Intro: 8 out of 9 school board members in Dover, PA were voted out last November. It would have been 9, but only 8 were up for re-election. It’s kind of a national tradition that being a school board member is a thankless job. But when was the last time people lined up to take the place of everyone on the school board? There’s even a court case coming up against their actions. What did they do? Misuse funds? Deceive the community? Neglect education? It’s even worse…
They dared to require a one-minute classroom statement that suggests an intelligent designer as an explanation for the complexity of some parts of the universe.
Now, the people of Dover who voted are just sure that those creationist wackos are threat to their community. I beg to differ. In fact, I’m going to urge upon you this morning that the teaching of evolution is a clear and present danger – a danger that’s threatening our generation.
So it’s going to shock you when I say this: Let’s quit fighting it. Let’s give in. Let’s go ahead and become good little evolutionists – or at least for today. Let’s try it. If it doesn’t work out, we can go back, or, maybe we can find a happy medium – maybe we can be both or something. OK?
I mean, if you want to really understand, you have to put yourself in their shoes…right? Do you want to understand your atheist neighbor? Do you want to understand your friend who just goes and partys all weekend? Do you want to understand Michael Newdow – the guy who’s trying to get “under God” removed from the pledge? I mean, wouldn’t you like to at least understand what’s behind that? Maybe this will do it! Let’s just give up the struggle! Let’s quit being the minority we’re told we are. Let’s quit being mocked in the eyes of academia. Let’s take the simplest answer – the Big Bang – and let’s relate to those people who just swallow…I man, adopt such a view. Maybe we’ll realize it’s not a clear and present danger we’ll have a lot less concern to stress us, OK?
Whew! I feel better all ready! I mean, after all, this argument has been raging on in the US since the Scopes trial of 1925. Up to that point, it seemed like science and belief in God the Creator went hand in hand. Then, something changed. God didn’t. Belief in God didn’t. Instead, science changed and began to apply its processes and energies to a new pursuit. Instead of being the discipline of learning about God’s work, it became a work to replace our need for God. After all, God is a crutch, isn’t He? There was a guy who wrote years ago that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” His name, by the way, was Karl Marx.
At the time evolution made its entrance, the biggest hitch to this liberal science agenda was creation.
Nothing could explain the existence of everything. Ps 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. Creation really gets in the way of living like there is no God. So, until the entrance of Evolutionary theory, there was no intelligent alternative to creation.
Other cultures had offered some unintelligent alternatives: Atlas, holding the world on his shoulders, a giant turtle holding the earth on his back. But not many North Americans took such stories seriously.
Much of science made its new goal to put away our dependence on God, rather than our constant discovery and enjoyment of Him and all He has done.
Enter Charles Darwin and others. For the first time, theory that was spoken only in secret became published and was quickly adopted.
I find that, if I’ll just let go of all those things I used to tenaciously cling to, I can let go of some other items. They go away…sort of.
1. No Personal God
If you’ve been running from the idea of a personal, loving God, here’s your chance.
In order to accept Evolution, I’ll have to jettison the Bible, since it clearly teaches something other than evolution. If that part of the Bible isn’t true, I can’t trust any part of the Bible, can I? – including everything it tells me about God. A God Who just lights the fuse and runs away isn’t at all like the God described in Genesis Who comes walking in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, Who visits Abraham in person, and Who shows His glory to Ezekiel and to John. He’s certainly not like the God Who comes to live among us in the form of His Son in a human body.
There’s no room in evolution for a personal God. That’s kind of handy, because now I don’t have to really listen to Him. No personal God, no personal obligation to Him!
Aahhh, now I can understand why my friend doesn’t think he needs the Church. His view of God, if there is one, is that He’s a cosmic clock maker Who winds up the earth and lets it run. He doesn’t visit His work in depth, and doesn’t really care about us.
Now the Bible says God not only created all things, but He’s what holds it all together and keeps it running too:
Hebrews 1:3a The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
If I’ll just deny creation, I get to deny the existence of a personal God Who loves me or to Whom I should feel responsible for anything.
2. No Distinction Between Human Life and All Other Life
Evolution teaches, like the Bible, that we all came from one source…sorta! So did everything else, whatever that source was. Sometime, after the Big Bang, somehow, water formed – a kind of primordial soup. And somehow, once the soup cooled, within that water, life began. It was very simple life – one-celled animals and plants. They’re called “protozoa” today, which means “first life.” Somehow, over time, those little critters decided to reproduce, and, as they did, they mutated and as they did they got…better. In fact, they got together and formed more complex critters with more than one cell, and those first critters somehow decided that they would reproduce differently. Throw in a few billion years and lots of trial and error, and every living thing on earth is supposed to have developed from that first soup.
Ill - Forgive my skepticism, but I’ve conducted highly scientific observations of my children’s bedrooms, and the natural progression of things there isn’t that they get better and better on their own. In fact, without some intervention, they tend to get more and more disorderly.
