Science, Theology, and Faith in the 21st Century
This weekend (April 16 and 17, 2016) First Presbyterian Church of Houston, TX is holding a conference on Faith and Culture. They are asking the questions “How does a Christian relate to culture?” and “How do we live faithfully as Christians outside the confines of the church?” If you have read my blog you know my answer – we live faithfully as Christians in our (your) culture by releasing the Kingdom of God into the kingdom of the world, using your gifts and the testimony of how God transformed your life. Pretty simple. Well, not so simple because it requires us to live repentant lives, give up the right to ourselves, pick up our crosses, follow Jesus, and be the servant, even slave, of all. That takes work. But we do that work in the power of the Holy Spirit. And as we do this work we release the power of God into the lives of people around us. These are the ways Christians were called by Jesus to live in the culture of Rome, Greece, and Israel 2000 years ago. He calls us to live the same way in the 21st Century workplace, home, church, the marketplace, freeways and interstates – really any place we interact with people of all races, ethnicities, social and educational backgrounds, nations, and cultures. It is not rocket science, but it is incredibly difficult.
I was asked to speak at this conference on the topic of science, specifically geoscience, also known as geology, and faith. Why did they ask me speak on science and faith? I am obviously a Kingdom man of faith based on my blog, which you are currently reading. I also have a MS and PhD in geology from Rice University in Houston, TX. I worked as a geoscientist in the upstream research company of a large oil company for 32 years doing geoscience research, writing books on stratigraphy, and teaching concepts and techniques to exploration and production geologists. I am a scientist (not a creationist), and a follower of Jesus. Plus I attended FPC Houston for many years.
What do faith, repentance, and the power of God have to do with science and geology? Not too much on the one hand, but a lot on the other. On the one hand, science deals with the natural world, what I call the ‘real’ world. Theology and faith deal with the supernatural world, what some call the ‘unseen real’, and how the unseen real impacts people’s lives. By definition, science is not ‘allowed’ to draw on the supernatural for evidence of natural phenomenon. But Christians are not constrained in this way. We can release the Kingdom of God wherever we go, even into the lives of atheistic scientists, because our faith is not rooted in rationalism, materialism, or scientism (or whatever ‘ism’ you want to use). Our faith is rooted in Christ, the cross, the Kingdom of God here, now (although not in its fullness); love for our neighbor, being the servant of all, and the power and presence of God within us. While real faith is rooted in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, it manifests itself in the real world in signs, wonders, and miracles. Our faith can indirectly impact science and God leads us in our scientific research, but our faith can directly impact scientists.
I have found in my work as a research scientist my faith is not divorced from my work. As I was doing research, or writing a book or a paper, I would get premonitions, unexpected help from a colleague, or an idea suddenly appear in my mind. I attribute these to ‘supernatural’ help. I came across this quote a few years ago and I have carried it in my Bible ever since, knowing someday I would use it. It is by Goethe:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meeting and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.”
This was my experience when I committed to a new research project. God, which Goethe calls Providence, moved too directing and leading and providing for me throughout the work. I have found this to be true in every aspect of my life as well – my marriage, my ministry, this blog, even my faith. Choose, decide, commit!
As a faithful scientist I can claim that faith and science do not contradict each other. But there are some interesting principles that we can investigate as we compare science, and particularly geology, theology, and faith. So let us begin at the beginning. Is there a Creator? Here is what I believe from Scripture. First, from Paul:
“He (Paul is referring to Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible (the natural, real world and the unseen real), whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:14-17 NIV).
In the Old Testament, the prophet Jeremiah wrote:
“Tell them this: these gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens. But God made the earth by His power; He founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding. When He thunders, the water in the heavens roar; He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from His storehouses” (Jeremiah 10: 12, 13 NIV).
