Why Can't We Be Like Everybody Else?

As our family went through yet another trial this summer, we found ourselves longing for peace, order, stability and hope. One could argue that we brought it on ourselves, but there are decisions you make in the moment and then there are decisions that flow irreversibly from who you are at the core. We were weighed down by a burden we seemed ill-chosen to carry, our options increasingly constricted. We were growing weary. And as I lay awake one night, trying to make sense of the mess in which we found ourselves, an understandable but truly insidious thought crept into my mind.

Why can't we be like everybody else?

I remember the first time it hit me. It wasn't in high school, when I relished the thought of being different because of my Christian faith and was usually respected because of it. It wasn't in college - at no point did I desire to wake up hungover in the bed of a girl whose name I didn't know with no recollection of what I had done the night before. In fact, for most of my life, I was pretty sure that (on the whole) following Jesus made your life so much better. "Abundant," as He said.

But then I moved to Santa Barbara for graduate school.

The average home literally cost 10 times what it would in Kansas. Everything from gas to groceries was more expensive - and my roommate, Pat, and I were each trying to live on $22,500 a year. It was as if The Waltons had accidentally wandered onto the set of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. As friends and brothers in Christ, we always challenged each other, pushing each other to be better scientists, better men, and better disciples. I challenged him to start tithing, and when I pointed out that I was still making ends meet, he ran out of objections. Not long afterward, as we were sitting around our tiny house on a weekend, a fellow grad student called Pat from a ski resort in the Sierras. He had spent the day on the slopes and was now relaxing in a hot tub, but apparently his happiness would not be complete until he reminded us of what we were missing. Pat hung up, relayed their conversation, and then said with a tinge of bitterness, 'I guess you can do that sort of thing when you're not giving away 10% of your income.' I envied our friend, and for the first time I started to question if following Jesus really made your life better.

It's a thought that gnaws away at every disciple of Jesus, at least one time in his or her life.

During a time of corruption and political instability, the ancient nation of Israel faced the same temptation. They had been, for generations, a theocracy in the truest sense of the word. Periodically a great leader would arise and unite everyone in the face of grave danger, but upon that individual's death or downfall the nation reverted to a largely disorganized, decentralized state of being. The Israelites grew tired of this and wanted a permanent political order. Why not have a king?

The prophet Samuel responds to their demands with what amounts to a brilliant but concise attack on monarchy as a system of government. Not being well-versed in political theory, the Israelites respond - twice - like whining teenagers. The real reason they want a king?

"... that we might be like all the other nations!" (I Samuel 10:5 and 10:20).

In that one phrase, they forgot more history than Americans even have. They were not like other nations – they never were. God himself created them out of nothing but a childless elderly couple and a promise. They were dramatically delivered from slavery, miraculously passed through part of the ocean while an entire army was destroyed behind them, and after wandering the desert for 40 years they toppled multiple empires to take possession of their new homeland. God himself dwelt among them. He was their God and they were His people. They were not even remotely like any other nation. They had a story, and they had been redeemed.

That's why, prior to giving the Ten Commandments, God reminds them, "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt." Thus, they were not to live like everybody else. It's why they were commanded to keep the Passover: so that they would not forget who they were. That was the real danger; everyone already knew that murder and adultery are wrong. When their nation began it's long descent into spiritual, moral and ultimately political chaos, the root cause was their failure to remember who they truly were in relation to God.


Other families (normally) haven't gone through 4 miscarriages and 2 failed adoptions. They haven't poured all of their time, energy and money - including money they don't even have - into merely becoming a family. They haven't spent 9 months walking with a woman in crisis, knowing that in the end she would choose to parent in poverty.

But they also haven't felt the embrace of Jesus, via His body, in their darkest hour. They haven't seen total strangers and anonymous donors fund over 80% of the cost of an adoption that became increasingly apparent as a dead-end (or perhaps a new beginning?). They may have enjoyed more of the "good life" as defined by our society, but they can't point to brothers and sisters around the globe with whom they have sacrificed and served. They don't have two beautiful Black children, each of them already redeemed in a very concrete way. Our family doesn't even look like other families - and that fills me with pride. Every portrait is a reminder, not just of what we look like, but of who we are.

Why can't we be like everybody else? Because we're not. We have a story, we have been redeemed, and our Redeemer has marked us forever.

Quantum Mechanics and The Trinity

When Christians speak of The Trinity, as they have for at least 1900 years, we are simply using a label for the following set of statements:

1. God the Father is God.
2. Jesus Christ is God.
3. The Holy Spirit is God.
4. There is one God.

How do we reconcile these statements? By saying that God consists of three persons - that is, in His essence (ousia) and divinity He is one , but in personhood (hypostaseis) He is three. It is easy to see why this is not irrational by expressing these concepts mathematically.

If God is one god and three gods, then:

1 God = 3 Gods
therefore,
1 = 3.

If God is one person and three persons, then:

1 Person = 3 Persons
therefore,
1 = 3.

But in the Trinity,

1 God = 3 Persons.


(And these 3 persons are in eternal relationship with each other, such that God has always lived in a community of perfect love).

This is a concept that is beyond my intellect or imagination. It is an inexhaustible mystery. It defies all categories of human thought. But it is not irrational. It is fully within the bounds of logic and reason.

For years, scientists debated as to whether the electron was a particle or a wave. (Light was also the subject of the same argument). In 1897, J.J. Thomson measured the charge/mass ratio of the electron, thus establishing that it was a particle and earning himself a Nobel Prize in 1906. His son, George, won the Nobel Prize in 1937 for measuring the wavelength of electrons, thus proving that they were waves, which must have made for some awkward conversations at family gatherings. So which is it?

Both. In 1926, Erwin Schrödinger used Louis de Broglie's concept of wave-particle duality to formulate a mathematical equation explaining how anything could simultaneously be a wave and a particle, earning himself a Noble prize and setting off unending speculation about his cat. This result, with it's probabilistic implications (as in the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle), was profoundly unsettling to some. Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize (in part) for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, which established the particle nature of light and confirmed the basic hypothesis of quantum mechanics. Yet these conclusions led him to angrily respond, "God does not play dice with the universe!"

It's always amusing when scientists - or theologians - tell God what He can and cannot do.

Nevertheless, despite its rigorous formulation and experimental verification, this fundamental law of quantum mechanics is difficult to picture. It's one thing to explain mathematically, via a "probability wavefunction," how something can simultaneously be at one point and also be sort-of-everywhere and sort-of-nowhere. It's another thing to attempt to explain this to someone in terms from everyday life that would make one bit of sense. They would probably see it as a contradiction, when in reality it is simply a little - or perhaps a lot - beyond the sort of thing we encounter in a normal day.

I observed this blurring of distinction, between that which is irrational and that which is difficult to understand, on multiple occasions when interacting with atheists (or with Muslims, in the case of the Trinity). But given the upheavals in physics over the past century, why do we continue to make this mistake in our understanding of the natural world - or of God?

