DJD319 - Evolution Bananas

Read More Daily Jesus

Scripture: 

Romans 1:20

Starting Question:

Are there any topics that irritate you? What are they? Why do they irritate you?

Why Sermons on Evolution send me BANANAS

Sermons on Evolution send me bananas. I have heard my fair share of sermons on evolution and read a number of articles on the topic. I’ve even written one. And I apologise. Why am I sorry? Why do they bother me?

Because you can’t find Evolution in the Bible. You have to preach it from somewhere else. Every evolution sermon I’ve heard spends the majority of its time building a case against evolution using science. That’s like helping a drowning person by giving them a drink. 

Using the scientific method to pull apart something built using the scientific method is forgetting who we are as Christians. As Biblical teachers, we are not meant to be scientifically proving or disproving anything. As Christians, we are not naturalists but theists. It makes as much sense to ‘borrow’ your neighbour’s lottery tickets to see if you won as it does to borrow his worldview and teaching method to prove your faith.

We are meant to be teaching the themes of Scripture using Scripture. We have been given a story that comes with its own worldview and its own teaching strategy. This worldview is not based on logic and this teaching strategy is not the scientific method. We have been given a story - THE story - of Divine interaction with humanity. We are meant to be telling this epic story from within Scripture’s pages. 

God speaks through story. That’s why the Bible is 75 percent story. If God wanted us to have a big list of logic proofs, He would have filled the Bible with lists. Instead His Book is filled with stories of truth. The only lists are names - lots and lots of names - each part of a greater story. And yet, steeped in the scientific method, we pull those stories apart and create proof texts. Shame on us! 

The worldview given by God’s Word is one based on Logos, not logic. It is the product of God’s mind and hands, not ours. We need to get out of our heads and into God’s - by reading, praying, teaching and living His Word. 

Why do we feel compelled to prove things? Why do we use the scientific method in church? Why do we feel it is right to do so? Because we are steeped in naturalism and a scientific worldview - so deeply we don’t realise how embedded we are - in today’s culture, thinking and way of being. It’s a worldview which has been developing for hundreds - even thousands - of years.

There is a theistic worldview which reaches back to before time began. It comes not from the mind of mankind, but from the mind and heart of God. We were created to live, think, teach and love His way. Our worldview should not be natural but supernatural. As believers in God, our worldview should be theistic; founded on allowing the spiritual to explain all things. Not naturalistic - which demands that things explain the spiritual. That's a quick recipe for a Godless universe - in your head, anyway.

** Continued in Why Sermons on Character Development drive me NUTS tomorrow **

Reflection Question:

How much of your day is filled thinking God's thoughts?

Prayer time:

Before you pray together, ask: What would you like to say to Jesus today?