There is a high degree of inconsistency in the way many
Christians view nature. When it comes to natural beauty, God is seen to be the
marvelous Creator, but when it comes to evolution, nature somehow loses its
voice to be able to “speak” of God at all. The former is convenient and
supposedly bodes well for a “safe-keeping” of the doctrinal status quo, while
the latter is full of challenges and theological implications that might cause us
to have to modify or radically change some perspectives. For the sake of
credibility, let’s be more consistent and open to new possibilities that nature
offers for understanding more about God, ourselves, and the world.
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Faith seeking understanding is often assumed to be
“spiritual,” but I’d wager that unless it’s complemented by understanding
seeking faith, it’s nothing of the sort. There are no longer any simple
templates. Everything is complex, which means tension. And in light of a relentless
complexity, we’d better get used to it.
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I’d wager that 24 hour gas stations open at 3AM when
my gas gauge is on empty are not the result of Divine action or answers to prayer.
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Not allowing contemporary culture to be the norm for
Christian faith is essential, but recognizing that culture nevertheless does
play a valid role in it, to some degree, is also imperative. This leaves us in
the position, if we do not want to be ridiculously naïve or unwarrantedly suspicious,
of having to work hard to understand where the advantages and disadvantages are
to be found.
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To extract theology from nature is seen by some
Christians as a taboo. But such a view is untenable. Extracting theology from
nature, for the sake of credibility and regardless of where this takes us, is the
inevitable outcome of the validity of the natural world informer. Christians
who reject or ignore this will simply be doing worse theology.
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One of the great travesties of evangelicalism is its
inherent belief that God is always on the side of evangelicals. Persuasive as this
may seem to some who don’t know better, this is probably closer to a form of
idolatry, than it is to what’s true.
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