Perhaps it's because we think we are smarter than we are. We think that surely, with our education and our civilization and our iPhones, we are advanced enough to understand everything - if only God would quit talking in riddles. We never stopped to consider that any complete answers might be far beyond our comprehension.

The oldest book of the Bible is an extended exploration of senseless suffering which, in some ways, raises more questions than it answers. We see Job, a righteous man, refusing to believe the logically simple explanations of his friends because they don't fit who he knows himself - or God - to be. He persistently demands his day in court with God. When God finally shows up, the tables are suddenly turned: "Brace yourself like a man! I will question you, and you will answer me!" God then proceeds to show Job just how little he (or anyone of us) actually knows. It's as if God is saying, "If I tried to explain to you what is really going on, it would be like trying to explain the General Theory of Relativity to a kindergartener."

That's why Jesus tells us to receive the Kingdom like little children. Children know that they don't understand everything, that's it's okay to trust someone wiser than yourself, and that the world is often a mysteriously wonderful place. God isn't asking us to believe that 3 = 1 or to reject reason; rather, He is asking us to accept the fact that if we can't even comprehend the electron, we will never be able to wrap our minds around the fullness of His being.

The Real Conspiracy

Recently a close friend, whom I greatly admire, told me that he had a hard time believing that the World Trade Center towers fell as a result of the planes that were crashed into them. Usually, I don't take comments like that seriously; they tend to come from people who are slightly unhinged and to be followed by incredibly bizarre explanations, such as when a Kuwaiti told me "the Jews" were behind it all. (The Lady, who is half-Jewish, was surprised to learn of her role in the September 11th attacks.) But this friend is level-headed, intelligent, studying for the ministry, and solidly patriotic (as evidenced by 8 1/2 years enlisted in the Air Force, and now a commission as a Second Lieutenant).

His own qualifications don't cause me to believe that theory for a second, and I would challenge anyone to find a structural engineer who actually believes the towers fell for some other reason. But it does go to show we all can be drawn to any explanation which posits that something bigger is going on.

These days, there are conspiracy theories for everything: the JFK assassination, September 11th, the Iraq War, aliens, the economic crisis, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, health care, immigration, AIDS, gun control, the Roman Catholic Church, and Christianity as a whole. A 1997 movie even capitalized on the trend. Virtually none of them have been proven, all are perpetuated with the scantest of evidence and most far-fetched of reasoning, and many have in fact been disproven. But they persist. As soon as one is debunked, another pops up in its place.

Maintaining a genuine conspiracy is incredibly difficult. Charles Colson, infamous for his role and Watergate and now famous as the founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries, often recounts the pitiful attempt to hold together the Nixon White House in the face of increasing probes into wrongdoing. Only a few of the most powerful men in the United States of America were involved, and the worst punishment they expected to face was disgrace, or possibly a light prison sentence; Colson's 1-year sentence came as a surprise. They held their conspiracy together for all of... 2 weeks. That's how long it took before one of them defected.

The probability that a secret will be leaked increases exponentially with the number of people who know. All it takes is slight pressure, or a slight mistake, for someone to slip up. For instance, if 50 people know a secret, and each has only a 1 in 1000 chance of spilling the beans in a certain time period, then the probability of the secret getting out is:

1- (1-0.001)^50 = 5%

Not bad, although still risky. But what if the heat is on, ever so slightly, and now the probability of someone breaking is even 1 in 100?

1- (1-0.01)^50 = 39%

Or what if 100 people know?

 1- (1-0.01)^100 = 63%

The odds are looking poor. But this analysis fails to take into account the fact that the first one to talk will probably have a better chance of saving his or her skin.

The idea that our lumbering and often-inept American federal government could manage to maintain a vast conspiracy is simply laughable. The idea that a massive corporation, employing tens of thousands of people and interacting with the public continually, could be secretly running the world is equally farcical.

What makes us so susceptible to conspiracy theories? Why do we want to believe that there is some secret cabal controlling everything, some sinister individual pulling the strings? In science, theories that poorly explain things or lack confirmation are usually thrown out. Why do these theories persist, when time and again things can be better explained by the ordinary temptations of greed, power, sex, or just plain incompetence?

In the Modern Era, we would like to believe that science has exorcised all of the demons from our world. There is a perfectly rational explanation for everything. Human beings do things, even bad things, for simple and comprehensible motives... and that's it. The world works according to certain laws. And beyond that, there is nothing but personal subjective opinion. There is no grand story, no big picture. The world simply is what it is, and anything we can't explain will be explained soon enough by physics or evolution. (This is, by the way, the worldview of The Economist).

But these explanations, now matter how well they work on the immediate level, are strangely unsatisfying. The pieces are all there, but somehow they don't add up. And the theories ultimately lead to dead ends.

Deep down, we know that there is something else at work. We don't just "want to believe," we actually sense that there is something truly nefarious behind it all, working the invisible strings for malevolent ends. We have lost the capability to describe who or what this is. So we turn to conspiracy theories - or we settle for our modern explanations.

C.S. Lewis once remarked that a man who will not believe in God will believe in anything. We are born with an innate drive to worship, and something will ultimately be on the altar of our heart.

The corollary to this, is that whoever does not believe in The Devil, will believe in conspiracy theories. A recent poll shows that only 68% of Americans believe in a personal devil, and in my experience far fewer actually take that Being seriously. But having rejected as old-fashioned nonsense the real Conspirator, the true Enemy - with all his accomplices - we chase one human conspiracy after another for the slightest of reasons. We know there is something bigger - and far more evil - behind all that we see, but we are suppressing this knowledge.

Instead of concocting our own silly theories, we ought to take Jesus at his word: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18). Yes, there is a Devil, Satan, the Enemy, or whoever you wish to call him. There is a personal being behind it all, seeking to destroy us, to pervert all that is good, and to hijack all of Creation. And although his notoriety may at times compel fear, he has discovered that in most societies, anonymity is far more effective. As the thief "Verbal" Kint says in The Usual Suspects, "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist." The Biblical explanation is in fact the best fit with reality, the best explanation for the world in which we live, and the most useful knowledge for living a truly meaningful life.

But if you don't like that, there's always The X-Files.

Ancient Paths

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

One of the greatest blessings of our current assignment is the requirement to leave the country every 2 months to renew our visas. We've visited Dubai, Cairo, Istanbul, and now Geneva. While we were captivated by the lively energy and artistry of Istanbul, no place has made me think as much as Geneva. For this city of less than a million people, at the tip of a lake and the edge of the Alps, has left its mark on the world like no other.

