For many folks discussions of creation and the beginnings of the earth has caused steam to come out of their ears while they digest or reject differing opinions. Spirit filled and or educated humans have dealt with these discussions with various levels of grace for one another. Usually about the same amount as when they argue about the rapture or second coming. Literal 7 days, intelligent design, evolution or creative agnosticism are all options that followers of Christ and His teachings have claimed over the years. I don’t know about you but I still have a thousand questions when it comes to this area of thought. Every time I hear an expert go on at length while referencing a giant chart, I find myself getting more and more frustrated with weak answers to big questions. Dinosaurs… what about the dinos! My son is convinced they came from outer space and are intact not extinct, they just got tired of living here. That makes more sense than some of the evangelists I have heard over the years.
I personally know that to take the Bible as a completely literal piece of literature would be a mistake, and makes it difficult to take seriously. I have taken on the task of reading views different than the traditional stream of evangelical thought over the last couple of years and have found my faith more secure than ever. It is a good challenge to take up. I recommend Genesis for Normal People by Pete Enns on the whole creation topic. I am sure there are more and possibly better options, but I get where Enns is coming from most of the time. The more you read, the more you grow! The wise pastor Ken Solbrekken once told me that readers are leaders… I took him seriously and started reading and expanding as much as I could.
So where does that leave us? Because I didn’t answer anything. Is it possible, that it is ok not to know everything? I think it is.
Isaiah 55:8-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Maybe, just maybe, it is ok to not know everything. To me this is license to be a bit confused sometimes. This is license to ask questions and push on what is believed to be right without being a heretic. This is license to say… “yea but I don’t really see that in the Bible.” I want my faith to be faith, I don’t want my faith to be fact. If it was just based on facts that I didn’t have to push in on, then I would just be teaching history lessons week after week… that’s pretty boring. The faith we have in Christ is beautiful because it means we need to rely on something far more super natural than we can fathom. I love that!
To wrap this up, we went as a family to see Early Man today in the theatre. I was expecting various levels of evolutionary narrative and tough questions to answer from my children. I was pleasantly surprised that this movie actually answered some deep questions. I don’t even care that I know their answers are wrong. I loved the story. What was the questions answered in this movie? Where did proper football come from?! That’s right, soccer, or more accurately referred to as FOOTBALL. It came from a meteor from the heavens that turned into a game. Not only did this movie not credit evolution (to keep my conservative friends happy), but it declared God as the creator of football. If that isn’t an endorsement, I don’t know what is.
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