Science Versus Faith - Who Cares?

One of my daughters had a boyfriend not so long ago. Turns out that he wasn't a "Krispie" (is that word used globally or is it just a NZ word for a Christian, given that we have a biscuit - "cookie" to you Americans - by that name?). My view is that she's and adult now and she's the one going out with whoever she chooses, not me, so I decided to trust my daughter's judgement. Nana wasn't quite so in tune with this and decided that this lad needed urgent conversion (actually, I'd agree that everyone should have the opportunity to hear the Good News of the Gospel regardless of whether or not they're going out with my daughter, but that's just me).  On hearing that the young man was of a scientific disposition and therefore, unable to see how a God could possibly exist within that little box of logic, Nana decided to get the big guns onto him and enlisted the help of an elderly former scientist to write a letter explaining why God is scientifically real. As it turns out, my daughter broke up with her boyfriend before he got the opportunity to read the letter so it's been filed away for future reference.

When I was in 6th form, I had to write an essay on the theory of evolution in Biology. Of course, being 16 and a new Christian, meant that I knew so much more than any fool science teacher (sorry K - not you of course!) and I wrote a (short!) essay (okay, maybe it was a short paragraph), declaring that the whole thing was a load of rubbish and that was that! My Biology teacher told me I'd failed the assignment - and that was that. He did offer me the opportunity to resubmit with a clear outline on my view of Creation but, being a 16 year old who already knew far more than he did (in other words, being a 16 year old who was going to the beach with her boyfriend that weekend), I declined the offer. It didn't look to good on my end of year report - but I had a great tan.

So it WAS God who came up with the idea for Dragonball Z! "Kaaa-meee-aaa-meee-aaa-meee!!"

So what's the deal on this whole Creation vs Evolution thing? The Faith vs Science? What do I believe? Well for a start I reckon that it might have saved Chris Columbus a lot of time and money if He'd just turned to Isaiah 40:22 and noticed that God had already mentioned that the earth was round but I guess he wouldn't have stumbled onto America if he'd stayed at home and coloured in his map books.  To tell the truth, I don't think I CAN argue the Science and Faith thing because I just don't think it matters what I believe but it does matter to me what I KNOW. I know that Jesus is real in my life. I know that He loves me. I know that my life has meaning because He loves me. Personally, I don't care if the world started with a bang, a pointy finger or a storm in a teacup. I don't care if anyone thinks that I just use Jesus as a crutch to get through life - because I just don't get how anyone can make it through life without Him. I just know what I know. I probably wouldn't last long in an argument defending what I know. I'd get all knotted up in my own words and that little vein in my neck would probably start throbbing the way it does when I feel frustrated. But that's okay with me because I know that God is bigger than my puny little words and He doesn't need me to argue the point to prove His existence.

I've heard the theory that dinosaurs went onto the ark with Noah. Not sure what I think of that. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Maybe they were running around the Garden of Eden a number of years ago (and don't ask me how many years ago because I don't know and once again, I don't really care). If they were, I wonder how Adam and Eve made it to old age?

Probably just as well the scarysaurus had an aversion to figs.

So when it comes to putting the Bible into relevance in my own life, what do I care about? I care about all the times we're told about love. We're told that we're loved - no matter what. We're told to love each other - no matter what. For me, that's the guts of the Gospel. That's the Good News. I'm loved. You're loved. We're not expected to split churches or start wars and genocide over what we believe. Just love and be loved by the most amazingly, incredibly, powerfully, omnipotent (that means able to do anything), omnipresent (He's right here for us all the time, wherever we are) God ever. Just right where you are, whether you believe in the Big Bang Theory or the Vegetarian Dinosaurs Theory, whether you're brown or pink, whether you're married or single, child or adult, sinner or saint, straight or gay...whoever, whatever and wherever you are...God loves you. Jesus died in your place and by the power of God rose again so that we can be with Him forever. Good news, eh? That's the place to start. The rest...just let God do it.

Oh...my daughter has another boyfriend by the way. I might have to dig out that letter after all.