The Genevois are unique. They are French in language - with a surprising number ignorant of English - in architecture, and in food, but the similarities end there. The French exhibit a constant insecurity over their language and culture, compounded by a tendency to despise all others. Genevans are confident in their own identity and welcoming of all others. The French paint, philosophize, and riot (at least annually). Genevans make watches, run banks, research the origin of the universe, and work for world peace (over 160 international organizations, including the Red Cross and the United Nations Organization, are based here). They value beauty and are grounded in friendships. They care for the environment. They defeated the French Duke of Savoy, solidifying their independence almost 300 years before joining Switzerland. And they have a well-justified, unambiguous pride in their history.

Never has the history of an entire city been so dominated by the legacy of one man. For nearly 500 years, Geneva has been defined by the legacy of a French refugee: Jean Calvin.

The second most important figure in the Reformation, after Martin Luther, Calvin's thought and ministry continues to shape Christianity to this very day. Although famous (or perhaps infamous) for his controversial ideas regarding predestination, his 4-volume Institutes of the Christian Religion remains a towering achievement of systematic theology, covering every aspect of individual and corporate Christian life. He wrote rigorous commentaries on nearly every book of the Bible, setting a standard to which even his detractors still aspire. Under his leadership, Geneva became an international city of refuge, its population doubling as persecuted believers were received with open arms regardless of nationality. His vision for reforming all of life according to the Scriptures transformed Geneva, and ultimately much of the world.

Calvin's life was marked by tragedy and difficulty. Before settling in Geneva, he spent 3 years "on the run" in western Europe, living under assumed names to avoid persecution by papal authorities. He was frequently ill, and for the second half of his life was unable to travel to visit his parents and siblings in France. Single until the age of 31, he married Idelette, a widow with two children - both of whom subsequently died. After only 9 years of marriage, Idelette died, and the one son they had together died as well. In his farewell speech - shortly before his death in 1564 at the age of 54 - he declared, "all that I have done is itself at base worth nothing... I am a wretched creature." At his own request, he was buried in an unmarked grave.

Calvin wrote over 2000 letters to individuals both prominent and common throughout Europe. Those, such as John Knox, who studied at the university he founded fanned out across Europe and the British Isles, the Americas, and even Africa. Today over 100 million Christians trace their own spiritual heritage to Geneva, and several times that number have been touched in some way by John Calvin's passionate study and preaching of the Bible. His revolutionary concepts of representative democracy, justice, the rule of law, religious freedom, care for the poor, free markets, free inquiry and widespread public education have transformed the modern world. The Puritans were his spiritual heirs, and he was described by one historian as "the virtual founder of the United States of America."

Having spent our first afternoon exploring Calvin's legacy and Saint-Pierre Cathedral where he preached, the next morning we took a train to Lausanne - the home of the International Olympic Committee and site of the 1974 Lausanne Covenant. The 45-minute ride took us through the Swiss countryside and many smaller towns, with mountains to our left and Lake Geneva to our right. But what truly captivated us was the cathedral overlooking this picturesque university town.

The exterior is eye-catching, but the interior is cavernous. Although we saw a nun emerging from a side door, the cathedral bears the marks of the Reformation with faith expressed through natural-light architecture and magnificent stained glass. At the very front, surrounding the altar and beneath the spire, is a set of windows depicting powerful scenes from the Jesus' final hours and crucifixion. But what captivated us the most was a triptych facing south, towards the lake. The three windows are titled, "Le Miroir Des Science", "Le Miroir Historique", and "Le Miroir Moral" - each depicting mirrors through which truth is plainly revealed to us. A picture of the first window is below:

The panes, from bottom to top, refer to Work, Arts, Science and Philosophy. The central window portrays Adam and Eve leaving Paradise, the Revelation of God in Jesus Christ, the Church, and the coming Kingdom of God. The window to the right portrays Humility, Truth, Justice, and Charity.

This reflects an ancient Christian view of how God reveals Himself: through nature, through our conscience and the things that make us human - that is, the imprint of God on us - and through the public acts of Jesus in history. Everywhere they looked, they saw God's glory reflected. The Truth was not a secret - all that we know and experience testifies to Him.

We sat in awe for some time in the illumination of the three windows, before finally walking backwards out of this massive sacred space, seeking to collect as much of its majesty as possible.

Back in Geneva that afternoon, we sat in a typically European cafe and continued our slow read through the Bible. (We had intended to read the whole Hebrew Bible together in a year, but that was over 2 years ago and now we are in Jeremiah). As we slogged through prophecies of judgment, destruction, and death, one sentence lept out with hope.

Thus says the LORD: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls."

- Jeremiah 6:16

That was just what our post-modern world needed: ancient paths. I thought of John Calvin, preaching 470 years ago in an 800-year-old church from a 2000-year-old book. I thought of the Lausanne Cathedral, a 1000-year-old building telling stories in stained glass from the dawn of human existence. These stories, these public claims about the reality of God and man and life, gave us the ancient paths we were unwittingly searching for.

Ironically, I had recently been reading Dan Brown's latest novel. He has a knack for seamlessly weaving fact, fiction, and utter falsehood into a fast-paced story - and The Lost Symbol was no exception. I thought of Brown prattling on about the "Ancient Mysteries" (always capitalized) which would supposedly enlighten and empower mankind. There is certainly a place for mystery - how else could you describe the Trinity? - but what would these supposed secrets truly give us? More power? Our technologies have already given us more power than we could imagine, and the record of the 20th century is that we used that power more often for evil than for good. Can you imagine building a city, a society, a government, a university, or even a meaningful individual life on mysteries revealed only to a select few?

A world that has lost its way does not need hidden mysteries, but revealed paths.

Not everyone can make it to Geneva - though the trip is worth it - but a visit to Switzerland is not necessary to find these Ancient Paths. All it takes is an open Bible, an eager mind, and a willingness to learn from all those who have walked them before.

Children Are Not a Reward

It’s not often that I tear something to pieces in anger after reading it. I had mostly enjoyed a recent article in WORLD Magazine, “Don’t Miss the Joy,” celebrating children and families – until one word in the last line stood out like a middle finger in my face. The author, OB/GYN Matt Anderson, concludes his wise observations with one completely wrong statement: “children are a joy and a reward.” A reward? For what?

God “rewards” most people with children, regardless of who they are or how they live. He “rewards” teenagers who have sex in the backseat of a car. He “rewards” women who built their careers on posing nude and participating in orgies, drug-addicted women on welfare, women who have had multiple abortions, women who have no regard for God or love for Jesus, women who – as Mary Poppins puts it – “can’t see beyond their own noses.” He “rewards” the average Saudi Arabian woman with 8 children, even though Saudi Arabia is one of the most fanatically anti-Christian countries in the world.

Meanwhile, a woman who never slept with anyone other than her husband, who has devoted her life to serving other in the name of Christ, is not “rewarded” with any children. Perhaps she is being punished for not being promiscuous, or not being shallow and self-centered?

