Two kinds of design

Spring is, if not everyone's favorite time of year (some, like my wife and I, like Fall even more), is at least a popular one with, I'm guessing, almost every person. The whole "winter's over" mood is a great thing in itself; to say nothing of flowers and other flowering plants. The magnolia trees, lilac bushes and other blossoming things around Omaha and other cities can only be enjoyed in the Spring.

And seeing all this as one drives through the city makes an interesting contrast between two kinds of creation by design. You have all the varying expressions of God's design on one hand; His use of color and structure, animated and still life, and all of it continually reproducing or, in the case of non-living things, to preserve itself according to the power He gave each living thing to do so.

On the other hand, you have man's handiwork of design, instantly recognizable in its contrasting style. Whereas God constructs His creation by means of life processes and other means that produce the "natural" look, humans can only make use of things God made. This makes for a great difference; one which we should marvel at, even as Paul said, "His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made." (Romans 1:20). And, as God's nature is meant to be "clearly seen" through His creation, men are pronounced by Paul as being "without excuse" when they fail to recognize and honor God for His creative work.

So you have two kinds of design: one dynamic, always moving and changing, the other static, able only to decline and deteriorate, never grow from within. You have one that follows the principles of life, and so grows in sometimes unpredictable ways, like the evergreen tree above, growing around the rock it took root by. You have another design, man's, that must follow rules of "what works" in fashioning the finished product. And when some of men's designs follow a more dynamic principle, such as using heat or pressure to modify the shape of something, they are using a force available to them in what was already created by God.

No wonder a poet once spoke of being unable to see a "thing as lovely as a tree." The trees of Spring, and every other season, give evidence of a grander scheme of design than anything mankind can duplicate, because man can only make use of living things, not create or sustain them. How is it then, that some can look at human design and praise its creators, while they look at God's far greater design and call it "natural selection" or "survival of the fittest"? If they cannot see the hand of God in His designs, it's no wonder then that they can't see the wisdom and glory of God in His Word. Maybe they need to spend more time looking at trees.

How do we now vote?

Conservative evangelicals have self-identified with the Republican party for a few decades, mostly over issues like abortion and gay rights. That coalition of interests has caused a number of debates, depending on who the Republican standard-bearer has been. John McCain alienated a number of Christian voters with a more moderate stance on some issues like immigration, and was dissed by others on his pro-fetal tissue votes.

But the political world and the spiritual world are always two different spheres of ambition and thinking, and Christians may have a lot more to worry about than McCain and embryonic testing. As reported by CNN, "Steve Schmidt, a key architect of John McCain's presidential campaign, is making his first public return to Washington a bold one. Schmidt will use a speech Friday to Log Cabin Republicans, a gay rights group, to urge conservative Republicans to drop their opposition to same-sex marriage, CNN has learned."

The Republicans are first interested in sitting in the White House, not standing before the White Throne of Revelation 20. Political expediency always trumps religion with the average politician, and compromise, not religious conviction, is the path to success for most with the voters.

There are many who think the Republican party has been too cozy with the "religious right", as they call evangelical voters and those who speak for them. And I have often been concerned that the lines have been drawn too straight to divide between one party and another, as they relate to the issues a biblically-based citizen would call important. Democrats of today are in some ways a lot like Republicans of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt's day, at least on social issues like civil rights and equal justice.

Too bad for Christians there isn't a political party that sets its platform by the Bible, instead of by a national committee. But then, such a party would not likely succeed in getting a major candidate elected or even nominated. And, just so we recall, we're not citizens of this world anyway, and shouldn't expect to have our interests fairly represented in our government, any more than they were in Paul's day.

Our job is to testify to the resurrection and gospel of Jesus Christ, the real King. Give to Caesar what is his, OK, but don't expect him to "earn your vote." And if you vote for him, don't expect him to feel the same way about all your issues. But maybe he's still a better earthly ruler than the other guy (or girl). In the end, it's still the Lord who oversees them all, for His own "platform".

More about expectations

A few more reflections about what we may expect from the world we live in, at least in respect to the bad things that happen to us and others.

Making news this morning is another story of murder, or perhaps murder/suicide. Very sad either way, but the part that makes this story stand out from other sad accounts of killings around the Omaha area, at least for some citizens, is the part of town it took place in: the Dundee neighborhood. Not the north side, synonymous in some minds with random violence and gang shootings, but a mid-town area known for its shady streets and old, large homes and, presumably, peaceful atmosphere.

Now, if trouble in this world is an irregularity from the goodness we might expect, then it would make sense that troubles like crime and murder will occur only where "bad" people congregate, like gangs, criminals and ne'er-do-wells. Under that theory, "good" people in "good" neighborhoods should be immune from the disease of violence. If violence invades such sanctuaries of peace as the Dundee neighborhood, it's a strange and tragic event. But if violence and other social troubles are evidence of a deeper disruption in the soul of all men, of which violence is only one manifestation, then no neighborhood can put up walls to keep out a problem that actually comes from within.

