The Schnauzer Dilemma

(This article originally appeared on One Flew Over the Church)

I want to share an interesting story from yesterday. My family has recently acquired a full-blooded miniature schnauzer. He is an incredibly smart dog, especially for his age. I was dropping him off to be groomed yesterday when he encountered a larger, unfamiliar dog. He set into full defense mode, ready to defend himself and me from a perceived threat. The other dog’s owner had a comment that has since struck me. “That schnauzer instinct is coming out isn’t it?” You see, schnauzers are very loyal and very territorial. If you aren’t a schnauzer and you aren’t a Burnham, he has to see you be approved by a Burnham or you have to leave. It is a lot like having a 12-pound bouncer around the house. It is just all part of being a full-blooded schnauzer.
My dog lives in a box – a schnauzer box.

I looked at that example and then thought to myself about the boxes we put ourselves in. I wondered about what box I am prone to climb into. You have big boxes labeled “Baptist”, “Methodist”, “Catholic” and so on. I guess I have one labeled “Reforming Emergent Calvinist Covenant Theologian who is a member of a rather contemporary Baptist church”. Unlike my now famous dog, I am a mutt. We all have a box to some extent or another. We may not always fall prey to it, but we react to situations a certain way because that is how ______s are supposed to react to those situations.

Now think about the primary reason for putting people in boxes - we put people in boxes we call caskets because they are dead. Jesus called us to life and life more abundant. There is no life, future or abundance in a casket. If this is true, then why do we insist on living in caskets? Why do we continue to follow the crowd around us.

Now look at what happens when someone gets up out of their casket. For that we go back to the schnauzer analogy:

One of my wife’s good friends has a miniature schnauzer as well. It is as solid white as new fallen snow. When they got their dog, they contacted the American Kennel Club (AKC) to look into registering him. Turns out he’s not a schnauzer. He’s a defect. It does not matter that he has full-blooded schnauzer parents. The AKC does not recognize white schnauzers. “Don’t breed him. Get him neutered and enjoy your pet” was what the AKC told them. It doesn’t matter that he is territorial, has the thick eyebrows and beard or that he is full blooded. He broke ranks and now he is out of the shrine.

How many times have we seen that happen to people before?

The point I want to make with all this rambling is that we have been called to life. To truly pursue that life, we need to seek out that life for ourselves. There is a lot of truth to be found in most Christian denominations. There is a lot of error to be found as well. The key is to seek out the truth for ourselves and not derive our opinion simply from what our denominational doctrine says.

As for the schnauzers, one is recognized by the institution and one is not. Both are loved and treasured by their masters. Isn’t the Master’s opinion of us the one that matters?

Bang!

(This article originally appeared on One Flew Over the Church)

I remember growing up and hearing about the "Big Bang" theory pertaining to the origin of the Universe. I heard about this from several sources - school, books, television and I even recall a magazine cover (I think it was Time) that highlighted the theory. Being a modern evangelical Christian, I dismissed the theory, cramming only the information needed to record a satisfactory grade on a science test and then discarded the info in favor of my personal "Young Earth" theory based on the 6000 years that modern Bible-Belt evangelicals espouse. I continued to wonder what sort of godless heathen could possibly have come up with such heresy.

A few years ago, I had pretty much discarded my 6000 year theory and left my mind open to many theories that account for God's creation being a little more complex than we were giving such an event credit for. I suspected that theories I had heard about God creating the Universe at the speed of light as well as other anomalies could very well account for several million (if not billion) years that could have predated Biblical genealogies.

It wasn't until a few months ago that I happened upon an episode of "The Universe" on the History Channel that was covering the formation of the theory. Imagine my surprise to hear that instead of a godless heathen, the Big Bang was the brainchild of a professor and Catholic priest by the name of Georges LeMaitre. I sat in amazement - even took notes like a diligent college student - as the evidence was presented as it had been compiled.

LeMaitre proposed his theory of an expanding Universe in 1927. Edwin Hubble discovered that the galaxies are flying out from the center of the Universe at an incredible speed in 1929. And then, in 1965 Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson used the Holmdel antenna to discover that the Universe actually has a "sound" (caused by cosmic radiation) - that resembles static on a radio when captured by radio telescope - that is theoretically the echo of the great explosion from all those eons ago.

Now, I know that there are many people who want to dismiss this whole article (and more specifically me) as heresy and/or filth. Give me just one chance to explain a theory of mine.

What if they are right? What if the galaxies are spinning madly into nothingness making the universe exponentially larger with ever tick of our earthbound clocks? What are the ramifications for Creationism if they are right?