Dr. Anderson’s claim is possibly the worst piece of theology I have ever heard. It is surpassed in its stupidity and thoughtlessness only by the words of an Indian pastor whom I otherwise respect, who once said that, “The fact that God gives us children is proof that He loves us.” Funny, I had always thought the gift of Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross was the proof of that. I will assume, for that pastor’s sake, that He uttered the words in some sort of drunken stupor.

It is true that children are a blessing. The Bible unequivocally affirms this, in contrast to our consumer culture that often sees them as a hassle and an obstacle to self-fulfillment. But not every blessing is a reward. The greatest blessings in my life – Jesus, my wife, my family, and others – have been undeserved. Some of these blessings required my preparation and could not be received until I was mature enough, but none were earned. There is a theological term for this: GRACE.

God does not give children to particular people because he is impressed with them. No one impresses God. God gives people children for one reason and one reason only: because He likes children.

A child is always a gift of grace.

The Long View

One of the most misquoted Scriptures in the entire Bible is Jeremiah 29:11 - “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper and not to harm you, to give you hope and a future.” This year, as we have faced two deep personal losses and a seemingly hopeless situation, we have had many fellow Christians attempt to brush off our pain by tossing this quote at us like Tylenol to a cancer patient. Along with John 10:10, it is often twisted by those (such as Joel Osteen) who embrace the “Properity Lite” gospel: God doesn’t necessarily want to make you rich, but He promises you The Good Life as defined by our society.

The fact that so many would interpret this verse as a promise of prosperity and protection to all individual believers indicates just how Biblically illiterate most Christians are. It doesn’t take a degree in Biblical studies (although my wife has one) to realize just how far this interpretation deviates from the text. All that is required is to read it in context – that is, Jeremiah 28 and 29.

Around 600 B.C., the Babylonians invaded Israel, destroyed their glorious temple and cities, killed many of their people, stole all of their resources, and hauled off their best and brightest to live in their own capital. The exiles left behind their homes, their dead loved ones, their country, and all their broken dreams. While not slaves, they were probably second-class citizens, forced to live in the land of their enemy. They wanted nothing more than to escape this pagan land, return home, and rebuild their lives – and hopefully their nation. Similarly, those left behind remained under the thumb of Nebuchednezzar, the king of Babylon (this was known as the Babylonian Captivity).

Shortly after arriving in Babylon, a self-proclaimed prophet named Hananiah began proclaiming in Israel that God would soon deliver them from their oppressive foreign, that the king of Babylon would meet his downfall and the exiles would be back in Jerusalem within 2 years. Their ordeal would be brief. They just had to sit tight and they would soon be home, “raptured” from evil Babylon. (Any of this sound familiar? Reminds me of a certain bestselling fictional series about the end times…) It was exactly what they longed to hear. And it was wrong.

The prophet Jeremiah rebuked Hananiah and prophesied his death, which occurred within a few months. He then proceeded to tell Israelites the true situation: they would be ruled by Babylon for 70 years. The exiles were to make it their home, to pray for it, to be a blessing to that city and to their neighbors, to build their lives there. AFTER that 70 years was up, “they” would return to Israel and once again prosper as a nation, worshipping the One True God and seeking after him.

I say “they” because, life spans being what they were then, almost none of them would ever see their home again. They would die in Babylon, as would most of their children. But their grandchildren would see Home again. There was a future. There was a hope. But it was a promise to their nation as a whole, not to each individual – and it was a long way off. Only those who accepted their situation and submitted to the difficult course God had marked out for them could cling to that hope in any fashion.

In his landmark study of corporate success, Good To Great, management scholar Jim Collins identifies one of the keys to achieving greatness as “Confront the Brutal Facts (Yet Never Lose Faith),” and illustrates it with the experience of American POWs in Vietnam. Those who succumbed to despair upon being captured usually died within a short time, as they had lost the will to live. However, those who believed that rescue was imminent rarely lasted much longer: their optimism carried them admirably at first, but once they realized that their hope was false, they too succumbed to despair and died. Only those who faced their situation without false hopes – expecting to spend years in captivity being tortured and deprived – while simultaneously holding on to the eventual hope of deliverance, lived to see America again. Only those prepared to persevere, believing that their perseverance would be rewarded, lasted to the end.

As we have faced our trial, we have heard the voice of Hananiah – the voice of false hope – from many well-meaning Christians. We have also found the commiseration of despair from our non-believing friends. Ironically, the former has proved to be more grating. With the exception of the few who gave truly wise, Biblical advice, we preferred friends who would cry and rage and even curse with us than friends who – however unintentionally – belittled our pain.

Most of the anger is past. The despair, like fog, has gradually cleared. We have confronted the brutal facts and accepted them. And we have begun to find our feet firmly planted on hope. But that hope is not based upon cliches. It is not based upon “promises” which simply aren’t in the Bible. It is based upon something much more concrete.

We know that our Father will never leave us or forsake us, that He has a calling upon our lives and intends to use us to be a blessing to others. He has led us clearly to something difficult and emotionally wrenching that will cost us in every way. He has promised to give us the strength to do all the He calls us to do. And He has promised that His purposes will one day ultimately triumph. That is our hope. We are taking the long view and committing ourselves to perseverance.

The Repentance of a Young-Earth Creationist

“ ‘Neanderthal Man’ was simply a human who walked bent over because he had arthritis. …

There are few, if any, reliable clocks that give the age of the earth to be much older than 10,000 years. …

It is estimated that NASA spent almost $1 billion to figure out how to keep the lunar lander from sinking into the vast amounts of moon dust falsely predicted if the moon were a billion years old.”

I made these claims as a university sophomore in my very first opinion column in the Kansas State Collegian, published on Friday, August 27, 1999.

I was wrong.

I knew at least some of these claims to be false by the spring of 2000; others, I learned of only more recently. How I came to this realization – and, to a lesser extent, why it has taken me so long to speak out – is the subject of this post. The shortest possible summary is found in Proverbs 18:17, “The first to present his case seems right, until another comes forward and questions him.”

At the time that I wrote my column, I was familiar with 3 views of origins: naturalistic evolution, theistic evolution, and young-earth creationism. I easily rejected the first because it utterly excluded God from the creation process and because I could not see how Darwinian mechanims could produce life in all its diversity. Theistic evolution seemed to me like a half-baked idea, merely naturalistic evolution with a veneer of God painted over it, resulting in a poorly-formulated theory that failed to fit either Darwin or Genesis. Although I have since encountered much better formulations of it, the sense of my original objections remains. The young-earth creationist (YEC) viewpoint was trumpeted by every Christian organization I was familiar with, it was the only one I encountered in our local Christian bookstore, it seemed to be very faithful to the Bible, and the science sounded convincing enough.