I know that the Bible distinguishes human life from all other life. I know that the Bible says that we’re made in the image of God, and that man became a living being because God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. I know it says that God told him to rule over all the rest of creation. But that’s what the Bible says – not what evolution teaches. And, just for today, we’re trying out what it’s like to be an evolutionist, so we can understand the people who already are.
Now, if all life started in the great primordial soup, that means my life started in the same way that the fish in our aquarium at home started. It means that it really doesn’t matter if I’m just one link away from an orangutan – we both came from the same place anyway. Our lives are of no intrinsic difference.
Poem: Three Monkeys
Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree
Discussing the things that are said to be—
Said one to another: “Now listen you two
There’s a certain rumor, but it can’t be true,
That man descended from our noble race—
Why, the very idea; it’s a disgrace!
“No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved her babies and ruined her life.
Nor did ever a mother-monkey
Leave her babies with others to bunk,
Or pass them on from one to another
‘Till they scarcely knew who was their mother.
“And another thing you’ll never see
A monkey building a nest around a coconut tree,
And let the coconuts go to waste,
Forbidding all other monkeys to have a taste.
Why, if I build a fence around a coconut tree,
Starvation would cause me to distribute to you.
“Here’s another thing that a monkey won’t do:
Go out at night and get on a stew;
Or use a gun, a club, or a knife
To take another monkey’s life.
Yes, Man descended, the ornery cuss!
But Brother, he didn’t descend from us.”
Aahhh, now I can understand why my friend is so loose sexually. After all, it’s a biological function (as a school counselor once told my older brother). And that explains why we can treat human life just like any other. We just happen to be lucky enough to be at the top of the food chain. It even explains how some can get so excited about being environmentalists, without regard for the impact it has on humans. It explains why the life of a little baby girl is saved by the implant of a baboon’s heart and people speak out against the killing of an innocent baboon. Now, I can understand.
3. No Authority
In the Bible view of creation and all, there’s this idea that God, completely on His own, created all that exists from absolutely nothing. It’s called “creation ex nihilo: - creation out of nothing. Now, that’s what the very first verse of the Bible says, and the rest of the Bible supports that idea. If that’s true, it means that God owes nothing to anyone or anything else. There’s no other God in partnership with Him. There’s no blob of stuff existing to which He is indebted. It means God is the absolute authority over all that exists. Since it owes its existence to Him, He is the ultimate authority. He alone has the right to prescribe action. If someone else had helped, then they would have a say. If something else had already been existing, then God would somehow have to defer to it. Instead, God frequently acts as if He has the right to tell us what to do. Period. That’s called authority.
Since we’re going to be evolutionists here, for just a while, we’re going to let go of that concept too. If everything that exists got here by chance, then there’s a different authority: anarchy; anarchy with power. Survival of the fittest. Natural selection.
It has been happening all along: 1000 turtles hatch on the beach. The weak can’t eat so they starve to death. The slow can’t escape, so the seagulls eat them. The stupid get confused, they go the wrong direction and die. The strong rule, and as a result, the strong make the rules. That’s the authority of evolutionism.
Quote - Friedrich Nietzsche, who first coined the phrase “God is Dead,” in the late 1800’s, wrote in a book called Beyond Good and Evil: “Life itself is will to power; self-preservation is only one of the indirect and most frequent results.”
Self preservation. The strong survive. There’s no mutually respected authority if there is no one supreme authority. It all comes down to who has the biggest teeth, the sharpest claws, the best technology.
Aahhh, now I can understand why my friend has a problem with authority. Of course! Who are you, who is anyone, to try to be in charge of someone else? School teacher, parent, employer, policeman – what makes their demands any more significant than mine?
4. No Basis for Morality
40X in the NIV the Bible speaks about what someone “ought” to do. “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.” “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” A major part of the Bible is geared at that very thing – spelling out what’s right and what’s wrong. Morals.
But in evolution, no one has the right to prescribe morals, so there’s no basis for them. There’s no authoritative list of morals that people should follow. So, let’s not give any weight to the lists that have been made. In fact, let’s especially remove the 10 Commandments from public display. It’s nice to see that people are trying to be good and all, but those rules really carry no weight for me personally. No one’s rules do, because there’s no basis for rules. Ruling isn’t a moral right – it’s an evolutionary advantage, remember?
What a freeing thing this is! No rules, no guilt! It’s like legalizing drugs! Take away the laws against drugs, and fewer people are lawbreakers! Modern psychology has been trying to help people get over their guilt. This is how you do it. You embrace evolution and you finally concede that there’s no basis for morality. Your ideas of what’s moral are just as valid as anyone else’s.
Aahhh, now I can understand! Now I can understand why my friend gets indignant whenever I say someone ought to do something. Evolution frees me from all “ought.” There is no ought when there’s no authority and no basis for morality.
5. No Hope for Meaning in Life
Now, the Bible spells out a definite design not only for creation, but for all of history. God has had a plan from the beginning. Jesus is (Revelation 13:8) …the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. That means that everything that happens is either directed by God, or allowed by God and then used by Him, for His ultimate plans. It would also mean that our lives each have some part in that plan – that we have a purpose for living.
