The Wondering Years: How Pop Culture Helped Me Answer Life’s Biggest Questions

by Knox McCoy

There’s a cheesy cliché you’ve probably heard: “Not all who wander are lost.” But the truth is, not all who wonder are lost either. I like that because it gives me room to be specifically uncertain within a larger, faithful certainty.

Comfort is bondage; it promises faux relief. Discomfort and unfamiliarity are gifts that provide a type of freedom that buoys, broadens, and always benefits me in the long term.

We wonder, Is this okay? Am I allowed? Is God disappointed in me for having the audacity to think differently than I did as a child? But I would argue that God is never threatened when we pursue a deeper truth about him. In fact, he invites us to do it.

As a Christian, I can testify to the immense pride we’ve taken in our cultural marginalization, but that pride comes from a misunderstanding of how we’ve interpreted the word. We have been marginalized not because we’re being persecuted but because of the broken method we use to try to connect with the world and the culture surrounding us.

We tell ourselves our beliefs are persecuted despite being overrepresented in government, and this is especially tone-deaf when compared to the actual persecution and marginalization of people of color, women, and immigrants.