But when I publicly jumped into the fray over the 1999 Kansas Science Standards – which eliminated Darwinism, the "Big Bang" Theory, and the age of the earth from the curriculum – I quickly became aware of some glaring deficiencies in my view. Though I still had much to learn, I could generally hold my own when it came to biology – if nothing else, I could pick apart most arguments and show that there was, at best, reasonable doubt for claims that natural selection plus random mutation could generate completely new types of organisms. But I knew virtually nothing of astronomy, geology, or anthropology. In exchanges with professors at both Kansas State University and the University of Kansas over these subjects, I quickly proved myself to be an irritating ignoramus. And this began to torment me.

I had taken a public stand on something I could not fully defend. I was way out of my depth. And try as I might, I could not get around the fact that we could see stars that were hundreds of millions of light years away – meaning the universe had to be at least that old for their light to reach us. Psalm 19:1 exuberantly proclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of God!” When I looked up at the night sky in Kansas, dotted with hundreds of stars, I couldn’t rejoice – I just felt bewildered.

The following semester, two things happened which would define my view of origins for the rest of my life. The first was that I completed BIOL 198, Principles of Biology and was utterly unimpressed with the arguments used to sell Darwinism to us. Most proved nothing more than micro-evolution (variations within a species, possibly producing a new but highly-related species with no new features); others were illustrations completely unrelated to actual processes in nature, in which the deck was stacked artificially to make it appear as if Darwinism “worked.” The creation-evolution debate had nearly erupted into an all-out war, and these were the best evidences they had? From that point on, I never took Darwinism seriously as a theory of origins.

The second was that I picked up a book at the local Christian bookstore, which in less than 200 pages refuted everything I had ever read about the age of the Earth and the correct interpretation of Genesis 1. That book was Creation and Time, by Dr. Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist, a Christian, and the founder of Reasons To Believe. It was the first time I had ever heard a fair presentation of the old-earth creationist viewpoint. I had never even considered it before. I didn’t want Hugh Ross to be right, not for any noble reason but simply because I didn’t want to wrong. But as I went back and forth between all the YEC resources I could find, and Dr. Ross’ little book, I found myself unable to resist his clear arguments and evidence from both nature and Scripture. The YECs all boasted about their fidelity to Scripture, but Dr. Ross was the first person I had ever encountered who actually took Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 literally. His entire exposition of the text made more sense than anything I had ever read in YEC material, and it fit better with the rest of the Bible as well. And his scientific explanations not only showed the bankruptcy of the YEC arguments – some of which bordered on dishonesty – they also allowed me to rejoice in the discoveries which were being made about God’s world, instead of constantly fearing them. Nevertheless, I initially embraced the the old-earth view as “the most dejected convert” (as C.S. Lewis describes his conversion from atheism to theism).

But I said nothing publicly. Having been wrong once, I was afraid of speaking too soon. I was at least 99% sure I had been wrong, but what if I really hadn’t been? And although I had twice apologized for erroneous statements in opinion columns, writing an entire column repudiating my former view seemed like too bitter a pill to swallow, not to mention that I didn’t know how to fill my allotted space with it. So I said nothing, gave up my platform at the end of the school year, and returned to normal life as a student and aspiring engineer.

The summer between my undergraduate and graduate educations, Answers In Genesis conducted a Vacation Bible School at my home church. I’m not sure how much the children learned about Jesus, but for an entire week they heard young-earth theories about dinosaurs and were taught that science couldn’t be trusted. The final night, the leader spoke to all the adults for a few hours, trying to convince us of the worthlessness of science and our obligation to believe in a young earth; at one point, he actually told us that if we rejected his views, we were denying that Jesus died for our sins! It was a proposterous twisting of God’s Word. I was offended and disgusted, but I lacked the courage to challenge him to his face.

Over the years, I kept studying and learning. I took the few opportunities I had to educate others, sent an email of apology to two Christian professors at K-State towards whom I had been disrespectful, and in graduate school co-founded a group to study the interface of science and Christianity. But I always regretted not publicly repenting for my error. Although I had “acted in ignorance” (Acts 3:17), my confidence was actually arrogance, and in so doing I had brought disrepute to the name of Jesus.

Today, I know that:

• the “Big Bang” Theory is in fact a compelling confirmation of the Bible that has brought many physicists to faith
• both the Earth and the Universe can be accurately measured as billions of years old
• NASA was never very concerned about moon dust (as the YEC group Answers In Genesis now admits)
• the speed of light has not changed but is in fact one of the key fundamental constants which must be finely-tuned in order for life to exist,
• Neanderthals are competely unrelated to human beings
• the Flood was quite likely a local (i.e. Middle-Eastern) event
• the death of animals has nothing to do with human sin
• the seventh day – the day of God’s rest – is still on-going today.

I now know that Christians have nothing to fear from scientific discoveries or inquisitive Biblical study. I praise God for His grace in gently leading me to the truth, and it is my prayer that others would follow in this pursuit. At the very least, all Christians ought to keep an open mind and a humble posture until they have listened to both sides of the debate, before rejecting out-of-hand the view held by nearly all Christians who actually do science for a living. As Proverbs 18:13 states, “He who answers before listening – that is his folly and shame.”

Better Days

When my Egytpian co-worker wanted to hear a song for New Year’s Day, the first I thought of (other than the eponymous U2 song) was “Better Days” by the Goo Goo Dolls:

You ask me what I want this year
So I’ll try to make this kind and clear
Just the chance that maybe we’ll find better days

I don’t need boxes wrapped in string
Desire, love, and empty things
Just the chance that maybe we’ll find better days

The past year was, in general, a year of disasters the world over. The worst financial crisis in decades has plunged the world into recession. China experienced a major disaster of some sort nearly every single month—the Olympic Torch protests, the Sichuan earthquake, riots in Tibet and elsewhere, the tainted milk scandal—with the one exception being the Olympics themselves. India was hit by the worst and most blatant terrorist attack ever, as our current home—Bombay—was held hostage for 60 hours by ten men; now, an outraged public wonders, as did one protester, “Will I live until the next election?” (And the campaign of terror by radical Hindus against Christians in the state of Orissa continues to this day). Horrors are unfolding in Zimbabwe and the Congo. Israel has essentially declared war on the Gaza Strip—for understandable reasons of national security, yet killing as many civilians as Hamas militants. America’s President is now set to leave office with one of the lowest approval ratings in history (somewhat unfairly) for a two-term administration. It was a year of failing banks and soaring rhetoric, sky-high oil prices and collapsing home prices, greater peace in Iraq but less everywhere else, the election of the first African-American President but with superhuman messianic hopes laid upon his shoulders.

Yet my wife and I look back upon 2008 as a year of tremendous joy and blessings, a year filled with reasons to be thankful. The biggest reason is, admittedly, largely unique to us – it was our first year of marriage! But we were certainly not the only people married at the end of 2007 or during 2008. And what about those older couples whose marriages existed on December 31, 2007, and who are still married on January 1, 2009—perhaps even more in love than before? It may sound like trite sentimentality, but is this not cause for rejoicing – that so many men and women around the world came through a difficult year with someone whom they deeply love still at their side?

