Spiders, Evolution and Mark Driscoll

I was joined in the shower this am by a daddy long-legs spider that quickly succumbed to the pull of the water and was headed down the drain.  Lucky for the little guy I saw it in time and gently picked it up and moved it to safety outside the shower stall. 

Saving the spider made me think of how important every life is on earth, the interconnectedness of all living things with each other and God, and a recent statement made by Mark Driscoll (Head pastor of Mars Hill Church) at the Catalyst Christian Conference. 

The following is what Driscoll said:  “I know who made the environment and he’s coming back and going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV.”  WOW!  Yet God instructs us in Psalms that we are to be stewards of the earth.  “We are stewards of God's earth, ruling over that which is not ours. You [God] made humans ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under our feet: All flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”  In Genesis it states that: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and keep it…" The Hebrew words shamar and abad, usually translated as "till and keep" in this verse, could be just as accurately translated as "serve and preserve." In his statement regarding God burning it all up, Driscoll, is referring to passages from Revelation that some believe are about a future time when Jesus will return for the saved and the earth will be consumed by fire.  Most modern theologians believe that when Revelation is read contextually (within the times/culture it was written) it is talking about events in John the Apostle’s lifetime and not the far off future.  Personally no matter what you believe about the book of Revelations, God makes it abundantly clear that He expects us to take care of his creation so Driscoll’s statement seems callous at best and at worst un-Christian as is not aligned with the Word of God.  I bet you Mark does not save wet spiders.

Ironically, this comes at the same time that I have been reading a very heady book titled The Emergent Christ.  It is a book about God and the process of Evolution.  Most of you know that my great passions are theology, literature, philosophy, art and biology.  Which is why I could not decide in college which to major in and have either a BA or minors in all of the above.  I specifically love Evolutionary biology but even with my education in biology, this book is really making me think and I find myself re-reading passages. The process of Evolution has always made perfect sense to me and I never had any issues still believing in a Creator.  This belief almost cost me my degree at Bethany Bible College as it did not align with the school’s staunch belief in either Intelligent Design or Creationism.  I had to attend “counseling” sessions with Professors of Theology and Biology who instructed me on the truth of Creationism and the falseness of Evolution.  I refused to withdraw my statement of belief in Evolution and only after I threatened to sue the college did they go ahead and let me graduate.  The President of the School did not shake my hand when he presented my my diploma. 

I wanted to share a couple of passages that have really struck me.  

“ the science of evolution helps open up new windows of insight to the God-world relationship whereby we see creation not as a static world but as a relationship between the dynamic being of God and a world in process of coming to be.”

“Evolution helps us realize that God works through the messiness of creation and is less concerned with imposing design on processes then providing nature with opportunities to participate in its own creation.” 

“In this world we humans do not occupy the center of the universe; neither are we superior to all other living beings.  Rather, the interconnectedness of life in our universe means that we are part of a web of life.”

“God is unbroken wholeness in movement, and creation is movement toward God-centered wholeness.” 

Read that last passage again - isn't it amazing.  

There are several great passages on quantum physics and God but I will spare you - this is heady stuff and I urge you to consider reading the book. 

I guess more than anything the more I learn of God, from God, and about God, I see this interconnectedness and it makes me view the world with that same wonder we all had as children.  It truly is an amazing and intricate web with an unbroken God at its center.