Evolution: Who Cares?

Who cares about the theory of evolution? I don’t.

I know a lot do and I’m not saying that they shouldn’t. But my point is that I’ve often heard people try and trump Christianity because of the evolution question.

“So you’re a Christian? So you believe the world was created in six literal days?” they say.

Why do they equate Christianity with a literal six day creation, though? I don’t get it.

The fact is I don’t care about evolution. God may have created using evolution in some way (intelligent design) or in six literal days. The Bible is open enough for both (it really is) and is primarily concerned about who created and why, not how.

Some people feel the Bible is irrelevant or untrue because it doesn’t display the physics of the universe in Genesis, but rather gives a story about the earth created in six days and a guy and a woman and a talking snake. Imagine, though, if the Bible opened up with the physics of the universe rather. If you ask me, it would be entirely irrelevant.

I’m searching for meaning, for purpose, for relationship, for understanding my heart, changing my heart. I’m searching for love. I’m know I’m not alone in this searching.

These are the things the Bible is giving us – it’s concerned with meaning; it’s concerned with the heart; it’s concerned with our relationship to God; it’s concerned with spirituality. Why the heck should it be used as a scientific textbook to explain how the universe was created? That’s not only boring, it’s irrelevant to humankind’s deepest questions.

Many Christians and those that are not Christians do treat it like some Science textbook, and when they find it short of that they claim it is ‘untrue’. Well, something doesn’t have to be scientific to be true, surely.

That’s why I don’t care about evolution. The ‘how’ God created is fascinating and interesting, and from time to time deserves a little look-see for interest sake, but my life’s quest is for meaning and evolution doesn’t provide that.

What do I believe? That God created. That we walked away from Him. That He loves us and restored our relationship to Him in Jesus. That if we believe Jesus we can know God again, and know who we are again as well.

That, for me, carries meaning. And that’s the point.

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Why Enjoyment is the Point of a ‘Quiet Time’

One of the reasons why Christians should set aside some time during the day, every day, for God, is to make our pursuit of pleasure for the day God Himself. This time set aside for God is often called a ‘quiet time’.

This is usually an intimate time we spend with God that can overflow into prayer for others, but is mainly just about spending time with God (like when Adam used to spend time with God walking in the cool of the day in the book of Genesis).

However, it seems that many of us have largely made the point of this ‘quiet time’ about growth (growing as a Christian) and we’ve made the by-product of growth enjoyment of God.

But it should actually be the other way around. The point is enjoying God and the by-product of such enjoyment is growth.

This is what worship is about. The more one enjoys God the more they will grow, and then usually the more they grow the more they will want to enjoy God.

But making growth the point transforms it into a type of duty. There is a difference between saying “I must have a quiet time, I must worship God” and saying “I really need to have a quiet time, I need (to worship) God.” One is based on duty, the other based on longing and knowing where to be fulfilled.