For those worried about global warming, the latest data from NASA show that the Earth is now cooler than it was 10 years ago. (Which ought to be good news, unless you’ve staked your career or your purpose in life on preaching doomsday scenarios and battling carbon dioxide). Given Thomas Friedman’s observation that oil prices and freedom seem to move in opposite directions—since dictatorships are often propped up by oil revenues—the fall in commodity prices is good news, even for those such as myself who work in the petroleum business. And even with the recession and stock market downturn, the fact remains that we are all better off materially than our parents were.

As for the war in Iraq, you could be forgiven for not knowing what the mainstream media generally buried: that President George W. Bush, on the 14th of December 2008, signed a security agreement with the Iraqi government committing to a withdrawal of all American troops from Iraqi cities by June 30, 2009, and committing to a complete pullout of all American military forces from Iraq by the end of 2011. The man who led us into Iraq has just gotten us out. That in itself is an answer to millions of prayers.

So perhaps 2008 was not so bad after all. Perhaps we Americans have become a nation of whiners and wimps, who think that we have cheated the Fall only to be harshly reminded that, in fact, original sin remains as stubborn as ever. This is what Gregg Easterbrook called “the paradox of progress” – the better life gets materially, the more miserable we become as our spiritual poverty and fear of losing it all are exposed.

To be fair, that is little consolation to those who were struck by tragedy or violence this year. It is those individuals and communities who have genuine reason to look upon the new year with a mix of both apprehension and yearning.

I am not in the forecasting business. Though we all can hope, and the odds seem good, I honestly have no idea whether 2009 will be better (on the whole) than 2008. “Things can only get better” may be true statistically, but it’s no guarantee. It would be utterly foolish to place our faith in some sort of rebound in political or economic trends, or any new political or business leaders.

Yet I do have great hope that 2009 will hold better days, not only for my wife and I but for the world as a whole. Christians have long held a belief in the possibility of genuine progress. This is not the Modern notion of Progress as an end in and of itself, as if it were a god. Nor is it the vague optimism that assumes progress to be inevitable (“the future is coming!”). But we believe that the entire universe and all of history is in the hands of a good, wise and all-powerful personal God, who is working through both positive and negative events to bring about his purposes. It is His hand that unleashes judgment – but also His hand that holds back the torrent. Sometimes financial impoverishment leads to spiritual wealth, natural disasters lead to human creation, and the terror of war motivates the quest for peace.

So here’s to better days in 2009 – a genuine hope in the One who holds the past, present and future in His hands, of whom it is said, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10); who Himself said, “Behold, I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:20).

May it be so. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

And the One poor child who saved this world
And there’s ten million more who probably could
If we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words
And scream out loud
Everyone is forgiven now
‘Cause tonight’s the night the world begins again

—“Better Days” / words by Johnny Rzeznik © 2005 Warner Records.

She Has A Name

Today as my wife was returning from her work at a children’s ministry, the rickshaw she was riding in came within inches of running over a little girl who was no more than 3 years old. This dirt-covered girl was on the side of the highway, where trucks lumber along and cars zip by, with no mother in sight. She was squatting down to relieve herself, oblivious to the dangerous public setting.

Such sights are common in India, despite the breakneck economic growth and tech companies sprouting up like dandelions after a summer rain. The world sees Bollywood films and successful emigrants across the globe. But here in Mumbai, the media and financial capital of India, we also see crushing poverty first-hand. Not just occasionally, or in just a few disadvantaged neighborhoods, but everywhere and every day.

Heart-broken for this utterly neglected little girl, my wife immediately began looking into adoption procedures in India. Not that we could necessarily scoop her up off the highway, but perhaps there was at least something two affluent young Americans could do when surrounded by such need. Surely a country with so many orphanages and so many starving children would be eager for anyone to help provide for them. The results were not encouraging.

Those adopting a child from India can expect to pay at least $12,000 in fees—not including travel expenses and the like. (After all, someone has to line the pockets of government officials). Also, both the husband and wife must be over 30 years old. And finally, foreigners can only adopt a child if no Indians can first be found to adopt. (As if high-caste Hindus would really take a poor child into their home).

One cannot escape the conclusion that the Indian government does not want these children adopted. It would apparently prefer that they die here, perhaps by being run over by a truck.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently referred to the campaign of terror against Christians in Odisha as a “national shame.” His words were well chosen, although he also chose to wait until most of these people had been driven into refugee camps before taking any action to stop it. Given that several more villages have been burned and three more Christians have been killed, that action seems insufficient. But there is another national shame – the shame of a nation that treats one-third of its children as if they are expendable.

In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), I have always wondered why the beggar is given a name. In no other parable do any of the characters have names – the stories are meant to be illustrations and to relate to anyone. But seeing poverty up close, you realize that the poor – particularly in India – have had their dignity stripped away. They are not seen as valuable. They are not even seen. If one takes the Vedas (the Hindu scriptures) seriously, that little girl beside the road was of less value than a stray dog.

The rich man in Jesus’ parable would have been a prominent figure in his community. He was important. Everybody knew his name. But to Jesus, he has no name. He’s just another guy with money, and without a heart. It is the beggar, the one whom everyone ignores, whom everyone sees but no one cares to know, who is given a name. He has an identity. He is an individual. He is someone. He is Lazarus.

My wife and I will probably never know that girl’s name. Most people here would not even want to know her name. But God does. And long after the names of Bollywood stars, New Delhi politicians, and titans of industry are forgotten by the public, her name will stand.

She is not a worthless Dalit. She is someone. She is a child of God.

A Theology of the Body

A recent article on Breakpoint, "Theology of the Body," is one of the most insightful and sorely-needed essays I have seen in some time. Inspired largely by the extensive work of Polish priest Karol Wojtyla (aka Pope John Paul II) but thoroughly grounded in the Bible, it offers a challenge to the church to reclaim the goodness of sexuality and the human body from a culture that has degraded it. As Christopher West notes, "If the typical Christian in our culture spilled the contents of his mind on a table, ideas about sex would probably look a lot more like Hugh Hefner’s vision than the apostle Paul’s... the world is starved for love, and when the Church fails to proclaim the glory of the banquet, we inevitably fall for the lies of the dumpster."


I must offer a few criticisms of what is otherwise an outstanding article. First and foremost, the author blames the sexual revolution on "our puritanical heritage." If by that he is referring to the Puritans themselves, he is sorely mistaken, for they celebrated the goodness of the body and of creation, and even excommunicated a man for not meeting his wife's sexual needs. The 2004 Desiring God Conference, organized by prominent evangelical pastor John Piper, was entitled "Sex and the Supremacy of Christ." My own church, which is based upon the Westminster Confession, the statement of faith of the Puritans, last year featured a 5-week sermon series on Song of Solomon entitled "Better Than Wine."