Well, here is my one chance (thanks for your patience). Look at two of the theory's precepts:
1) The Universe is constantly expanding - Creation was so incredible that it is still happening daily - stars are born and die, forming new creation such as quasars, supernovas and neutron stars. and the actual space the Universe contains is growing ever larger.
2) The Universe is making a "sound" that can be "heard" on an antenna.

Is it more incredible that God created everything in seven days or that He unleashed a force so colossal that it is still happening even as you are processing my words? How miraculous that the echo of the second that followed the words "Let there be light" can still be heard by scientists today all these years later? I am awestruck to imagine that God is so incredible that He can say "Let there be..." and ages later those things are still coming into being and ages from now you'll be able to detect the echo of their inception over a man-made instrument.

So, I ask you, before you dismiss the science of the theory, please consider its merits in light of the power of a sovereign Almighty God and then with a long gaze out into the cosmos revealed by a clear night sky, ask yourself "How big is my God?"

A Night at the Theatre and the Right to Think

(This article originally appeared on One Flew Over the Church - Thu, 02/12/2009)

My wife and I both enjoy the theatre. Last weekend we attended a local performance of "Inherit the Wind". The play is based on the real-life drama surrounding the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee in July of 1925. A science teacher was placed on trial for the crime of teaching the information found in Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species". Dayton, a small town in the rural South, was almost consumed by the religious beliefs of the local church and while that sounds like a good thing, it is often dangerous for any system of thought (or lack thereof) to reign unopposed.

A friend of ours was there as well. I hold her opinion with respect because I know her heart and her faith. She told us that the play lit a fire in her to study the history of the actual story. She commented that the play cast the Christians in such a negative light but she really believed that it probably wasn't far from the truth. That isn't an exact quote but it was the sentiment - one that we both shared with her. We all know that there is probably some exaggeration or sensationalizing of the actions of the people of Dayton but let's face it, probably not very much. The zeal of the people blinded them to the injustice they were forcing on someone and they were incapable of seeing that they were nailing someone else to one of Christianity's worst fears - being persecuted for what they believe. The preacher praying for judgment and wrath to fall upon the malefactor and a curse upon any one who offered or wished him grace. We all do that sometimes. God bless and forgive us, we do that. And if we should really fear what may happen to us do we really need to give our detractors any ideas on ways to silence and persecute us? Maybe we should remember the Golden Rule ourselves.

The comment is made in the play that "the right to think" is actually what is on trial. Considering that what Scopes was doing was offering the tails side of the coin to people that had no shortage of knowledge of the heads side, I have to say that that assessment is accurate.The right to think for yourself is dependent on your commitment to understanding more than one point of view on the topic at hand. You don't have to burn a book to destroy it, it only has to go unread.

Which leads me to the question of this article. It is a question that I have asked in other articles but it still goes unanswered. What are we so afraid of? My wife and I are both Christians. Our friend I mentioned earlier is a Christian. Many of the cast members of this play are Christians. And the best we can tell, none of them are abandoning their faith over the considerations of the theory of evolution.

If we believe that the process of discipleship leads us into the Mind of Christ, why do we so fear using the mind that He gives us? Why does the Bible tell us that His people are destroyed from lack of knowledge? What is the use in a renewed mind that collects dust? Is our faith so weak and unreliable that it cannot coexist with a seventh grade science book?

My kids believe that God created the world and everything in it. They know that He created the entire Universe. I don't fear million year old rocks at a science museum. I am not afraid of light from distant stars that takes millions of years to get here. I have addressed this topic in a previous article ("Bang!") and I am still of the firm belief that we are trying to oversimplify the creation story.

Let me elaborate a little. There are undeniable adaptations and changes in humans and other animals as well as plants and fungi. Environmental adaptations, breeding techniques, improved nutrition, genetic mutations - they all happen. None of them destroy your faith - not if your faith is real. Through the strength of your faith, you can have the right to think - to ponder difficult questions and decide for yourself, to hear about theories and weigh them in your own way, to listen to scientific evidence without fear and arrive at your own conclusion.

Darwin's theory is exactly that - a theory. It has segments as solid as Georgia granite. It has segments as unstable and unreliable as quicksand. It is what it is and we should consider it as such.

I came away from that night with the joy of a night at the theatre with the love of my life. I also received the gift of some excellent conversation with her about the topic at hand. As a special bonus, I got the reminder of my right to think and the freedom from fear to exercise that right.