Maybe It's Not All His Fault

I just finished marveling at how Michael Shermer could have misunderstood Christianity so badly. Maybe it's not all his fault.

His recent Scientific American piece suggests that Christians would want to embrace evolution if only we understood how it explains morality, family values, and why people don't get along, not to mention free-market economics. He seems blithely unaware that Christians might object to these being explained without any reference to God. Apparently Shermer thinks God isn't all that important to Christians.

Is it possible this is because we Christians have been focusing on the wrong issues, or in the wrong way? Are we spending so much time talking about morality and family values that we've forgotten God is the real issue?

The Christian faith is not fundamentally about behavior but about a Person, the Creator, the God of the universe, revealed in Jesus Christ.

Yes, there are implications in Christianity for how we act; yes, they are important; and yes, they are important not just on an individual level but on a national/cultural level. I'm not suggesting we relax our stand on these things. But are we communicating them in a way that confuses? Are we unintentionally saying they are the heart of our concerns? Because they aren't--the glory of God is the heart. But if we're not miscommunicating, how else could an educated man like Michael Shermer think God is optional for us?

My friend and colleague Brad Bright wrote a very insightful book, God is the Issue: Recapturing the Cultural Initiative. (It's not currently in print--though there is discussion of another print run--but there are a few copies available at Amazon anyway.) He says,

"The church in America today generally communicates with the culture in one of two ways. Either we preach the straight gospel without regard to the cultural and personal context, or we simply react defensively to the symptomatic cultural ills--such as homosexual behavior, abortion, racism, or pornography. Unlike Jesus, we have a difficult time using the cultural context as a relevant platform for making the God of the Bible the issue. Therefore, God comes across as largely irrelevant to the everyday life of the average American."

Michael Shermer has illustrated the point all too clearly. I recommend you grab a copy of the book while you have the chance.

Posted: Fri - September 22, 2006 at 12:00 PM |

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson getCategoryName("<$CategoryUUID$>");

Maybe It's Not All His Fault

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson