Scientists and Christians have one particular thing in common. They choose to believe what they think is right.
Many scientists want desperately to convince Christians there is no God. They come up with theories of how the world came into existence, how life came into being, and how humans developed into the highest life form. (Yes, I know certain humans make us doubt that last point, but you know what I mean.) However, there are “holes” in each theory that cannot be explained. So they choose to disregard weaknesses in their thinking and believe what they want to believe. Personally I find it hard to believe humans evolved to the place where no two people in the billions and billions and billions – whether dead or alive – have the same finger prints, exact voice pattern, or DNA, but a scientist may have difficulty believing Jesus healed the blind and lame.
Many Christians want desperately to convince others that God does exist. They use clever arguments saying without God life has no meaning, creation demands a Creator, and science theories change but God remains the same. However, it’s hard to convince an atheist that Jesus was born to a virgin, died for our sins only to be resurrected three days later, and lives in us.
Einstein had an interesting thought about science and religion: “Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.” There might be some truth there.
Both scientists and Christians require an element of incredulous belief. It was the same in Joshua’s day. People had a difficult time deciding whom to serve or whom to believe in. So they were told to make a choice. Choose whom you will serve! (Joshua 24:15) Joshua made his choice. “As for me, I will serve the Lord.”
Here’s the deal. God doesn’t need us to believe in him. He’s not some Tinkerbell relying on us whispering, “I do believe in fairies; I do believe in fairies” to extend His life. God is God! Always was and always will be! We can choose to believe in Him or not. After all, He created us with free will.
The benefits of choosing to believe in God are many. No longer will we feel alone or abandoned. Our life outlook will improve. We will live with purpose, not just flounder around trying to justify our existence. And I think true belief in God brings inner peace so we won’t feel like we need to defend our faith, just live it.
Suggestions for practicing this choice…
- Ask God to help our unbelief when doubts arise. (Mark 9:24)
- Resist the temptation to debate issues in an attempt to convince others to see things our way. Most of us don’t have the knowledge to win such a debate, although we think we do.
- Let people believe what they want to believe and don’t put them down. We aren’t the “belief” police.
- Rely on God to reveal Himself to others in His time. Be ready to support His process not inadvertently circumvent it.
- Ask God to solidify our belief in Him so we can say, “As for me, I will believe in God.”