God is the Creator, in and through Jesus. He was before all things and all things found their order and organization in Him. So here is a random, counter-cultural thought: if you really want to understand all aspects of creation, see these aspects through the eyes and mind of Christ. Scientists, if they are doing real science, can make claims only to the extent they have evidence from the real, natural world to support their assertions. At some point, they must say: “Scientific claims about God, one way or the other, are not valid because God is not knowable in the way science operates. I will leave that to the theologians. Just don’t use the Bible to explain natural phenomena like the age of the Universe or the Earth”. I think that is fair enough. Except today science is pushing the limits of observation and entering into a no-mans land of scientific ambiguity that is beginning to sound a lot like theology.
Here is what I mean. Today no card-carrying scientist disputes the principles of quantum theory. Quantum physics describes the behavior of really small things. Newtonian mechanics describes the behavior of large bodies. Einstein has shown that time, space, and gravity do not behave the way Newton thought, but still Newtonian mechanics is very useful for many things today. It is the science of very small particles that leads to some serious head scratching. Here is a quote from the New Scientist magazine published April 14 – 20, 2007:
“Quantum theory might seem ideal for casting light on the ultimate questions about the universe, such as why it exists at all. Not so. In fact, it runs into very big trouble very quickly, because quantum theory has a problem with the truth”.
Uh oh. What is the problem? Quantum theory claims, and no scientist seriously disagrees with this, that the state of any observable thing is “just one manifestation of a whole panoply of possibilities, all mixed together.” It is actually the act of observing that “triggers the panoply of possibilities to collapse down to the single reality we experience” (quotes from the same article).
So far, so good. Strange, but so what? Let me quote some more of the article because the author says it better than I can:
“Quite how this collapse processes work isn’t exactly clear. What is plain is that it raises profound questions about the whole notion of truth in quantum theory. For it implies that it is impossible to know the truth of any statement, about, say and electron until it has been observed. Unless that happens, it doesn’t really make sense to talk of the electron – or anything else for that matter – as being real”.
Do you see the significance of this statement? An electron – or anything else in the universe, including the universe itself – is not real until it is observed! Another quote from the article: “If the universe is as real as we believe, then it must have been cast into that state by an observer able to view it all. Yet since the universe includes everything, there can be no external observer.”
Here, then, is where science begins to impinge on theology. What have 100s of millions of Christians believed by faith for over 2000 years?
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that Has been made” (John 1: 1 –3 NIV).
By the way, the Word is Jesus. And from Genesis 1: 1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This statement, the foundation of Judeo-Christian theology, dates back over 3000 years. And as I quoted above “Christ is the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created.” Thousands of years before the birth of quantum physics, Scripture answered the physicists question – “whence creation?”.
So, was there actually an observer who could then cause the panoply of possibilities to collapse into what we know as the universe today and therefore was the ‘Creator’ of the universe? Is it a coincidence that Scripture answers this question? It seems to me that one day scientists will have to take a hard look at this ‘hypothesis’, because right now it is the only idea that fits ‘the data’. But some scientists would rather cut off their right arm than even consider this possibility.
Did you know that a significant % of scientists believe in God? They just cannot let their faith provide evidence or guide their conclusions in their scientific work. If they did, they would no longer be scientists. They really do have a solemn responsibility to remain constrained by their data, the scientific method, and their hypotheses. And science, that rational approach to the world around us, has provided mankind with amazing tools, techniques, products, and life-giving benefits. Who can argue with that? For example, how many of us would be dead today without antibiotics?
But it is one thing to do amazing things with science; it is another thing to believe that if science cannot observe a thing, if that thing is not material and physical, it cannot exist. This belief is called ‘exclusive materialism’. It is the basis of the philosophy of ‘materialism’ or ‘physicalism’ that is prevalent in scientific circles today. Therefore, in many (but not all by a long shot) scientists’ minds God cannot exist, miracles are not possible, and Jesus, if He existed, once dead, remained dead. For these scientists there really is a major contradiction between faith and science. They reject God as the Creator – He is not material and only material things exist, therefore, God cannot exist. Science is not a threat to Biblical faith – the greatest threat is exclusive materialism.
