Recently my
wife and I were privileged to attend the Dedication Ceremony for the donation
ceremony of Dr. Virgil Trout’s 16,000 volume library. Dr. Trout has lectured in over one-third of
our nations major universities on Christianity, ethics, and Science. (See http://devotionalsforeverydayliving.blogspot.com/2012/10/dr.html for a short bio). His topic at the dedication was: The
Usefulness of the Impossible. The
impossible was defined as “the Word became flesh” and dwelling among men and
impossibility of the resurrection. The
impossible was God becoming man and the Christ after crucifixion being raised
from the death. Both are impossible acts
in any natural world sense. Yet, we have
ample evidence of Christ’s existence on earth and testimonies and circumstantial
evidence of His resurrection.
What then is
“useful” about these impossibilities? Do
they have any practical applications? Virgil gives five areas that are
impacted: 1) History 2) Ethics 3)
Science 4) Politics and 5) Religion. For
History they give purpose and direction. For Ethics they provide the basis of
respect and conduct of man to man. For Science, a human enterprise, they
provide a God created universe to explore and protect. For Politics, they provide the imperative for
man to give to the state what the state needs as good citizens. They provide
ethics for the state, and for Religion they are the guide to the relationship
with God. These are the categories Dr.
Trout delineated. What follows are my
thoughts.
Some, even
Christians, would eliminate the interaction of the Christian with some of these
categories. But Christian are part of
creating history. They cannot escape
doing so. Certainly the purpose of
Christians is to use their talents to serve others (Eph 4). Few would argue that these impossibilities
have no effect on the development of ethical principles. Ethics are just the moral principles that
guide our lives. Without the guidance of
God, man develops some crazy rules for right conduct. In Science it is the very God created “laws”
that enable to understand how our world works. Our understanding of God’s world changes as we
grow and develop. It is good that
science that tells to let the land “rest”.
Politics is the “sticky” category for most modern day Christians. In earlier times, the pulpit and political advocacies
were joined. But like history,
Christians live in a political world.
Their actions or inaction contribute positively or negatively. As Dr. Trout said, it is not an accident we
enjoy the liberties we have in the U.S.
It is impossible to separate your personal decisions from what happens
politically. Inaction or indifference is
both a decision and an action. So your
Christianity should inform your actions not only morally but politically as
well. Religiously we must love God and love our
neighbor as ourselves. There is absolute
truth. Truth is not relative.
The above
just serves to introduce how these “impossibilities” inform every aspect of our
Christian lives. Contrary to the
enterprise of “taking religion out of
the public square” Christianity is the very fabric that inform especially our
public as well as our private lives.