Science and Faith - the Conversation Matters

 

I begin by encouraging you to learn as much as you can about Biologos. Start here - https://biologos.org/about-us.

Why would I direct you to learn about this organization? It is where excellent scientists and committed followers of Jesus gather in cooperation to explain the natural phenomena of the world and to glorify God in the process. When I became the pastor of Hillside Church in 2006, I realized I would be preaching a few miles from one of the top research institutions in the country. Would I be able to intelligently explain faith in Jesus to a scientist who understood the natural world better than me?

My attempts to answer that question drew me down a path of learning. I have read works from atheist/agnostic scientists and philosophers who deny God’s existence. I have studied extremely conservative Christians who, from their interpretation of scripture, reject established scientific truths like evolution and a universe that’s billions of years old. The God-rejection and science-rejection are extreme viewpoints.

Apart from these extremes we can find true scientists who are also true believers in Jesus. How does this all fit together? One must do a lot of reading to answer this question. There are many podcasts and YouTube videos that also help.

Of course, a believer could just say, “I believe in Jesus and that’s it. I don’t know about evolution and am not interested in learning. I don’t know how old the earth is or how old the universe is, and I don’t care.” You have the freedom to take this type of approach. But, if you get into conversations with people, and they say, “Well, I don’t believe in God because I understand science,” how will you respond?

The Bible tells us, “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15). We are commanded to love the Lord our God will all our … mind (Matthew 22:37). How will you explain your faith to someone who knows science in detail, and based on that knowledge, rejects all faith? We are called to be informed about the Gospel. We also compelled by God to explain the gospel intelligibly in our context. Readers of this blog who live near me in Chapel Hill share a hometown with some of the most knowledgeable scientists in the world. We must be ready to share the gospel in a way that makes sense to our neighbors.

Our neighbors still might reject God. We know from 1 Corinthians 1 that the wisdom of God seems likes foolishness to the world. We can’t control what people will choose to accept or reject. That’s between them and the Holy Spirit. We can, though, control how much we know. If we were witnessing in Cuba or Mexico, we better learn Spanish. If we are sharing the gospel in a rural setting, we can’t just be blithely ignorant about farming. It is imperative that our testimony be understandable. In the world UNC and the Research Triangle, it helps that we recognize that science is a gift from God.

That’s why I find the science-faith conversation so important. I will continue to read works by scientists and believers of different persuasions, and I invite you into the conversation. Discover God’s majesty as it is revealed in the natural world He has made. Scientists are the ones working to understand that natural world. Appreciate their work and help them see how their work can glorify the Lord.

Resolve to be Kind

 

            It is included in one of Paul’s so-called “virtue lists” (2 Corinthians 6:6). It is the way God will give grace when are gathered to him in his eternal kingdom (Ephesians 2:7). It is fruit produced in us when the Holy Spirit fills us, works in our lives, and through our lives (Galatians 5:22).

            Kindness. The United States of America desperately needs a tsunami of kindness to overwhelm us.

            The United States is beginning a presidential election year. Our politics have always been contentious, but the divisions of the past decade rival any from the most bellicose times in our nation’s history. Many of your neighbors are apolitical, but those who have political feelings hold them stridently and in the extreme. And if you are among the masses who would rather avoid politics, you will inevitably be pushed into political conversations by your aggressively partisan neighbors. It’s never a nuanced discussion respecting those who hold different perspectives. It’s always a vicious fight.

            What can followers of Jesus bring to these fractious times? Kindness.

            In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes, “We have commended ourselves … by kindness.” In other words, for Paul and his missionary colleagues, kindness is a job requirement. He can’t adequately travel and represent Christ without it. In Ephesians, we read that God has “raised us up with [Christ] and seated us with him in the heavenly places …, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness. The heavenly eternity we long for is defined by kindness and unintelligible without it. “The fruit of the Spirit is … kindness” (Galatians 5:22).

            Some Christians are determined to be bold in their witness. I agree. We are called by God to courageously testify that Jesus is Lord. We are called to this proclamation no matter how much it costs us. However, boldness cannot be claimed as the forfeiture of kindness. In Christ, we can be both: bold and kind. We must be. To make a difference in a militantly polarized day, we have to insist that to follow Christ is to commit to kindness.

            I’m not recommending you make resolutions as we step into 2024. Neither am I recommending against resolutions. I have my own list of resolutions I hope will make me a more likable, helpful person. If the practice of keeping New Year’s resolutions helps you recenter and refocus your life, go for it! Just be sure and keep the resolutions you make!

What I as a pastor, charged with guiding souls in the way of Christ, do commend is the pursuit of kindness; all year! When the fighting around you gets loud and ugly, change the temperature by being an agent of kindness. Disorient your neighbors by meeting their intensity with your gentles, inviting spirit. Make it your 2024 goal to pursue kindness in your relationships, in the world around you, and in your own heart.