Take that away for a while this morning. Instead, let’s accept that everything is here by random, mathematical chance. Think about it: the only constant that the world’s greatest minds could come up with is the speed of light. Great. Light never speeds up or slows down. 299,792,458 meters per second. Finally, I have something I can build my life on!
It’s not all bad – it means I can randomize everything about life. Life started by chance. Earth exists by chance.
Take a handful of paint, throw it on a canvas: Splat! Do it again. Now, look at it. What does it mean? It means that someone took paint and threw it at a canvas! That’s it.
At last, I can quit my search for the meaning of life. There is none! It’s as meaningful as a random splatter of paint thrown across the room.
And now I can understand why my friend struggles when life is difficult. If life is pointless, then why endure pain? If life has no meaning, why live it? Why get out of bed in the morning? What’s the point? If I’m an evolutionist, there is no point.
6. No Hope Beyond This Life
You know, this Christianity business is really a lot of worry that could be avoided. The Bible keeps talking about people who don’t feel at home in this world, people who are looking for something better, people who live as aliens and sojourners, people who are always waiting. Paul said, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” Why spend all your time in this life stressing over the next life, you’re missing the point, aren’t you? C’mon, enjoy the journey. Why can’t you look at where you’re at and enjoy it?
Of course, once in a while, there will be a funeral. Those will continue to be a problem. But if we downplay them, if we can just breeze through them and get back to our lives, even those things won’t bug us too much.
What if, just for today, we were to quit thinking about what’s beyond and live for the NOW.
Aahhh, then I could understand my friend’s pursuit of stuff. After all, if there’s no hope beyond this life, then my greatest goal in life should be to enjoy it right now. That also explains my friend’s impatience. If I accept that this life is all there is to be lived, then let’s eat, drink, and be merry…and hurry!
Paul wrote about people who are doing this:
Romans 1:24
They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator...
7. No Need to Have Faith
Let’s go ahead and let go of faith for just a moment today – you know, so that we can relate to our friends who hold to evolution. The Bible says that without faith, it’s impossible to please God; that we walk by faith, not by sight; that the life we live we live by faith in Jesus; that we’re saved through faith. Those are all Christian concepts. Faith – the assurance of what we hope for; the conviction of what we can’t see.
But this is the 21st century. I want things I can see. I want rational reasons to believe something. I want to be able to experience it, to repeat it.
Really? You mean like the Big Bang theory? No one was there to see it. You didn’t see it. You can’t repeat it. You can’t experience it. Besides that, even Darwin himself didn’t attempt to explain where everything came from in the first place. Every evolution-believing person has to accept most of what he believes without first-hand evidence. Which requires more faith to accept: an unexplainable, all-powerful, all-encompassing God Who created everything, or an unexplainable mass of stuff that just always existed for no reason?
Going ahead and giving in to this evolution idea really helps, doesn’t it? Now I can understand what makes those people tick. Now I’ve given some thought to the outcomes of evolution. Want to go there?
I’m not saying we should accept creation just because it’s a means to a good end. I’m saying that the evidence is there. And, if we don’t accept it, here’s where we’re living. For every person you know who doesn’t accept creation, that’s where they live. Lots of them don’t even realize that’s where they are.
Conclusion:
What should we do?
1. Let’s not be evolutionists after all.
Besides just not being true, when you take this to its conclusions, it really just doesn’t work.
2. Let’s shine the light of truth on the outcome of accepting or even tolerating evolutionary teaching
Just show them where they live. Ask some leading questions:
• Do you really think the processes of natural selection should be applied to humans? After all, there are a lot of weaker members of the species around. Hitler’s answer was to get rid of them and strengthen the species. Shouldn’t we?
• Do you really think that no one has the right to say you can’t do anything you want to? Do you want everyone else around you to suddenly live that way? Iran? N. Korea? Other drivers? Gun owners?
• Do you see a problem with everyone trying to invent their own rules of what’s right and wrong? Do you really want the person who’s taking care of your 4 yr old boy at preschool to have good morals or not?
• Since you deny the spiritual dimension of man, what hope do you have beyond this life?
• Since you deny that God eternally existed and brought everything into existence, you don’t live by faith, right? Wait, doesn’t accepting evolution take faith too? – faith in an unknown cause, interacting with an unknown mass of stuff that came from…nowhere? Aren’t you actually a person of great faith?
There’s a reason the human race has survived. Often, it’s in spite of ourselves. It’s because there’s a perfect Creator Who has made us to live with Him forever. It’s that simple.
C.S. Lewis, in Christian Theology in Plain Language
“Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would the fact not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? If you are really a product of a material universe, how is it that you don’t feel at home there?”
Understand this morning, friend: The reason you’re not satisfied with life, the reason nothing has ever made your deepest, inner desire go away, is because nothing in this world will ever satisfy it. You were made for a higher purpose. You’re not just the random product of a material universe. You’ve been created to have a relationship with your Creator…
