Please Don’t Make Me Look Stupid

“Tide goes in, tide goes out. No miscommunication!”

If you don't know, that’s what Bill O’Reilly said. Bill is a political pundit with a show on Fox, who likes to argue and browbeat people who disagree with him. Apparently he was proving the existence of God to an atheist. He said it with such a smug attitude – and his argument is sooo dumb – that it went viral. People who don’t watch his show (like me) got to see Bill O’Reilly make a laughingstock of Christianity.

So, what was Bill trying to say? Science doesn’t explain everything, therefore there has to be a God. Is that it, Bill? Okaaaay. I get it now! I’m convinced. Jesus is Lord. I’m ready to be saved. Just pray the sinner’s prayer with me and I’m good.
No?
Why not?
The moon pulls the tides, says Bill, and we can’t explain the moon. No miscommunication. And furthermore, you're a pinhead for pointing that out! I’m convinced now! I feel so humble.
Wait.
We can explain the moon? (And the two moons of Mars?) It’s got something to do with gravity, or so I’ve heard. Einstein and Kepler and some other smart guys worked out a lot of equations, and they had lots of numbers in them, and – I admit it – I believe them. Sometimes it’s okay just to trust that scientists know stuff.
Hmmm.
Okay, now what?
A lot of scientific facts can be explained, well, scientifically. As a Christian, that doesn’t bother me. See, that’s what science is about; explaining things. Faith is about those things that can’t be explained. Faith in God is about our relationship with God (as opposed to, say, tides). I think many Christians today don’t get that. They want to argue science with scientists. What they should be doing is shining the light.

...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

As a Christian, I actually understand what Bill was trying to get at. (For someone who talks so much, he manages to say very little.) Ultimately, if you look deep enough, science doesn’t explain everything. Atheists would say we just haven’t figured it out yet. Christians would say that if we go deep enough, we’ll find God.
But is that what the world is yearning for? Scientific proof of the existence of God?

See, it’s not the stupidity of Bill’s statements that gets to me. It’s his smug attitude. If I were an atheist, I wouldn’t want to know God based on Bill’s little diatribe. The God I know is loving, forgiving, and kind. The God I know is someone I can turn to when I’m unhappy, who loves me and gives me peace. For me this didn’t happen overnight. It’s taken me a long time to trust God and to find His peace. It’s been worth it. If you're not there yet, I'm not going to call you names, or to bully you into agreeing with me. The God I know doesn't think you're a pinhead.

This is what I think about when I think of God:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 1 John 14:27

Peace, love, faith