Last night before I went to bed, I watched House. It's a drama centered on an egotistical, rude, and brilliant physician, Dr. House, played by Hugh Laurie. The series stretches credibility in that a person with the ill manners of House would not survive the flood of lawsuits provoked by his meanness, but the writing is good, and the medical mysteries are engaging. In last night's episode, House vs. God, the doctor, who is committed to the principle that all developments have rational explanations, is faced with events he cannot explain. A boy healer, who prays for the sick in the name of Jesus, supposedly heals a woman with cancer while he is hospitalized. In the end, Dr. House figures out the 'healing' has a natural explanation, although it happens through an amazing convergence of factors. The choice that the program sets up is irrational faith or rational science.
Is that really the either/or that we must choose?
Does it all really come down to a choice between believing God irrationally or trusting 'science' and keeping our intellectual integrity?
There is a lot of arrogance in the assertion that we can understand everything and that we can explain all of life by scientific means. Of course, there is a kind of proud ignorance that hides from the mysteries of life behind superficial 'faith' phrases and proof texts from the Bible, too. Genuine humility allows us to think rationally yet to admit that there are things happening around us that defy our explanations. For example, scientific inquiry leads some to the "Big Bang" theory as an explanation for the origin of our universe. Great! Now tell me, what/who was the First Cause for that event? We have detailed knowledge of the life process, the insemination of the egg by the sperm, and the wonder of development of an embryo that emerges from the womb 9 months later as a baby, but what causes that 'spark' of life?
I am ever so thankful for those whose study and science have given us aspirin, electricity, and the Internet. I will use those technologies to make my life better and more productive, but I will also retain my faith in God that gives my life meaning and purpose! How about you? I won't let myself be forced into what I think is a false choice between rational thought and genuine faith. To set up up a choice between the 'head' and the 'heart' is a terrible mistake and it ignores Jesus challenge to us. He said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ (Matthew 22:37, NLT)
Rick Nanez, in a book titled Full Gospel, Fractured Minds, writes this - "Christianity with zeal and emotion, yet without knowledge and intellectual prowess, fits ideally into a society such as ours, where a nonrational, feelings-oriented, subjective way of life is customary. Yet as children of the Kingdom, God urges us to be radically distinct ... Reason and logic are gifts from God; the mind and the intellect are, in large measure, His image in us; and science, education, and the arts are at their best when under the dominion of those who are called out from the blinding clutches of those with a fallen world-view."
Let's not be lazy about using the mind that God gave us, nor so arrogant that we are unwilling to trust the Word and the Spirit when He leads us to faith. Rather with holy hearts and minds, let's serve the Lord God.
"In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect," (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)
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