Science and faith can and should co-exist. They are two different ways of studying and perceiving the same reality. We can explain this if we look at the origin of the universe, including earth, as a layer cake made up of 2 layers. The lower layer is the realm of scientific investigation – the layer of the physical and material. It is here that science has chosen to operate and in this layer it is very useful. But to be science, its operations must remain in this layer. Oh, by the way, Biblical faith is not a threat to science or the scientist either.
The top layer deals with God’s ultimate causes and purposes. It is the layer in which we encounter God. Science cannot access this top layer. It must be perceived through faith. An awareness of ‘purpose’ makes us human. “God’s purposes and intentions are most clearly seen in the way the cosmos runs rather than in its material structure or in the way that its material structures were formed.” (Quote from ‘The Lost World of Genesis One’ by John Walton, pg. 117. More on Walton and his views below). God’s purposes, plans, and intentions are revealed in the ‘top layer’.
Science deals with the ‘lower layer’, but science cannot tell us why we were created, what our purpose as a human being is, and how we will function as human beings with God at our center. Science cannot, in this sense, give us life and meaning.
Lets stop here and ask the question: what is science?
Most simply science is about knowledge. Our word science comes from the Latin word scientia, meaning, you guessed it, knowledge. Science is a system of acquiring knowledge, but not all knowledge. Science is only concerned with knowledge acquired through observation of and experimentation used to describe and explain natural phenomenon. ‘Natural’ means material and external (with some exceptions, our thoughts, feelings, hunches, intuition, and our consciences fall outside of science). Scientific tools must measure something material, even if the material thing is a subatomic particle. That is why billions of dollars have been spent on physically, not conceptually, discovering the “God particle” or whatever science prefers to call this elusive subatomic particle in the particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider. My eyes can be a tool, microscopes, telescopes, CAT scans, and seismographs are all examples of scientific tools – anything that can observe and measure a natural, material thing. God is not amenable to these types of measurements.
Does God exist? If the quantum dilemma is as real as the article I quoted above suggests it is, scientists may themselves be knocking on the doors of theologians as science navigates into uncharted territory. But I am not holding my breath for that to happen. Do I believe God exists? Yes! Why? Because I have heard His voice speak to me, because I have seen prayers answered specifically again and again, because I have observed healing miracles that medicine cannot explain, because I have experienced the love of the Father and the power and presence of God in my life daily, and because I have been transformed in the most fundamental ways by Jesus. And not least, because I have chosen to believe by faith. I have surrendered and committed my life to God. The cynical skeptics will say, “He drank the cool aid”. That is true, I drank deeply at the spring of Living Water and Jesus rescued me from a doomed life of slavery, darkness, and death. I am alive today, really alive, because of Jesus. And I can still be a scientist, if I want to be.
I understand that these arguments, these ‘observations’ or revelations about God, are not admissible in a scientific paper published in a peer-reviewed journal. And if a scientist does study these ‘supernatural’ phenomenon and tries to publish the results, he won’t be an employable scientist for long. Here is what I believe – science is science and what it does, it does very well. Not that it is free from politics (for sure!!) and not that there aren’t scientists who make pronouncements about things they don’t understand, but many of us owe our physical lives to science. Scientists are for the most part honorable, dedicated, even compassionate men and women who have a thirst, a passion for knowledge and truth, as they see it. Many of them are believers. Science is for the most part good. Furthermore, as a man of faith, and as a scientist who has made discoveries in my field of stratigraphy, I believe that many (most?) scientific discoveries are in the hands and under the influence of a sovereign God, even if some scientists don’t believe He exists. Christians need to let science be science, and not demand that it become something that God never intended it to be. Furthermore, there is another side to the science/theology debate that Christians needs to consider.
I have a big problem with ‘theology’ when Christian men and woman begin to make ‘scientific’ pronouncements based on non-scientific ‘data’, like Scripture. How many nonbelievers have said to themselves “I won’t go near Christianity because of their really wacky creationist ideas”? I’ll bet a lot. Everything in Scripture is true, but the Bible is not a book about everything. To read the Bible as a natural science textbook written thousands of years before anyone knew what science was is reading the Word of God incorrectly.
