During their recent walk through the Republican primary forest, the happy little chicks of evangelicalism were w Chick little acked on the head by the Trump nut. And now they are scurrying in every direction, calling for all to flee the coming Trumpmania doom. The sky is falling! The Sky is falling!

And though I have am not eager to see Trump become the next president, I think evangelicals need to back away from all the predictions of doom. The sky is not falling. God still reigns. Yes, America could take a turn for the worse under President Trump. We may see Religious, social, and personal freedoms all venture into the fox’s den never to be seen again. But God still rules (Is. 46:8-11). God appoints and tears down nations for his purpose. The even better news is that the worst, most despicable rulers can and are used by God to advance His purposes. No matter how successful Trump becomes, he can never dethrone God. We need to place our trust in Christ.

What does this look like?

1. Express Opinions With Grace.

As American’s, we have the freedom to speak into our political system. We should exercise such freedom, advocating for Christian liberties, fighting for justice, and voting for the candidates that best represent us. But such political engagement must be tempered by Christian speech. Paul’s command to “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place,” extends to our political discourse (Eph. 5:4). At the end of the day, we need to only offend people with the good news of the gospel and not our political philosophy. When this election cycle is over, we are going to have to work with Trump supporters and a whole host of people with a host of political backgrounds. Let’s not limit our future ability to reach the nations by planting seeds of discord on Facebook and Twitter. One day soon, we will need to work together with the duck, the hen, and maybe even a fox or two to advance the gospel. Will we be able to?

2. Hope In God.

If we get worked up into a sinful frenzy over any political candidate, party, or issue, we have a worship donald trump problem. When we are expecting this candidate, that party, or those issues to save us through restoring the economy, expanding freedom, or defending decency, we are seeking after an earthly rescuer. And though I am for all these things, we shouldn’t believe any of these things will really save us. No amounts of cash, free press, or marital laws will fulfill us. Longing for these things above all will not lead us to peace. Rather, they land us in turmoil deep within the fox’s den.

Hence, Christ tells us to layup treasures in heaven instead of earth (Matt. 6:19-20. Our ultimate hope is not a better economy; our hope is the perfect savior and the new heavens. As long as Jesus reigns and is working all things together for our good, we can be joyful people. Let’s stop looking hopefully at little politicians who promise what they cannot deliver. And let’s turn our eyes heavenward toward the God who has already delivered what he promised. What are you hoping in?

3. Don’t Fear Evil.

I fully understand that a Trump Presidency is a scary prospect. In large part, we don’t know what we are getting. But regardless of what “Make America Great Again” actually translates into, we don’t have to be afraid. Even if Trump is Hitler (I don’t think he is; see point 1.) God’s church will be fine. Think about Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, Paul, John Huss, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Chinese underground church and the many others who have thrived under unjust empires. They all were and are being used by God in the midst of pagan kingdoms to advance His glory. If anything, the destruction of America may actual grow God’s church exponentially.

I hope our future is not dark. I do not long for our country’s collapse. I don’t want the duck and hen to waddle down into the fox’s den. I want my kids, grand kids, and neighbors to enjoy the wealthiest, freest, and most just society ever. But if God has other plans, we will be ok. After all, even the worst dictator can only kill the body. He can never separate us from the love of God (Rom 8:38-39). At some point in the not too distant future, God will descend from the sky and set the world aright. What should we really be afraid of?

The political landscape may not look very cheery today. But, the sky is not falling. Christ is still reigning brightly above! Do evangelical really need to keep scurrying around.

The Debate

There were no fireworks, pounding fists, or even heated exchanges with wagging fingers between Bill Nye and Ken Ham this past Tuesday. Really outside of a few pictures and a handful of cartoon illustrations, the debate did little to directly engage children. But the seriousness of the debate should not obscure reality. The debate was all about the next generation. Bill Nye and Ken Ham were not just advocating science verses religion. They were trying to determine which religion our children will follow.

Two Men…Two Religions

Now I realize that most people happily recognize “Ken Ham’s creationism” to be religious. Ken Ham openly confessed his religious affiliation, appealing directly to the Bible on several different occasions. He told Bill Nye, “there actually is a book out there that tells us where matter came from. And, the very first sentence in that book says, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’” However, the debate also revealed that Bill Nye’s tenants of evolution are equally religious in nature. As Dr. Mohler wrote, “ It was… the central worldview clash of our times and of any time” (Mohler 2014). Let’s take a look.

Bill Nye, The Science Guy

Numerous times throughout the debate Bill Nye said he would consider creationism if there was proof for it. By his own admission, his evolutionary theories have at times failed to explain the universe. He noted that scientists thought the speed of the universe’s expansion was slowing. However in 2004, scientists discovered the opposite to be true. Yet, Bill Nye’s confidence in the Big Bang Theory remained unshaken. If anything, the discovery excited him.

