As I watched the debate last night between Bill Nye and Ken Ham I couldn’t help but smile all the way through it. I had hoped against hope that this debate would be an opportunity for the world to see that it is possible for people with completely different convictions to share what they believed in a civilized manner.
I believe with all my heart that I can sit down and talk with anyone and treat them with kindness regardless of what they think about my beliefs and what I think of theirs. I don’t have to unfriend you and I don’t have to call you stupid, or blind, or close-minded, nor do you have to do that with me.
As I watched Bill Nye debate Ken Ham, there was no denying that this man believed what he shared. Bill Nye had real questions and they were valid questions that any Christian should be able to receive without becoming antagonistic. I was shocked at seeing a few comments from professing Christians that called Bill Nye stupid. I did not see a stupid man standing there at all.
What I saw was a man who had a love for knowledge and the world around him. What I saw was a man who was seeking answers to very valid questions. What I saw was a man whose eyes lit up when he shared about the amazing things he saw in this world. What I saw was a man who truly loved the joy of discovery. What I saw was a seeker.
Here is where I believe we as Christians must be careful.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake.
2 Corinthians 4:3-5
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For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.
1 Corinthians 1:17-29
Fellow believers let us be careful not to forget that only the Lord can open hearts and eyes (John 9:39, John 16:8, Acts 16:14, 1 Thess 1:5) and it is the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the power of the gospel that saves. We can only see the outside fruit… we have no clue what is going on in the heart.
Here is what we are not to judge.
It is not judging for me to point out what the Bible calls sin. It is not judging for me to share what God’s Word says. It is not judging for me to see impatience, immorality, idolatry, outbursts of anger, strife, drunkenness, etc. These things are obvious outside observations that anyone can see. It is not judging to say “Look and see“
What is judging is for me to assume the why behind the fruit. What I cannot see is the dealing of the Holy Spirit at work within a soul. What I cannot see is the struggles and the wrestlings or the lack of them that is at work or not at work in a heart. What I cannot know is the questions that are bouncing around in a mind. What I cannot see are the lies that have been whispered, the hurts that have been buried, the wounds that have not healed… the small steps of faith that have been made, or the huge leaps that appear small to me but were massive from the feet of the one that took them.
Personally I think Bill Nye took a huge leap to even consider the debate. What I heard were the words of a human being who just wanted answers. As a matter of fact he said his mind was open to believe, he is simply searching for evidence. Personally I believe as long as someone is searching and seeking… there is only one place they can stop that search. All true seekers are going to end up at the foot of the cross.
As believers we should be praying for eyes to be opened, because only God can open them. A man cannot see what God has hidden. So this is what we are not to judge… but to smile and pray and say keep seeking.
There are those that I know will never believe… those whose hearts only grow harder… but I am kind of a dreamer… and all I can think about is how awesome it would be for God Himself to answer Bill Nye’s questions.