Additionally, the modern narrative that sex was shameful and taboo until hippies discovered it in the 1960s is simplistic and revisionist. Yet West seems to buy into it unquestioningly. It is true that open discussion of such matters was largely absent at that time, which was a mistake. But even if our culture was truly repressive of sexuality in the 1950s and before--and that's a big "IF"--it certainly can't be blamed on the Puritans or on evangelicals, although some blame might be placed on a post-Christian morality that sought to preserve societal standards while rejecting any transcendent basis for them.

Second, he uses the excellent phrase "sin management" to refer to a legalistic approach to morality, but fails to credit the source: philosopher Dallas Willard in The Divine Conspiracy, possibly the best exposition ever of the Sermon On the Mount.

Nevertheless, I highly recommend West's introduction to such an important and oft-neglected concept. My wife and I have been studying 1 Corinthians together over the past year, and it is amazing how often the word "body" is used--both in describing the church as "the body of Christ" and in addressing how individuals used and related to their bodies. If we truly understood and related to our bodies in a Biblical manner, the results--in our lives, in the Church as a whole, and in broader society--would be truly beautiful.

Extremes

In the past three months, my wife and I have seen almost every imaginable extreme of Christianity.


We spent 3 weeks in Visakhapatnam, India--where she worked at an orphanage--and saw the Church flourishing in all its manifestations. It seemed Jesus was everywhere in that Hindu nation--honored in church buildings and billboards, portrayed or quoted on auto rickshaws and trucks, in the hearts of taxi drivers and hotel clerks and chemical engineers and teenage orphans. The gospel is bearing fruit all over India, even in former Hindu strongholds, sometimes in recognizable forms--as in the evangelical faith embraced by Dalits ("untouchables") and tribals, or the Catholic forms that have existed in the south since the arrival of the Apostle Thomas--but sometimes in completely new and even controversial ways, such as the "Hindu followers of Jesus" among the higher castes. We spent Easter morning reading the last 3 chapters of Luke while watching the sun rise over the Bay of Bengal, with tears of emotion flowing like the waves in front of us; we spent the next Sunday worshipping at a Catholic church where we sang Wesleyan hymns and heard the gospel clearly (despite all the adoration of statues afterward). Seeing the crushing effects of caste and superstition firsthand was hard, but the beauty of the culture shone through nonetheless, particularly among those who knew their Creator.


We spent 2 lovely weeks in England and Wales, lands with a glorious Christian history where the Church presently seems to be in a state of long, gradual decline. We attended a Methodist church which had just merged with a Presbyterian church in a mutual effort to deal with declining membership and lack of interest among the young. Life in north England seemed, particularly for the younger crowd, to revolve around pubs, nightclubs, and "sponging" off the government. So much of our spiritual heritage is in England: the Wesleys (whose hometown of Epworth we visited), the Puritans, George Whitefield, John Newton, William Wilberforce, David Livingstone, John Bunyan, William Carey... the list seems endless. Everywhere there were beautiful churches, some nearly 900 years old, magnificent architectural expressions of the glory of God--but most attracted far more tourists than worshippers.


Within 48 hours after returning from England, we landed in Oklahoma, and have now been in Bartlesville, OK, for almost 4 weeks. My wife has been volunteering at Voice Of the Martyrs, a ministry to persecuted Christians headquartered here. You would think that the most bizarre forms of Christianity would have been found in India, where temptations to Hindu syncretism and accomodations to the caste system are common; or in England, where secularism is rampant and the decline of the Anglican Church is overshadowed only by the ridiculous antics of their province in the USA (The Episcopal Church). But here in the Bible Belt, less than an hour's drive from my home state, among fellow volunteers for a respected evangelical ministry that we regularly donate to, my wife encountered some of the worst distortions of the gospel I have ever seen.


"Jenny" and "Jill" (not their real names) are sisters in their late twenties, friendly and fun-loving all-American girls - on the surface. They live at home and have yet to marry, as they are not allowed to date and their father has yet to find a man he thinks is suitable for them. They were home-schooled throughout high school and are not allowed to attend college. Here in Bartlesville they watch TV almost constantly, since they are forbidden to do so at home, but they wouldn't think of listening to rock music--not even contemporary praise and worship--or wearing a skirt that isn't ankle-length. When my wife put on a CD of respected worship artist Chris Tomlin, they responded with utter disgust, as they were taught that anything other than hymns and classical is “worldly.” Their family lives on the outskirts of Houston but never goes into the city because it is "too dangerous." Their Christianity is defined by the list of rules they keep, particularly of things that there particular church tells them they must not do, which they believe makes them more holy. Their oldest brother rebelled against this oppressive life and married an atheist, obtaining his parents' approval only by claiming to have impregnated her.

Jenny and Jill were quite normal compared to some of the other families. In one large family of homeschoolers, the children were so unaccustomed to interacting with others that they could barely function in social situations. Stories of rebellious older siblings abounded alongside resentment of their parents. There were shining examples as well - innovative homeschoolers who taught their children to engage all of God's world. But these were the exceptions. In attempt to protect their children from the corruptions of the world, many of these parents had in fact left them ill-prepared to navigate it. In attempt to be more holy, they had missed the heart of the gospel by substituting stricter rules for deeper and broader relationship.

Note theologian J.I. Packer once summed up the gospel in 3 words: "God saves sinners." The gospel is fundamentally about God Himself, who takes the initiative to save those who cannot dig themselves out of the hole they are in. They in turn respond in love and gratitude, by loving God and loving others. The entire Bible is the story of God's work or redemption, of literally chasing after fallen humanity to bring them back into relationship with Himself. This culminated in a holy God taking on flesh and immersing Himself in His own world, amongst His own rebellious creatures.


Read the Gospels, and look at who hated Jesus--the self-righteous inventors and keepers of man-made rules, those who believed the purpose of man was to follow these rules as strictly as possible and thus be more holy. But if the purpose of life is to not do certain things, then God would have been wiser to not create us, for someone who does not exist cannot do anything wrong. If the purpose of life were simply to follow rules (and hide from or condemn those who didn't), God wouldn't have sent His own Son into the world to redeem it and He wouldn't have given us a book that is mostly stories of real people or descriptions of His own character.

Jesus was called "a glutton and a drunkard" for hanging out with "sinners." He did not shrink from cultural immersion and engagement with the world - yet He lived a perfect life and had a profound effect on all those he encountered. These days Christians are more likely to emphasize Jesus' deity, in response to those would claim that He is just "a good teacher" or "a good man." But we also must avoid the earliest heresy in the Church, the tendency to forget Jesus' humanity. In fact, He not only was fully man, he was more fully human than anyone, for His humanity was undiminished by sin. And He came to redeem our entire selves--not just our spirits--and to redeem the entire world, rather than to take us out of it. As theologian Hans Rookmaaker said, "Jesus did not come to make us Christian; Jesus came to make us fully human".

