Cultural headstands

This always makes me laugh

Driving across the rainy, gusty mountain pass yesterday, one startling line in an NPR interview caught my ears: "A third of Americans still believe evolution is untrue." (Sorry, I couldn't find the direct quote this morning.)

My mind began churning with surprise. I've often thought about the implications of building our lives on the theory that the universe came together by chance (without a supreme Moral Being to guide its beginnings and its progress).

The relatively recent adoption by the masses of evolutionary theory gives me pause because:

1. This theory barely existed before Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, a mere 155 years ago. Before then, general society marginalized adherents of non-creationism as kooks.
   
   Darwin theorized a common origin for species. I have no trouble with the idea of a common origin for things on earth, actually. (Genesis proclaims that God originated everything and is the common source.) We need only look around us. All Beethoven's compositions sound like Beethoven. Everything Picasso painted or drew looks like Picasso. Whatever Julia Child cooked tasted like her cooking. Why wouldn't everything God created have common elements and DNA? Why wouldn't creation behave in systematic ways that can be studied? Wouldn't science be a nonsensical pursuit without laws of nature that reflect orderly design rather than multiple, ongoing random happenings?
   
   I part company with speculators of origins who prefer lucky happenstance above deliberate design. For instance, I don't have enough faith to believe that the now-extinct dodo bird could have hatched just when the Calvaria major tree sprouted: the tree depended on the Dodo's digestion to reproduce. How could it be planted without the bird, or the bird eat its fruit before it existed? (Tara Ghandi's book on Bird and Plant Regeneration is a fascinating study of nature's interdependence.)
   
   Another example: fruit-eating birds have no teeth so their digestion passes seeds through unharmed. Did the planting cycle happen randomly or was it by design?
   
   I haven't seen increasing order and synergy emerging by chance or natural selection over decades. How would more time make extraordinary specialization more likely? After all, scientists insist that the universe is running down into entropy or disorder (the second law of thermodynamics, taught in every high school science program).
   
2. Chucking the assumptions of scripture - that God made everything and lovingly watches over his creation - devalues our biblical responsibilities to love of God and neighbor, which means looking out for the welfare of others.
   
   Hmm, where does a societal "evolution" of amoralism and separation from God's authority lead? Are we becoming more caring? More giving? Safer? Healthier? Happier? More free to be and do good? (What is good without a moral compass, anyway?)
   

3. 

   New Zealand bellbird feeding on fuscia tree

   50 years ago, we would have been astonished to hear that 2/3 of the population claimed this theory as fact. Is there more evidence today, which can only be interpreted to support secular evolution theories?
   
4. The bias of NPR's reporting implies the hold-outs will come to their senses and acknowledge the theory of evolution as fact.
   
   The assumption of the host and guest was that "smart people know" the evidence could only point one way - to evolution of course. Only dummies or religious nuts still believe otherwise.
   
5. Teaching from any bias influences thinking. Obviously, the speakers on NPR assumed that what they were taught is true. Evolution has moved from speculation and possibility to solid fact in their minds. Paul notes that worship of created things rather than the Creator leads to warped thinking and doing. (Romans 1:20-25)
   
6. In the end, our life-philosophies decide which is more logical, a Designer or a million lucky chances. The issue is not whether we are smart or stupid, but which foundation our hopes, dreams, and learning is based upon.

The many happy chances theorized by evolutionists

Here's what one smart man observed:
"One reason why many people find Creative Evolution so attractive is that it gives one much of the emotional comfort of believing in God and none of the less pleasant consequences. When you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be able to think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries and carrying you on its crest. 

"If, on the other hand, you want to do something rather shabby, the Life-Force, being only a blind force, with no morals and no mind, will never interfere with you like that troublesome God we learned about when we were children. The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. 

All the thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?" 

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity

Read more:

"I will not hide my face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel," says the Lord God. Ezekiel 39:29 NKJV

*In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Ever-present Savior, you are the mirror in which we see our own reflections. Thank you for the opportunity to see your goodness in all of earth's people. Let our faces reflect the kindness and mercy that you bestow upon us daily. We pray that all may see your image within us. Amen.

Who you are

"What shall I call you?" Moses asked God.

"Tell your people I AM has sent you."

The interchange between God and Moses fascinates me. You'd think meeting God and having him speak from a holy place (the burning bush) would be enough. That Moses would be saluting and running off to DO THE WORK he was assigned.

But nope.

Moses excuses himself in every possible way. "No one will believe me. I'm not an upfront leader. I'm a lousy public speaker. And how can I convince followers of my genuine call to lead them?"

God gets irritated and sticks to his choice. "Moses, you're going! But I won't hang you out there alone. Your brother will come with you and help you in your weak areas."

Moses, though reluctantly recruited, never looks back. He has heard the NAME that will define his relationship with God forever. It's the NAME that Moses will so reverence that Israel falls in line behind him.

Wikipedia defines the NAME this way:

Hebrew Bible
The word Ehyeh (I will be who I will be) is used a total of 43 places in the Hebrew Bible. ... The importance placed on the phrase, as it is used by God to identify himself in the Burning Bush, stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism that God exists by himself for himself, and is the uncreated Creator who is independent of any concept, force, or entity; therefore "I am who I am" (ongoing). 

 

The All-Sufficient One.
The Source and Provider, in the past, today, and in the future.
He's all that and more.

So how do we define ourselves in the shadow of the NAME?

1. Acknowledge the difference between the Creator and created things. God is "other." Beyond our understanding forever.
2. He knows us intimately. Your name, my name, our peers and friends ... He knows us all and cares about us day after day.
3. He chose to invite us into friendship with Himself. His intention was always loving relationship between Him and us.
4. He prepared a way for us to reconnect and live alongside Him. (Read about it in John's gospel in the Bible.) He still wants our hearts, though we chose rebellion and independence over harmony and the ultimate freedom to be fully human. 
5. Admit that He has always left the choice of knowing Him in our hands. Talk about free will: he could have made us robotic followers. It's up to me. It's up to you. He's been waiting for us, watching over us, and giving us hints of His loving presence since we were born.

Moses chose to follow. He argued, blamed God for putting him in tough spots, and got frustrated. But he'd strap on his sandals, stand in the Tent of Meeting to encounter God and get direction ... and off he'd go again.

In the process, this shepherd from the back of nowhere became a great leader, lawgiver, and prophet. The name "Moses" is familiar to many people around the world. As a youngster, God had equipped him in Pharaoh's palace and educated him through the finest tutors. Moses forgot who he was until God called him over and said the NAME.

Do you know who you are? Have you heard the NAME calling out to you and giving you purpose, whether you're known in the courts of favor or abandoned on the deserted sands?

Read more:
*I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! Job 19:25-27 NIV 

*It is better to be godly and have little than to be evil and rich. For the strength of the wicked will be shattered, but the LORD takes care of the godly. Day by day the LORD takes care of the innocent, and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever. They will not be disgraced in hard times; even in famine they will have more than enough." Psalm 37:16–19 NLT

*Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Isaiah 5:21 (NIV)

*In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:3 

Moravian Prayer: O Master-builder of creation, may we, like wisdom, rejoice before you always, treasuring instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. Amen.