Here is a quote from “Fundamentalism and the Word of God” by that champion of theological orthodoxy J.I. Packer:
“We must allow Scripture itself to define for us the scope and limits of its teaching. Too often the infallibility which belongs to the Word of God has been claimed for interpretations of Scripture which are, to say the least, uncertain and which make Scripture pronounce on subjects about which it does not itself claim to teach anything. The Bible is not an inspired ‘Enquire Within Upon Everything’; it does not profess to give information about all branches of human knowledge . . . It claims in the broadest terms to teach all things necessary for salvation, but it nowhere claims to give instruction in (for example) any of the natural sciences . . . and it would be improper to treat it as making pronouncements on these matters” (pg 96).
Packer goes on to say:
“The biblical authors wrote . . . using such modes of speech about the natural order and human experience as were current in their days, and in a language that was common to themselves and their contemporaries. This is saying no more than they wrote to be understood. Their picture of the world and things in it is not put forward as normative for later science . . . They do not claim to teach either science or grammar. Sometimes their grammar lapses; often the mental picture of the created order which their phraseology suggests to the twentieth-century mind differs from that of modern science; but these facts do not bear on the inerrancy of the divine Word which the writers conceptual and linguistic resources were being used to convey” (pgs 96, 97).
Scientific truth is not absolute truth, as any good scientist will tell you. Science is constantly making new observations and discoveries, which change science’s views of the world. But science does reveal the truth of God’s creation in many ways. How old is the earth? Science tells us somewhere between 3.8 and 4.5 billion years old. The universe is about 14.5 billion years old. The data for these dates are overwhelming. There is no credible scientific evidence suggesting an age for the earth consistent with a young earth hypothesis. Creationists have come up with ‘data’ supporting this young earth hypothesis, but a cursory scientific analysis of these ‘data’ has always proven them incorrect or unreliable. Does an old earth fundamentally change the way you think about Scripture? Does it change your faith? Is the age of the earth an issue of salvation? Three times no.
Is it possible that our materialistic culture, so focused on material existence, has misinterpreted the Genesis account of creation? In a well-thought out book on Genesis 1, John Walton, a professor at Wheaton College and an Old Testament and ancient Middle-Eastern scholar argues exactly that. Here is a quote from ‘The Lost World of Genesis One’:
Speaking of the Genesis creation story he writes “Since in our culture we believe that existence is material, we consequently believe that to create something means to bring its material properties into existence. Thus our discussions of origins tend to focus on material origins . . . Most of us never consider alternative ontologies (ontology is the study of what it means for something to exist). Our culture has given us our beliefs about what it means for the cosmos to exist (material ontology; existence is material; creation is a material act) and many of us would not recognize that these beliefs are the result of a choice. It is a testimony to the pervasive influence of culture that this material ontology seems so obvious that to prevent any thought that it is open to discussion.” (pgs. 23, 24).
We are locked into our own cultural mindset and probably don’t even realize that our view of the world is so rigid – materialism is our box, even for Christians. Walton goes on to write that the ancient Middle Eastern mind did not think this way – they had a different view of the world. To understand what they meant when Genesis 1 was written, we need to try to see the world through their eyes. Is that so surprising? Walton goes on:
“I propose that people in the ancient world believed that something existed not by virtue of its material properties, but by virtue of its having a function in an ordered system. Here I do not refer to an ordered system in scientific terms, but an ordered system in human terms, that is, in relation to a society and culture . . . Unless something is integrated into a working, ordered system, it does not exist. Consequently, the actual creative act is to assign something its functioning role in the ordered system. That is what brings it into existence” (pg. 24).
The creation account in Genesis 1 is not an account of how the Earth came into material existence. It is an account of the parts of creation and how they functioned in an ordered system. It is not a scientific account of existence, it is a ‘functional’ account and so does not contradict or even speak to science. In the mind of an ancient Middle East author, function was not the result of material properties, but the result of purpose.
