I want to create. This past May I attended a men’s faith retreat, and got completely destroyed. Now, before you become quick to dismiss everything and move on to the next blog, video, picture, whatever - hear me out. I’ve always been “religious" but always felt distant from the church and close to a higher power which I choose to believe is God, the Christian God that is. What I learned at the beautiful ranch in Colorado was how wrong I was. The relationship I felt wasn’t nearly as strong as I thought it was, an now that I continually work on developing that relationship, like any other, it becomes stronger. Side bar - I went to the University of North Carolina Wilmington, where I studied Marine Biology. I studied the evolutionary theory, or as I like to refer to it as: fact, as well as a number of other important biological concepts. I also studied logic, very intently I might add. So this begs the question: how, with all the logic and reason accompanied with a background in evolutionary science, can there be any room for he Bible? That was my burning question entering the retreat. Like I said before, I want to create. I imagine a world where people aren’t afraid of science demonizing them and where the religious and spiritual are viewed as dumb. I imagine a world where atheists choose not to believe because that is their prerogative, not because it’s “hip to be square" (thanks Huey Lewis), and the faithful don’t condemn them. In this same world, the faithless honor the decisions of the faithful in what they choose to believe. Why do some Christians feel the need to save atheists but leave Muslims, Hindus and Jews alone? I will say this: these words are not for saving souls, nor are they meant to provide answers. My words exist to expose the world I imagine, because I have come to know it well. A world where God speaks, science explains religion, and where the sharing of what God has put in my life doesn’t label me as dumb or zealous, but rather observant and curious-a scientist of God if you will. These are the words of a warrior.
As I mention in the introduction, Colorado is where my faith truly began, and I find myself in a 12 passenger van heading back to CO from Indianapolis, where I live and work. This trip though will not be much like the last trip, this one is filled with camping, whitewater rafting and climbing a mounting in Buena Vista all while teaching and learning about servant based leadership. During the 14 hour drive, a conversation sparks with my coworker and friend, Jaden, who is driving while I copilot. We start talking about evolution and the difference between it and creationism. I made a quick observation: we tend to view “the beginning" in one of two ways. Either you believe something miraculous happened by whomever you worship, or some crazy sciencey thing happened and coupled with evolution, here we are. I mentioned before that I studied evolution in college, but trust me, I am far from an expert in the field, but the concepts are fairly easy to grasp. I’ll break it down the science way first.
-Evolution-
Pretty simple: Big Bang (which I find hilarious that the iPhone autocorrects to capitalize) —> elements condense forming water and atmosphere —> living things in the water —> living things come out of the water —> birds/reptiles, then mammals, and eventually advanced mammals referred to as humans. If I’m off here, tell me.
Now lets compare that to Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land," and the gathered waters he called “seas." And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. " And it was so.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
They match up pretty nicely, right? Isn’t it funny how the order in which things appear on earth according to science, with boat loads of evidence we call fossils and the science of at on dating, matches up with what the Bible says? Who knew? Granted,
I skimmed through about 4.2 billion years of history there, but in hitting major points, it’s interesting how close the two are, which leads me to my message in all this. I present two challenges, one to those who would be called creationist supports and the other to evolution supporters.
Creationist only supporters: you have falsely built these perimeters in your head that tell you if you trust in evidence, you will burn in hell. Break those walls down. Don’t be afraid to learn something and apply it to your faith. A comfortable Christian is a bored Christian - shake it up and ask God those hard questions. Have a conversation with him beyond begging for forgiveness.
Evolutionists: you can’t begin to comprehend God’s logic. On some level you are going to have to have faith, even it isn’t in God. Sure space exists, but how and when was it created? And what created that? And that? And that? Until you can’t come up with reasons, that is whee faith lies for you. Evolution begins when a mutation in the DNA of a plant/animal/virus appears. But why that mutation? Why at that time? Selection is natural yes, but can only occur as a result of a mutation. Is it so hard to believe that maybe God is responsible for that mutation?
When we strive to live together peacefully instead of despising and demonizing each other, we are capable of learning so much more - the things we are intended to learn. Dare to be open minded and accepting. Keep in mind I had struggled with this as well. Imagine a creationist and an evolutionist fighting inside one mind for a second-that was me. What solved this conflict is to be told later.
