Sacred Cynicism

Sometimes it seems there are issues that divide us so deeply that we cannot get past the gulf to engage each other. One issue that seems to fit that mold is the issue of Evolution vs. Creation. It seems most of our culture either drives cars adorned with the fish symbol, or we drive the Darwin-fish with legs symbol. And so the battle is joined, and rages on today. One either belongs to the narrow-minded God made everything crowd, or one is a part of the godless, pagan science crowd. The question must be asked, “is this the only 2 choices available?”

I think there are many people who roam uncomfortably between these 2 warring camps. I must admit that I am one of these people. I look at these 2 choices and find myself deeply uncomfortable with either side. Perhaps even more importantly, I can’t see a point in arguing this issue. Perhaps we do not need to, and we can move beyond this falsely presented argument. Maybe not everyone who looks at evolution is a godless deceiver, and maybe not everyone who believes in a creator is a knuckle-dragging dimwit. Certainly there must be another choice.

I think the choice today is similar to the one that faced the first readers of Genesis. The early Jewish people were surrounded by people who believed the physical world was created by warring gods, and the Earth was simply the aftermath of the battle damage. The gods were not purposeful in the creation, nor did they care about those who lived on the Earth. In Genesis we have a poetic response to this idea. Using language familiar to them the writer wants to let the readers know that they were purposefully made, the creation was good, and this creation calls us to respond to the maker of heaven and Earth. This same message still rings true today. We are not here by cosmic accident, but through the purposeful work of a Creator.

Scientific approaches to the process of how things came to be tell us how things happened, but they leave us devoid of who we are, and why we are. At its heart evolution is a scientific view that does not speak of God. If one says evolution, therefore no God, then that person has overstepped the boundaries of science. If another says God, therefore no science, then that person has also overstepped the claims of faith, and even the claims of Genesis. Perhaps I can listen to science and let it describe the processes that are at work in our world. At the same time, I can also embrace the Genesis story. It is a story that does not seek to scientifically describe my world, but seeks to tell me how to relate to a holy God that is at the heart of any creative order, and scientific process. Perhaps there are grand processes that have been at work, and are still at work today. I’ll listen to science here. Perhaps I’ll listen to Genesis, as it tells me I really become fully aware when God breathes His Spirit into me (2:7). After all, God is behind the whole thing.