Scientists step beyond the limits of science when they make pronouncements about the non-existence of God. They must remain within their boxes of observation and analysis of natural phenomenon for their interpretations to be science. Even healing miracles fall outside of their brief, because these violate their natural laws upon which the scientific understanding of the universe is based. But believers are equally wrong when we ignore the significant volume of data that, for example, constrain the age of the earth and the universe. God is the author of science and theology. There is no contradiction between them. These two branches of human knowledge and understanding deal with two different aspects of God – His creation, which points to His character, and His heart, which speaks to our inner lives and informs our outward behavior. One answers the ‘what and how’ of creation, the other addresses the ‘why’. Both are essential.
God moves wherever He wants to go. He is as active in the scientific laboratory as He is in the worship service on Sunday. Sadly, maybe more active in the former. Whether we know it or not, God and his Angel Armies are at work all around us, day and night. Our only proper response is worship. God will not be mocked and He does not like being ignored. Our culture has made science their god. Here is the rest of the Jeremiah quote at the top of the post. Speaking about idols, that is, other gods Jeremiah writes:
“Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith (every unbelieving scientist?) Is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them. They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes they will perish (speaking I believe of both the goldsmith and his idols). He who is the Portion of Jacob (that is, God) is not like these, for He is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of His inheritance – the Lord Almighty is His name” (Jeremiah 10: 14 – 16).
Science in and of itself is good. It is a way of gaining knowledge about the natural world, which is the world God made. For this reason, science, as I see it, is a way of ‘knowing God’ through His creation – many, but not all, parts of creation reflect His character: ordered, organized, beautiful, complex, vast, and ultimately unknowable. It is a gift given to us by a merciful God to make our lives on earth better. But men and women who find their value, their acceptance, and their significance in their scientific accomplishments, their successes, and their stature in the scientific community turn science into an idol. Out of this pride they begin to imagine themselves and their science to be god. I think this is the root of materialism. They begin to usurp the role of God – that is where the trouble begins. And it is not just this relatively small number of scientists. Our culture – that is us – has also made science our god along with the related deities medicine, technology, and education!
I was wondering just today why some Christians feel so threatened by scientists like Dawkins and Hitchens who make unscientific pronouncements about God and the supernatural. Does our faith rest that much in what nonbelievers think about Jesus and the life we have chosen? Is it possible that even we have bought into the idea (maybe just a little bit) that science is god, that science has the ‘last word’, and therefore the opinions of ‘science’ about Jesus, the Bible, and heaven are so important to us?
Science, medicine, and technology are great – they have vastly improved life on earth for everyone, especially for those living in the developed world. Who wants to live like our great grandparents did? But they have so successfully transformed human existence that most of us now look to this trinity of human advancement as the solution to all of our problems. Who do we seek out first when our health is under attack, even our spiritual and emotional health? Do we call on the intercessors and go to God in prayer or do we make an appointment with our physician? Probably both, but which do we do first. Which do we place more trust in? Do we even think about the former? Our culture, and if we are honest with ourselves we are part of culture in this regard, worships science, medicine, and technology. The irony of this is that these three are gifts from “the Lord Almighty”. We have turned these gifts against Him in our fallen human pride and our arrogance.
The prophet Jeremiah has warned us! Judgment will come. We should not turn away from science, medicine, or technology – they are God’s gifts to us. But we do have to turn away from the worship of these aspects of our culture. There is a word for this turning – the word is ‘repent’. Until we repent of this idol worship, God will continue to remove His hand from all who worship at the altar of science – individuals and nations, both.
How do we make this u-turn in our lives and the life of our culture? The questions asked by this conference are “how does a Christian relate to culture; how do we live faithfully outside the confines of the church”? We impact culture by living out our faith in the immediate world around us. This is a simple thing to say, but difficult to do because first we have to be people of faith. So, lets turn from science and talk about faith. What is faith and are you and I faith-full men and women of God? First of all, let me explain why I believe everyone has ‘faith’.
