The Earnestness of Being Unimportant
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
What follows is an article that I submitted to Creation Ministries International for publication. They turned it down because it was not suitable for publication on their Website. I can see why, since my style is markedly different than that of their writers, and the subject matter is rather different. So, I reworked it for Internet Evangelism Day, since my calling is evangelism through creation science.
What follows is an article that I submitted to Creation Ministries International for publication. They turned it down because it was not suitable for publication on their Website. I can see why, since my style is markedly different than that of their writers, and the subject matter is rather different. So, I reworked it for Internet Evangelism Day, since my calling is evangelism through creation science.
Hello, I am a nobody, and I have no status in the world. That
is all right because I am not here to impress people. But the Creator of the universe
died for me and bodily rose from the dead, and his Spirit is living in me — I
am somebody to him. Using the Internet, unknown people in the world can make
our voices heard and proclaim the most important message of all.
A few years ago, I rededicated my life to Christ. In my
efforts to regain lost ground and get back into the Word and good teachings, God
called me to proclaim creation science. I learned that there is a wealth of
creationist material available; things changed quite a bit while I was “gone”.
One of the benefits of learning creation science material is
that it helps strengthen the faith of believers (anti-creationists can be relentless
presenting pre-packaged “arguments” that may seem intimidating at first). A
second benefit is learning why
creation is important: Adam was a literal person, and Genesis is foundational to Christian theology. Third, we can see the methodology
and thinking of critics, and how their “arguments” can be easily dismantled —
learning some basics about logical fallacies is not difficult and most of their attacks can be seen as lacking
substance; there is no need to be bullied by scoffers.
The “Question Evolution” campaign from Creation Ministries International caught my
attention. I suggested that there should be a “Question Evolution Day” (my
comment is the second one on the page). After a while, I took the initiative to
spearhead the concept, which has become an annual event. The goal is for people and ministries
to speak up on Darwin’s birthday (February 12) and say that we believe in academic, intellectual,
religious, speech and other freedoms. We should be able to say that we do not
believe in molecules-to-man evolution,
that evolutionists are confused by their own evidence — and not receive reprisals.
Do you see what has happened here? The big ministries
inspired an individual to prompt other people to take action — a grass-roots
effort. Using Weblogs, social media and so forth, people are speaking out
against evolution and for creation science. We are daring to go against the
evolutionary establishment and say that evolution is both scientifically and
theologically untenable. This is a variation on the theme for Internet Evangelism Day.
Having people proclaim the gospel, and especially the
foundations of Genesis, infuriates atheists because evolution can be a religion itself, but is also a foundation to the religion of atheism.
Those of us who have Weblogs will write articles or make posts refuting evolution and showing how science affirms creation and the Noachian Flood. We get nasty comments. The same happens on our social media sites (such as The Question Evolution Project on Facebook and Google+). What can we do when we’re attacked? We can duck and cover, be nice and play it safe (which is the opposite of what the committed Christian life entails), or we can furnish information. Someone may assert that humans and chimpanzees have very similar DNA, and we can provide a link on that topic. Someone may ask whether or not aliens from space put life on Earth, and another link is provided. We do not need to have all knowledge (indeed, some of our critics seem to expect us to do so), but we have many resources to utilize.
Those of us who have Weblogs will write articles or make posts refuting evolution and showing how science affirms creation and the Noachian Flood. We get nasty comments. The same happens on our social media sites (such as The Question Evolution Project on Facebook and Google+). What can we do when we’re attacked? We can duck and cover, be nice and play it safe (which is the opposite of what the committed Christian life entails), or we can furnish information. Someone may assert that humans and chimpanzees have very similar DNA, and we can provide a link on that topic. Someone may ask whether or not aliens from space put life on Earth, and another link is provided. We do not need to have all knowledge (indeed, some of our critics seem to expect us to do so), but we have many resources to utilize.
Something very important must be stated: Our faith is not
based on science, because new information is being found almost daily and the
interpretations of evidence are constantly changing. No, our faith is in the unchanging Word of God. I refuse to “leave the Bible out of this” and discuss science on “neutral ground”, because there is no such thing. When we agree to leaving the Bible
out of a discussion, we are tacitly agreeing with the skeptic that the Bible is
not true, and are arguing on their terms,
which are primarily based on godless materialism in most cases. Note that I am not
saying to argue science from Scripture, but
we must not abandon our foundation while unintentionally agreeing with theirs.
How can we then go back to presenting the gospel when we have effectively
discarded the Bible? (At best, we can convince someone that there is a Creator,
but then we have a Deist on our hands.) Stay with the Word as your ultimate
authority.
Some of us are more vocal in spreading creation science, and
we have had a great deal of intellectual and theological exercise in dealing
with mockers (I could name several online stalkers that I have gained). Of course! People hated Jesus when he
walked the earth, so they hate his followers as well. We are telling the truth
and destroying the materialistic foundations for their worldviews.
Any fame or recognition that we receive on the Internet today will be gone tomorrow (I pray to remember that I seek glory to God, not glory to Bob). The important thing is what we do for Christ. God commands us to present the gospel to everyone. It is not
based on intellectual and philosophical persuasion, and the Holy Spirit is the one that does the
conviction and salvation, not us. The power is in the Word of God. What we can do, what anyone can do, is show that
our faith is not blind, but reasonable. Remember that we have the power of the Spirit as well as many resources to help us. All of
this is great news to those of us who are nobodies in the eyes of the world,
because we can have an impact. It may be small, it may be large, but all of it is important. Our impact can be substantial when we work together to spread the truth of the gospel and the truth of creation science.