Regardless of what you believe about Evolution and the Book of Genesis, the recent debate between Bill Nye and Dr. Haim put on display that which is eating the church alive from the inside.
It is not a lack of real Biblical scholarship. After all we have seminaries full of scholars publishing works across the spectrum every day.
It is not a lack of practical teaching on the Bible. You can go into almost any church on any Sunday and find a woman or man of God trying their best to relate the story of scripture to every day life.
It is our increasing deafness to criticism and avoidance of real conversation. It seems like every week I speak with another person who posed legitimate questions about their faith community’s belief only to be met with either silence or entrenchment. “We just accept that on faith.” or “[insert source of questioner here] is just wrong. They are out for their own interest and just trying to sell books.”
Which brings me to the “debate” with Nye and Haim. Though I wished there was a representative from the BioLogos foundation there instead, I was hoping to watch a Christian reach out to a scientist. What I saw was quite the opposite.
Taking cues from Fox News and MSNBC, the man there representing my people and my God took pot shots at one of the most respected scientists and educators of our time. I watched as Nye was made the butt of jokes and his position treated as if it were not the prevailing norm among scientists. Rather than a discussion where both parties considered the arguments and insights offered by the other or even a debate where they actually responded to the substance of the argument, they just went back to their talking points.
This is the problem. People who are questioning faith and who are concerned with some of our beliefs want to have a true conversation where we each actually listens to the other. They want to discuss their questions with someone who is not coming in a posture of right vs. wrong but a learning posture.
Instead, we take pot shots at scholars. Instead, we argue our point to those questioning in our presence without ever responding to their arguments. Instead, we refuse to open ourselves up the the option that our positions may not be 100% correct. We refuse to open ourselves up to learning from the atheist in our office or tweaking our understanding of life and faith from the friend who is investigating multiple faiths.
The result? After conversations with hundreds of people who are questioning, skeptical or outright opposed to faith, I can tell you there is a universal response. When we choose to disengage and re-entrench ourselves. When we choose the posture of a political pundit over a sinner on the path of grace, they leave.
Over and over, they just stop coming. They stop asking the questions. They stop trying to engage with Christianity. Most of them do it silently suffering as much from crushed hopes as they are from the lack of engagement. But they leave, and we lose. We lose vital voices challenging us to grow and understand. We loose brilliant scientists and powerful philosophical minds. We lose.
However, there is good news. If these people meet someone who is willing to talk, willing to dialogue rather than monologue. They will often re-engage. As I have seen in my own conversations, in order for the questioner to begin considering faith again, it only takes a single Christian who is willing to not shy away from tough questions or the person who is asking them. Though it may take twice as many years for them to return to the church as it did for them to leave, there is hope if we will let go of this cancerous entrenchment and engage.
If we can recover this art of listening, we can shut one of the back doors out of which our people are leaving. We can show ourselves as reasonable people worthy of engagement, and we can excise this cancer that is eating us alive.