It might seem paradoxical to you, after what I have written above about science and idolatry to say that everyone (by everyone I mean almost all of us who are more-or-less mentally healthy) has faith. I have written about this in a previous post “All of Us Have Faith” (March 18, 2015). You can see what I mean there. The short version is this: everyone has a need to be valued, accepted, to have significance. We all look for something to give a sense of belonging. This is a deep-seated need in every human beings heart. It is also the origin of idolatry. Anything that we select to meet this deep, fundamental, human need other than God is an idol. When we have made our choice from innumerable options (such as work, sex, money, power, accomplishments, perfection, performance, family, drugs, and on and on) we enter into a contract with that ‘choice’. The contract is this: “I will totally fulfill you, but you must totally surrender to me”. Our faith then is the total trust we place in this ‘choice’ to deliver on the promise of fulfillment. Every human being has made this contract at some time in their life; therefore every human being has faith. Sadly, most who have chosen a ‘false god’, that is a god other than the Lord Almighty and His Son Jesus, will find out sooner or later that the promise is a lie and instead of giving a fulfilling life, the ‘choice’ brings slavery, bitterness, resentment, and ultimately spiritual and emotional death. Our ‘faith’ is shown to be hollow and our life is at a dead end.
The ‘faith’ this conference is about is faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What is this faith? Is it as simple as belief? Is there more to it than that? Yes, of course there is and I suspect that many who suppose themselves Christian are not actually living in the Kingdom of God and therefore are not walking in ‘faith’. And what we don’t have, we cannot release into our culture – the world around us.
Let me explain what I mean by asking the question “what is faith?”. (By the way that previous paragraph is the topic of more than 20 posts on this blog dealing with the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of the world. If you are interested read the posts about the Rich Young Ruler and blind Bartimaeus or any of the posts about the well-watered garden).
In Mark 10: 46-52 Jesus encounters the blind beggar Bartimaeus. After restoring the blind man’s sight, Jesus tells him “Go, your faith has healed you” (NIV). The Greek word for ‘healed’ is sozo. In the NKJV the word is translated as “your faith has made you well”. In the ASV the word is translated “your faith has made you whole”. Bartimaeus was healed, made well, and made whole because of his faith in Jesus (by the way, sozo also means ‘saved’ and is the root word for salvation). If we look more closely at this story we will see that there are 3 parts to the faith of Bartimaeus, and I believe to our faith as well.
Part 1: He cries out “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me” – a prayer that has been important to believers for thousands of years. “Son of David” is a messianic title. Bartimaeus is acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ that Israel has been patiently waiting for. How did he know this? He is blind, sitting by the side of the road outside of Jericho his entire life. He knew it the same way Peter did in Caesarea Philippi – God told him. In other words, he had a supernatural word from God – “this is the One”.
The belief of a blind beggar exceeded almost everyone else’s, including the disciples. Is this faith? If I say “Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, that you died on the cross for my sins, that you were resurrected, and later ascended into heaven” does that make me a man of faith? No. Because even the demons believe this and they are going to hell In Luke 4:34 Jesus confronts a demon in the first healing/deliverance miracle of His ministry. When confronted by Jesus the demon cried out “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God”.
While a God-given belief in the divinity of Jesus is an essential part of faith, it is not all that is needed. Even the demons believe as you do if your faith rests entirely on who Jesus is.
Part 2: Bartimaeus leaves his cloak behind when he is called by Jesus. You can read a detailed analysis of this very significant action in my previous posts about Bartimaeus. Here is the much shorter version. Leaving his cloak behind indicated that: a) Bartimaeus was leaving his old life and his old persona behind – he was repenting of who he was, prepared to become a new person; and b) he was placing his entire life in the hands of Jesus. He was giving up his only possession in the world, the one thing that his life totally depended upon. Bartimaeus was totally and completely trusting and depending upon Jesus. Complete trust and total surrender are necessary parts of faith. Together repentance and faith, two sides of the same coin, are essential elements of our faith life in Christ.
Faith is a supernatural gift from God. Faith means that we are totally and completely trusting and depending upon Jesus for all of our value, acceptance, security, provision, and significance — I will no longer seek these things in the world. I have been born again. None of us do this completely, there has to be ongoing healing for us to completely trust Jesus. But we cannot have faith if we have not made the solemn decision, as Bartimaeus did, to begin this journey of trust and dependence upon Him. Although faith is a gift, we can reject the gift. We have to choose.
