And
even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are
not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual
immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy,
murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,
backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy,
unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous
judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of
death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice
them. (Romans 01:28-32, NKJV).
The first chapter of
Paul's letter to the Roman church ends with a comprehensive list of
human evil. It is as evident and accurate today as when the apostle
penned it 2000 years ago. It is also as incisive and perceptive now,
as then, and it begins with the primary cause of human badness:
willful ignorance.
It is not that we humans
don't know what is right and wrong. Every culture, every individual,
throughout the world and throughout history has an innate, God-given
moral compass: our conscience. It's there. We're born with it. It is
why the youngest child when about to do something he or she knows to
be wrong, experiences a momentary twinge of guilt, and while it is
logically impossible to deny the existence of the human conscience,
it is possible to sear it into ineffectiveness.
And the first step in
that process is always conscious rejection of the knowledge of God.
The knowledge in view here is not detailed, systematic doctrine, but
the general, undeniable evidence of the supernatural Creator of
heaven and earth. As David wrote a thousand years before Paul:
The
heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His
handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals
knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not
heard. (Psalms 19:1-3, NKJV).
Paul echoed that
conclusion when he wrote earlier in Romans 1 that humans are without
excuse when it comes to knowing of God.
This often leads to the
question posed by skeptics and believers alike, “But what about
residents in uncivilized parts of the world, who have never seen a
Bible and have had no missionary visits?”
It is a good question
despite the fact that the sentiment behind it is sometimes
contemptuous, combative or dismissive.
But the question itself
presupposes something about faith and the knowledge and character of
God that is not in evidence. If God is real and is omniscient,
omnipresent, and omnipotent, which by definition He must be for Him
to be God, then why would we think that He must rely only on
those things with which we, in our limited perspective, are familiar?
Isn't it entirely
conceivable that a transcendent Intelligence could choose to make His
existence known by other means? He is, after all, outside of time and
space and possessed of all power, and is the inventor and
manufacturer of human beings in all our wondrous complexity of
perception and thought. Must we limit such a Being to merely natural
means of revelation?
It would be utterly
convenient for the skeptic if we could, but it would be a proposition
based on faulty premises.
The truth is that
missionaries who have gone into “unreached” portions of the
world, have frequently testified that, upon arrival, they have
encountered people groups “prepped and waiting for them”,
informed by supernatural visions and dreams that God has provided a
means of escape from the judgment of sin through His Son. Sometimes
these revelations are so detailed that the evangelist finds his or
her work already done.
We can disbelieve these
reports if we choose, but that is Paul's point. It's a choice of the
will to reject the knowledge of God, and if we do so often enough in
the light of God's self-revelation in the world and in our hearts and
consciences, he will give us over to a debased mind to do
those things which are not fitting...
Note where that judgment
begins – in the mind, for that is where all sinful doing is
birthed.
I have known people so
invested in lifelong denial of God that the very mention of Him, and
especially of His Son Jesus, causes a disproportionate eruption of
hatred and contempt. I was such a one. These individuals are
ironically unaware that their intense and vituperative reaction is
itself a demonstration of their innate knowledge of His existence.
Otherwise, why respond so irrationally at the very mention of His
name?
Why not just let us
Christians go about living our lives in what is from their
perspective, a “delusion of faith”, displaying our Nativities,
praying our prayers, and building and attending our churches? Why not
just “live and let live”, as long as no one is compelled by
threat or harassment to change his or her beliefs?
The truth is that it is
impossible to be completely neutral about God's existence. Jesus said
that someone is either for Him, or against Him. There is ultimately
no middle ground. In the end, you will either accept Him as the way,
the truth, and the life, or you will willfully discard Him from your
repository of knowledge and die in sin.
So be aware beloved, that
when the world (or your relatives or friends or acquaintances, or
government officials) hate you, they are hating Him in you. Despite
the pain involved, it is a clear affirmation that the Bible is true,
for that is precisely what Jesus warned His disciples (see John 15).
Love,
Dad.