But to be fully human implies growth towards maturity; the kind of true freedom that comes from being able to choose the hard right over the easier wrong not because someone makes you, but because your own character and integriy compels you; and the flourishing of one's potential in all areas of life. Every parent wants to shield their children from the worst of the world. But in becoming an adult, a child must learn to face the world; in becoming a Christian adult, he or she must learn to engage it for God's glory. When all of someone's decisions are made for them, when their entire life is controlled, then they are ill-prepared for life on their own. They leave home and discover that their faith has no root. They don't know why they believe what they believe, but even worse, following Jesus is not their heart's desire. They have only done what they were told, and now that no one's telling them what to do, they have no deep-seated convictions of their own to guide them.

In Jesus' day, there were two major distortions of the faith. The Sadducees were the liberals, denying all but the first five books of the Scriptures, rejecting the resurrection and most of the supernatural world, and brazen in the pursuit of wealth and political power. The Pharisees were the conservatives - founded upon a genuine desire to preserve true Judaism, apparently very religious and fervent in their rule-keeping, yet Jesus called them hypocrites because they loved money more than God and praise from men more than men themselves. They "knew the Scriptures" (unlike the Sadduccees) but missed the heart of God. We see the same distortions today in Christianity, and true evangelicals strive to avoid either extreme.

I've encountered modern-day Sadducees before, and they were truly pathetic. But few people mistake that for real Christianity. It's the Pharisees that scare me.

Of course, in the end, they both voted to crucify the Lord.

A Lesson in Patriotism

This past Sunday I received a powerful lesson in patriotism. Partway through a long, passionate prayer, the Rev. Elvin S. Bloice of Muckle Memorial Baptist Church launched into a series of invocations for our nation's leaders. He prayed for the President and his cabinet, for both houses of Congress, then for the governor and the local political leaders, for the men and women of our armed forces, and even for victory over "the forces of evil" in Iraq and Afghanistan. He prayed so much for America that my own patriotism was put to shame. What was all the more remarkable was that, except for my wife and I and a few visitors, no one there could even vote in a federal election.

Muckle Memorial is on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, a territory which was purchased from Denmark for reasons of national defense in 1917. The congregation is entirely black--with the exception of ourselves and a young Hispanic woman visiting from Florida with her Crucian-born husband--and, on the whole, lower-income. They do not strike a visitor as the types to be waving American flags and donating to the Republican Party. Here in America's Caribbean, it would seem they could escape the turmoils and concerns of those in the 50 states. Yet they prayed more fervently for their country, for my country, than I do on most occasions.

This was one of the most profound demonstrations of patriotism I have seen in some time. It was not even remotely political, nor did it stem from a blind certainty that America is always right. They genuinely loved their country, simply because it was theirs. It was because of this, as well as enlightened self-interest (1st Timothy 2:1-2), that they prayed for all of those in our government, regardless of party. I left wondering why I didn't pray for my country more. I left wondering if Christian conservatives would pray as fervently and lovingly for a President Hillary Clinton as for President George W. Bush. After all, if you think someone is a bad president, ought you to pray even harder that they would act with wisdom and have the courage to do what is just? I left wondering if, despite our rhetoric about one nation "under God," our political activism sometimes crowds out our trust in God's sovereignty and His ability to work through all political authorities--even evil and incompetent ones.

For now, I'm grateful that my disenfranchised island brothers and sisters reminded me what it meant to be a true patriot.

The World Will Remember

As I was reading the Bible in my hotel room in China this past December, a single word captivated me and has been on my mind ever since. Psalm 22 is a Messianic psalm, written by David, pointing to the crucifixion of Jesus and the redemption it brings about. Verse 27 predicts, "All the ends of the Earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You" (ESV, emphasis added).

Remember? Remember what? Isn't the proclamation of the gospel, the good news, something new? One could surmise that those in Christian or post-Christian cultures will remember what they or their ancestors believed. But what are the Chinese, the native peoples of America, the Indians, the Thai, the Japanese, the Turks, the Aborogines and the Namibians supposed to remember? In many cultures the gospel is seen, not as good news, but as something foreign and at odds with the traditions handed down to them.

The remembering that David speaks of stretches much farther back, not only before the time of Christ, but before his own time, before Abraham's time, back to the earliest epochs of human history. According to Genesis, at one time all of humanity knew who God was and worshipped him and him alone. Over time, as the ravages of sin drew mankind further and further away from God, this knowledge was lost and the worship of one God was forgotten or replaced by other practices. But everyone alive today, in every culture in existence, is descended from one man and one woman who knew God personally and lived in or near the Middle East.

The Genesis account is being increasingly verified both by scientific and cultural studies. A 1987 paper in Nature concluded, from a study of mitochondrial DNA (which is inherited only from the mother) that essentially all humans alive today are descended from the same woman. Over the next 20 years, additional work narrowed in on the date and location of “Mitochondrial Eve,” suggested that all humans may share a common male ancestor as well (Adam?), and found evidence of a severe constriction in the human population at one point (a severe flood?). Although views of human origins remain contentious, the leading contender is now the Out-of-Africa Hypothesis, which claims that humanity originated in northeast Africa and spread from there over the entire Earth.

Cultural insights corroborate this. In his book Eternity In Their Hearts, missiologist Don Richardson recounts over 20 instances in which missionaries discovered striking analogies to the gospel in primitive cultures. In one instance, after two Americans were enthusiastically received and found their message readily embraced by an isolated tribe, they told of an ancient prophecy in that tribe that one day two pale-skinned men would appear with a book telling them how to be reconciled to God. American Indians serving as short-term missionaries in Mongolia discovered astonishing similarities between their own cultural practices and those of the nomadic plains people they met—not surprising if North America was originally settled by peoples from Asia migrated through Alaska. In the midst of explosive growth of Christianity in China, Faith of Our Fathers: God in Ancient China by Chan Kei Thong with Charlene L. Fu documents the increasing evidence that the early Chinese were monotheistic, worshipping and sacrificing to Shang Di, “The Emperor of Heaven.” The authors claim to have found the entire first several chapters of Genesis represented in Chinese language, myth, and traditions. A recent documentary, meanwhile, makes similar (though less far-reaching) claims about Japanese culture. These are just a few of the many examples of what Paul claimed in Romans 1:19-23, that evidence of a supreme Creator abounds in all cultures.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. … For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened. … [they] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

In the anti-missionary movie At Play In the Fields of the Lord, an American Indian pilot working for missionaries in South America asks an idealistic young man, “If God made Indians they way they are, who are you to change them?” The answer is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is not an invitation to become Western, but an invitation to be reconciled with one’s own creator and to see one’s culture redeemed and restored to what God originally intended it to be.

So what are all the world’s diverse peoples being called to remember? The God whom their ancestors worshipped, who created their unique culture and left them with clues to prepare them for the truly good news that He is their God and their Redeemer as well.