Jesus makes this point when he tells us that we must deny ourselves – give up the right to ourselves; pick up our cross – which involves dying to the things in the world that give us value; and follow Him. Without these decisions, which we must make, we cannot live faith-full lives. We will never do any of these things completely or perfectly. We will fail frequently – we have the gift of repentance to restore us. But we must make the choice for Jesus by giving up the right to ourselves, to the best of our ability aided by the Holy Spirit, and surrendering all of who we are and what we have to Jesus. No other gods! Not that we don’t enjoy hiking, travel, sports, family, nature, work, sewing, painting – you get the point – but these things are sources of pleasure, not where we find our ultimate value, acceptance, security, and comfort.
Part 3: Immediately he follows Jesus on the road – A decision rooted in obedience, surrender of my agenda (I go where you go or I go where you send me), and more trust. This is both the manifestation of faith and, I believe, an essential part of faith.
So, faith is more than belief – even the demons believe. It is belief, repentance, trust and dependence, obedience and surrender, and action. God initiates it and in this sense it is a gift of God. But, like Bartimaeus, we have to make a choice, a ‘decision for Christ’. It is a solemn decision to leave behind the life of self and enter into life in the Kingdom of God. It is a big deal – literally to be spiritually ‘born again’.
When we make this decision, faith brings with it gifts. We receive the indwelling Holy Spirit, which is not available to us if we continue to live unrepentant lives in the kingdom of the world, even if we ‘believe’ like the demons do; we receive a transformed heart which is being continuously transformed, healing and wholeness like Bartimaeus, power and authority to push back the darkness in our lives and in the world around us (to destroy the power of the devil, as the demon in Luke 4 correctly surmised), and spiritual gifts like the gifts of healing and prophesy. We are also made holy and are continuously being made holy. The author of Hebrews writes: “By one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10: 14 NIV). We enter into an intimate relationship with Jesus – He lives in us and we live in Him. We are seated with Christ in the heavenlies, and because all powers and authorities are placed beneath His feet, they are beneath ours as well. He is our Lord, savior, and friend. He has given us dominion over the enemy.
As we are restored, we are given a role to play in the restoration of the world. Christ now calls us to partner with Him in taking back His territory from the devil – to bring light into darkness, life where there is death, healing where there is brokenness, order and organization where there is chaos, blessings where there are curses, knowledge where there is confusion. We are called to restore relationships in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit, which lives in the heart of every faith-full man and women living with Christ, by faith, in the Kingdom of God.
Many people really, truly want to be good. Followers of other religions strive for humility and simplicity. Many accept the teaching of Jesus – “love each other as I have loved you” – but not that Jesus is God. “He was a good man. I want to live the life he calls me to. But I don’t buy his divinity” seems to be where many in culture in the ‘developed’ world are today. They want the ‘love’ but not the repentance/surrender. They talk about “the power of love”. They think they can become the humble, loving, joyful person of peace Jesus calls them to be in their own power and in their own way – perhaps through self-help programs, drugs, exercise, meditation, yoga, or some other individual effort apart from the power of God. It is not possible – we need a complete heart-transformation to become the people Jesus is calling us to be. This is impossible apart from faith – faith like Bartimaeus – which, in turn, is not possible apart from Him. The transformation we need can only be done by the Holy Spirit. We cannot love in our power. God is love. We need Jesus to love and only in Christ can we love with the Agape love God commands us to exhibit in the world. This type of love in alien to the world that only knows Eros love – which is how we will always love apart from Christ.
Here, then is the how Christians are called to relate to culture. We are ‘called and sent’ into the culture to carry, by faith, this message of Life – the Kingdom of God is here, and through faith and repentance we can live with Christ in this place of abundant Life. Not that there won’t be temptations and trials in this new life, but ‘God is with us’. He sets us free from bondage to Satan – freedom from addictions, demonic possession, shame, pride, unforgiveness, disease, and fear. Healed and made whole. He promises that His presence and power will be ours for the long haul. We can expect grace when we sin, love and acceptance, joy in the midst of trials, and peace where before we would be anxious. Best of all, we can now lead a life of true worship – giving God the glory every day instead of patting ourselves on the back and saying “good job, John”.
