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Tuesday, August 30, 2005
2 Timothy 3: 14ff, The Difference
I remember in high school learning about Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I don't remember being profoundly impressed by it, nor do I remember a vehement reaction against the forces of evil that others seemed to find lurking around in there. Mostly, I remember trying to remember all the facts for the test.
But it did seem to cause all sorts of passions...both from the scientific community as well as the church community I was starting to be involved with.
In my church community, it was pretty much accepted that scientists were trying to pull a really big hoax on the world. They were misguided, following a skewed truth down a path that took them further and further from God. They were trying to take us further and further from God, too. Bumper stickers chided them for their pursuits.
Once I got to college it seemed pretty important that I move beyond learning the contrasting theories and come to some sort of conclusion. I needed to become convinced of one or the other. They both couldn't be true. And, of course, being at a university, this pursuit was encouraged by almost everybody around me. In fact, the guy discipling me even loaded me down with books on both sides of the argument. Yes. I dorked out and did this in my spare time.
I'll save you the long, detailed reasoning behind my "landing" on the side of things my church would've been proud of. Suffice to say that even if I weren't a Christian, I can't imagine I'd buy into evolution as a theory...nor any of the "advancements" in the science that have come out in the last 20 or so years. Ultimately, it comes down from the reality that evolutionists have no way to describe how "something" evolved out of "absolute nothing." At a certain point, they have to make a leap of faith...and their leap of faith is no more or less noble than the Christian's leap of faith in accepting the Bible's truths in the area of creation (which, as an aside, leaves plenty of room for discussion and debate).
So, there's a difference between "learning" something, like evolution, and being convinced of something, like creationism.
And that's what Paul was telling Timothy to do.
Remember yesterday how Paul told Timothy that it was now personal...that he was supposed to be different than the world around him. This world seemed to have Christians falling away from the faith due to the intense nature of the persecution going on around them, and Paul was encouraging his young protege to stand firm. Now, he gives details on "how" to do that.
2 Timothy 3: 14--15 (from The Message):
"But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers--why you took in the sacred Scriptures like mother's milk! There's nothing like the written word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
See, the key to withstanding persecution is to truly believe in the message. People don't go through torture or whatever if they just kind of like something. They only withstand it if they truly believe it. Unfortunately, many in the church these days seem to be pretty strong on the learning part...they've gathered the data and even nod at it and agree with it. The problem is that it doesn't seem to be worth withstanding potential persecution.
In our culture, the persecution rarely gets truly ugly. Sure, there's a snide comment. Maybe even a militant teacher bent on "winning" a debate with a 14-year-old. Friends might walk away from you. A boss who doesn't "get it." Rarely do we face true persecution.
What's scary is that those comparatively small occurrences can shock our faith.
So, for today, what does it take to move from "learning" something to "believing" something? If you truly believe in the work of Christ, how does that encourage you as you go through your day?
Brent 5:09 AM
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