Agnostic = 'I don't know'

Today I overheard three people having a conversation about Jesus and Christianity. The first woman, a Methodist, questioned the man, “what do you believe in?” to which the man replied, “I don’t know, I’m agnostic”. The other woman spoke up saying that she too was an agnostic and that she didn’t often meet people who shared her belief. The Methodist queried the woman on the beliefs of agnostic people, to which she responded, “I believe there is a higher power out there, I just don’t know which one it is!” The agnostic man stared at the supposed agnostic woman in disbelief and said, “Do you even know what the word agnostic means?” He then went on to give a lesson to the two women on what the word agnostic meant, first by defining Gnostic as a heretical sect of early Christians who thought they could “know” or posses some kind of spiritual knowledge of God through Gnostic gospels etc., and what it means when you attach the suffix “A” to it (the example given was when you put A at the beginning of the word moral resulting in amoral which means without moral) thereby defining agnostic as the belief that God is unknowable, that he himself is without knowledge of God. He then simplified his definition, “Basically being agnostic means ‘I don’t know’” (he said as he shrugged his shoulders).

I didn’t hear much else but the man said he had tried many different religions in his life, but didn’t find God. I could take this thing in so many different directions and point to so many different scriptures, but I’m not going to. To be honest, it breaks my heart to see a man like this. Who knows if his desire to know God is even genuine, but I feel like if he wants to know God that maybe that’s a sign that the Holy Spirit is beckoning him, stirring his soul, giving him that desire. I hope this man comes to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

On a side note, I think it’s pathetic when a person doesn’t know what they believe, whether they are a professing Christian or an “agnostic” or whatever. It’s especially sad when it’s a Christian though since we have such a wealth of knowledge in God’s word and so many good resources and teachings.