His response is not surprising. According to Thomas Kuhn who coined the term paradigm, “neither proof nor error is at issue. The transfer of allegiance from paradigm to paradigm is a conversion experience that cannot be forced” (Kuhn 1996). In other words, Nye’s scientific foundations go beyond observable science. Even when confronted with unforeseen discoveries, the “Science Guy” will (as he did during the debate) rework his theories to fit new evidence into the evolutionary, naturalistic paradigm. Thus when Ken Ham did offer Bill Nye evidence, he remained unmoved. Bill Nye’s paradigm claims that all scientific discoveries point to evolution. Consequently, creationism may be many things, but it cannot be science according to Bill Nye. To accept one scientific discovery as supporting creationism, Bill Nye would have to surrender his entire paradigm, one built upon the absence divine direction. Despite Nye’s statement that “scientists embrace” those who challenge paradigms, reality has found the opposite to be true.

Bill Nye, The Believing Guy

Bill Nye’s embrace of evolution also has a direct spiritual element. His very soul is sustained by a deep-rooted love for discovery. Learning how evolution explains the world is why Bill Nye gets up and goes to work every day. To abandon the evolutionary paradigm, Bill Nye would have to deny his very hope for significance. To do so would require as Kuhn noted, “a conversion experience.” Not surprisingly Bill Nye arrived and left an evolutionist. None could really hope that he (or Ken Ham for that matter) would have such a conversion moment in front of 3 million people. It would make for great television, but the world rarely does works this way. Sorry MTV. Rather towards the end of the debate, Bill Nye began attacking the story of Noah and other theological issues, revealing his reservations about creationism to be as much theological as experimental.

Moreover, Bill Nye’s affiliation with the evolutionary paradigm has rest upon a strong personal faith. Ken Ham tried to point out Nye’s faith several times during the debate. But, Bill Nye would not answer the question of reason and logic.

Let’s look at. If Bill Nye is correct and the world did evolve without divine directive and/or purpose, he can have no confidence in his mental power. Yes, he is a “reasonable man” with a good deal of intelligence. But according to Nye, humanity and humanity’s mental faculties appeared by accident. And reason created by illogical, natural forces could very well be faulty if not completely erroneous. Bill Nye’s (and all of humanity) could have less than a reasonable mind and not know it. Recognizing this problem Charles Darwin lamented, “The horrid doubt always arises whether the convictions of man’s mind, which has developed from the mind of lower animals, are of any value or trustworthy at all” (Darwin 2014). To hold his evolutionary paradigm, Bill Nye must believe his mind to be trustworthy. But as C.S. Lewis noted, “if our own deepest convictions are merely the by-products of an irrational process, then…we have no reason to trust our conviction that Nature is uniform” (Sire 2004). Ultimately, Bill Nye can only affirm the evolutionary paradigm by believing blindly in the ability of human reason. As seen from the debate, his faith is unshakable. Not surprisingly, he won the “The Humanist of the Year” in 2010 (Humanist of the Year). Ultimately, Bill Nye is just a religious as Ken Ham.

Closing Thoughts

The debate was about religion. Bill Nye advocated that our children be taught the religion of naturalism as seen in the evolutionary paradigm. Ken Ham advocated that our children be taught evangelical Christianity as developed from a literal interpretation of the Bible. Although I firmly teach that children should have the freedom to explore both religions, I believe Christianity offers a far better explanation of the world from what I have seen an experienced. Moreover if we believe scripture, Christians must affirm that Bill Nye’s “rational man” argument is flawed. According to Romans 1:18-23, human reason is corrupted by sin and is unable to discern truth. Paul wrote again in 1 Corinthians 3:19a, “the wisdom of this world is folly with God.” Let’s avoid folly.

Instead a determent to be washed away with the passing of time, I believe creationism will benefit future generations. As Kuhn noted, “The bulk of scientific knowledge is a product of Europe in the last four centuries. No other place and time has supported the very special communities from which scientific productivity comes” (Kuhn 1996). The last time I checked, creationism was the dominate school of thought in Europe during most of this time. What has changed? Evolution, as advocated by Charles Darwin and James Hutton. But instead of spurring children to scientific discovery as Bill Nye hopes, the evolutionary paradigm appears to be spawning a culture of narcissism.

Scientific discovery requires commitment and years of hard work without any guarantee that a person will make a significant contribution to humanity. However with Facebook, Twitter and a host of other social media outlets, a person can quickly attain stardom and immediate validation of their significance with a cool status. Now many will counter that science benefits humanity and offer a host of other reasons for valuing discovery. But ultimately, the evolutionary paradigm provides no basis for moral value. Nor can the paradigm promise that everyone will find the joy Bill Nye found. Nature is just randomly progressing along, allowing natural selection to dictate history. The joy of social media is just as compelling as the joy of science. And since it’s easier and a more certain attainment, the evolutionary paradigm appears to be producing narcissists instead of scientists.

On the other hand, creationism teaches that knowing God is far better than human self-worship. After all a creationist’s chief end is to glorify god and to love his/her neighbor. Shaped by Psalm 19 and a host of other passages, creationism encourages children to explore the majesty of God by studying the world he created. Creationism provides children with a great motivation for scientific discover. Let’s encourage science. Let’s teach our children creationism!