Imagine a football coach who only works with the quarterback. Every day he devises training plans, tactical strategies, and plays for him, while hardly saying “Hello” to anyone else at the club. And – surprise, surprise – the team is losing games. The other players are growing fat and lazy. When they get on the pitch, they don’t know what to do or where to go, and even if they wanted to, they couldn’t because of their lack of fitness.
That’s how I see the state of play in the Creation v Evolution debate. We’re training a few creationist quarterbacks, and scoring the odd touchdown, but we’re at risk of losing the game (the doctrine of Creation) because we’re ignoring, neglecting, and forgetting the wider picture, the rest of the team.
Diversion by concentration
Although the Devil has so far failed to win the Creation v Evolution debate (largely due to the skill and courage of our creationist quarterbacks), by concentrating the church’s attention almost exclusively upon this issue, he’s often successfully diverted our attention away from the size, scope, and significance of the Bible’s teaching on what creation is, who is our Creator, and what does it mean to live as His creatures in His creation.
I’m all for training the quarterback debaters and apologists, and for supporting the ministries that do this vital frontline work. But I want us to build a much fuller, wider, and deeper understanding of creation, and to work out its massive implications for the Church, for society, and for our personal lives.
A creationist creates
I want to train the whole team and bring more players into the game. I want our apologists and debaters to continue their valiant fight, but I want ordinary Christians to move from being mere spectators of the debaters to being active participants in other creation-related areas.
To put it simply, I don’t want just a few Christians fighting for the doctrine of creation, I want all Christians to be creative. Or to put it another way, while some are called to defend our Creator, we are all called to image our Creator, to create like our Creator.
Being a “creationist” is a much larger calling than defeating evolutionists. A real creationist creates.
Previous Posts in Created to Create series
Competitive Creativity
“But I’m just a Mom!”
Creatorless Creativity
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