This is the message we share with culture – really the people around us, one person at a time. Not a message of condemnation, but a message of hope and life for everyone, no matter their station in this life. Can we share this message with scientists, with out co-workers in the research or technology company, with our engineering colleagues? What about with our co-workers in hospitals, or legal or architectural firms? Sure, everywhere. There is no contradiction between faith and culture or between faith and science if we understand faith in this way. As I said, faith does not directly impact science, our faith impacts scientists. And really, if we want to transform culture, we must do it one person at a time.
But we cannot share the hope and life with others that we do not have in our own hearts. Out of our bellies will flow rivers of living water only if living water is within us. The essence of faith is repentance – it is not enough to believe. I must choose to turn away from finding my ultimate value and acceptance in the world and turn to Jesus for everything. If I have not done this, at least in some measure, I will not have faith. And so I will not have anything to offer an idolatrous culture. In fact, I will not be able to stand against culture, because culture is seductive and powerful.
We have all heard the aphorism “we are to be in the world, but not of the world”. These words are based on Jesus’ prayer in John 17: 15-19. Here is what Jesus said:
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world (i.e. culture) even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (NIV).
We have been created to be ‘sent’ people, not people who hide within the walls of the church. Yes, culture hates Jesus; culture and science are even ganging up against Jesus. So what? Go in faith, impact culture with power, authority, and love. God has a mission for each one of us. Presbyterians say our purpose “is to glorify God and enjoy His forever”. Yes, but how do we do that? By faith, real faith, releasing the Kingdom of God into the kingdom of the world wherever we are and whenever God calls us to go, one person at a time. Oh, and by worship!
We are sent into culture with a distinctly counter-cultural message – it is not all about you (or me). It is about finding our fulfillment in the only source of life that the world has ever known and ever will know. That source is found in a deep, abiding, Spirit-filled and Spirit-led relationship with Jesus. That life is Jesus – He is the way the truth and the life. This life is for eternity and the eternal alternative is not good. In faith, share that message with our culture. That is the God-given mission of the Church. That is the reason we exist, that is our purpose in life.
PS: One last word from Jesus about how we are called to relate to culture and accomplish this mission — how we are called to ‘share the messssge’:
“Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10: 43- 45 NIV).
“If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9: 35 NIV).
This business of being last instead of first, and the slave and servant of all is the final word on how faithful, repentant believers are called to relate to the culture around us. This is no joke! “If anyone . . . the servant of all”. What? Who can you do this? No one apart from life in the Kingdom of God and even then it will be difficult, but maybe not totally impossible in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must be Kingdom men and women in order to relate to culture the way Jesus is commanding us. And for sure, we cannot live in the Kingdom of God without faith and repentance – two sides of the same coin, both gifts from God, but we need to choose both. And not just believing faith – but real faith rooted in belief, trust, surrender, dependence, and action.
This is how we relate to culture and live faithfully in the world around us – be a servant and slave to all, give up the right to ourselves, walk with an unoffendable heart, and let God’s living water pour out of our bellies into the lives of everyone around us, one person at a time. How do we do this? By being their servants. This is an offensive message, isn’t it? Yes. This is why Christianity is both simple and profoundly difficult. And one reason why the self-centered culture in general rejects the teachings of Jesus, even within the Church.
At the end of the day it is not about faith impacting science, medicine, art, architecture, law or any other aspect of culture. It is about being a faithful servant to one scientist, one doctor, one artist, one architect, one lawyer, etc. each day, as best we can. The culture of the world has always opposed Jesus. Perhaps no more so than today. So, be bold, walk in faith and humility, and pray. Jesus has called you.
“Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. O Lord, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor” (Isaiah 26: 12, 13 NIV).