Science, Theology, and Faith: Part 2
This post is the first paragraph of a document (over 7000 words) published as an article on this blog site. I wrote about this on Wednesday but it took me till today to finish it. Check it out if you have the time. I put a lot of material on science, theology, and faith in the document.
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 is incredibly difficult. But we do that work in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit as we live as humble men and women of faith in the Kingdom of God. 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 cultures 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 interstate highways – 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 beyond my power — I need Jesus to love others as He loves me.
The bottom line? Our faith, in general, does not impact science. Science is based on observations and experimentation in the natural, material world. Our faith is based on a relationship with Jesus in the supernatural, although faith impacts the natural world in powerful ways. Christian men and women, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, don’t impact science so much. But we do impact scientists. We are called by Jesus to be servants, even slaves, of all. That is the bottom line. Offensive? Yes, it was radical and offensive when Jesus commanded Christians to live this way 2000 years ago; it is still radical and offensive today. But that is His way, and we are called to walk in it.
“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).