It may be true that violence occurs more often in some parts of our cities than others. But does that mean that only "good" people live in the less afflicted areas? It seems obvious beyond dispute that some parts of town have a greater share of critical factors, like poverty, social desperation and other elements like drug trafficking that often follow in the wake of hopelessness and human struggle. Add these to a human mind separated from the goodness of God, and you have a recipe for violence that is going to happen more often than in areas where those "extra" elements are less prevalent.

But, even in the more violent-prone areas of our city, the violence is still a relatively small percentage of the total population, and is resented deeply by the majority of people who will never take a gun with them to their car, so they can shoot recklessly at whoever is in their sights. And in the other areas, there are still troubled people, feeling just as desperate and equally without answers for their burdens. If they also are separated in their souls from the God who loves them and wants to give them a real hope in Jesus Christ, then violence may break out in "good" neighborhoods as well. It's just what we should expect.

What would we expect?

A lot of people get fixated on the conditions of this world of ours, as if there's something wrong with the fact that there's a lot wrong with the world. Yes, there's a lot of troubles and disasters, sickness and wars, misfortunes and Murphy's Law, tragedies and heartaches. But, really, what would we expect?

Is there any evidence, scientific or otherwise, that would support the assumption that this world should be better than it is? Does an observation of other worlds lead to the conclusion that something is dreadfully out of sync about our world, that it is not as good, benevolent, predictable or supportive to our desires and plans as it ought to be? In fact, some people reason from the brokenness of this world to the faulty conclusion that there is no God. Atheist author Richard Dawkins wrote, "The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, as bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference." He wrongly assumes that this problematic condition of the universe is the way it always has been, rather than something it has become.

But, if you assume that this world's problems and ills, in all their varied forms and descriptions, are a result of the brokenness of this world, as opposed to some kind of contradiction of its goodness, much less a proof of the godless emptiness of the world, then all the mishaps, woes, burdens and griefs appear as what would be expected, rather than something out of place. After all, if you broke your arm in a fall, you wouldn't expect it to feel the same as the unbroken one, would you?

And broken, corrupted, damaged and downfallen is exactly what this world is, according to the Bible. Because of mankind's fall into sin, death and disease, trouble and travails have come upon the whole world and all who live in it. But Paul revealed that this corruption is not without purpose, when he said, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Romans 8:20-21)

Man's spiritual rebellion from His Creator has had consequences for the whole world, and even the universe. God allowed the creation to be corrupted by man's sin, rather than leave sinful mankind in a perfect environment where they would forget about God even more than they do in this broken world. Mankind is the centerpiece of God's spiritual creation, so it is to be expected that a separation of man from the blessings of God would be felt in the physical creation as well.

But there is good news amid the trouble. The restoration of the world will follow the same schedule as the spiritual restoration of mankind, which will come only when God is once again ruling over the whole world, and every knee bows before King Jesus! Until that day, God is using the corruption of this world to highlight and even support the restoration of man's heart through the salvation of His Son, Jesus. We may expect trouble in this world, but God has promised to use "all things", even trouble, to accomplish His will and righteousness. We may also expect that as well!

More spiritual - less religious

A recent survey showed that Americans are "less religious" than 10 years ago, with atheists growing as much or more than any other category. That shouldn't surprise anyone familiar with the spiritual landscape of the 90's and early 2000's. There have been many signs that point to Americans' loss of enthusiasm for exclusive religions, that is, those that insist on a "one-way" view of God and how to find eternal peace with Him.

Yet, the survey shows a growth in the Evangelical segment, which may also show the degree to which many are searching for answers in a society that increasingly tells them there are no certain answers. The great divide between those who take seriously the claims of Jesus Christ to be "the Way, the Truth, the Life" on one hand, and those on the other hand who ridicule such exclusive truth-claims appears to be growing into a "Grand Canyon" of cultural division.

Who would have suspected in the 80's an atheist, and a militant, angry atheist at that, could pack out a concert venue in conservative Omaha, Nebraska, to give people an earful of anti-religious rhetoric. Yet author and lecturer Richard Dawkins was invited to do that recently, because there are more and more people who are tired of the divisions of religious camps fighting it out over whose truth is best. They're ready to pitch the whole lot, and declare all religions as "hazardous to health."

Yet, people everywhere are seeking spirituality of some kind, from Buddhism to various forms of New Age pantheism. The human spirit's yearning for knowledge of what is beyond us is hardier than the efforts of atheists and neo-pagans. But spirituality isn't the same as religion, and it can come in any number of flavors not specific to any religious dogma. So an abundance of spiritual activity can easily co-exist with a decline in religious life.

All this fits well with the Bible's warnings that the latter days will be marked by a "falling away" from the truth, and an increase in "lawlessness", which is people acting contrary to God's law, if not also opposite to man's law; and we are seeing a lot of both. Challenging times for presenting a one-way claim for truth, as the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but no more so than Jesus Himself faced against a hostile world.