for some right of entry or other benefit according to the measure provided by the tester. In much of Christianity, God is seen as “The Great Tester” in the sky, determining whether individuals will get “promoted” to heaven or “demoted” into hell. Jesus is then seen as the one who can “grade on a curve” so more people can “pass.” Such beliefs are rampant.

I read a disturbing news clip today. It was about a woman whose daughter died because the mother felt her faith was being “tested” by God. She did not seek treatment for her child because she was supposed to believe that God’s power “alone” could bring about the healing. The test turned out to be more essential than her daughter’s life.

I disagree strongly with the validity of that model. I don’t believe that life is primarily about right and wrong answers. I don’t believe that God gives the “final exam” or the “final grade.” On the other hand, life is not exactly a practice run either, although some people do look at earthly life that way. Proponents of that view believe that the only life that matters is the heavenly life; that earthly life is, at best, a practice run in advance of the real thing.

I ask you, instead, to consider life as more of an experiment. When I was in college, studying chemistry, the professor I was assisting in a research project taught me an important lesson. That one lesson has turned out to be worth all the tuition I paid for my college education. When we were about to run a laboratory experiment, I said, “I hope it works.” He responded that I had the wrong idea, that “no matter what happens, we will learn something.” Life is an experiment, not a test. I have made use of that perspective for more that forty years, and it still serves me well.

Perhaps our purpose in life is not to “get it right” or even to be “saved from our sinfulness,” so we will be allowed to collect the eternal prize. Perhaps our purpose is, instead, to learn, to experience, to develop, always to be in the process of “becoming” towards fullness. When Jesus challenges us to forgive one another, I don’t think he means simply to forget what has happened. I think he means that we must always leave room for the learning, healing, and development that proceed from the event. To use more theological language, I think he means that we can have faith in the ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit of God. (By the way, the only unforgivable sin that Jesus identifies is the denial of the ever-present and loving activity of the Holy Spirit of God.)

You see, from this perspective God is always intimately involved in our experiments and in the growth that results from what we learn. Our objective is not primarily about getting “better”, that is to say, becoming “more acceptable.” It’s more about expanding and deepening our awareness, our relationships, our integrity, and our ethical foundations. In this way, our communities increasingly embody the Realm of God.

Our participation in the experiment of life, both as individuals and collectively, is vital. The faithful stance, then, is to participate fully and honestly in the growth and development of humanity. Our “salvation” is not about getting the eternal prize. Our “salvation” is how we embody the Holy Spirit of God in the healthy functioning of our communities.

“Life is an experiment, it is a glorious experiment. It is your actual life and you have everything you need to continue to grow and develop.”

I invite your comments and responses.

Wayne Gustafson
“No matter who you are or where you are in life’s journey, you’re welcome here.”
The United Church__of Christ