A phrase that is supposed to stop all discussion is: Trust the Science. You’ll hear it in reference to Masks or Vaccines – coming from both sides of the arguments. You’ll hear it when someone sounds the alarm for Climate Change or from someone who denies it. But usually Trust the Science means trust the scientist not necessarily the science.
In the old commercials for toothpaste, they’d say: 4 out of 5 dentists agree that this brand is best. Who were these dentists? How long did it take to find 4 who would agree? Or 1 brave enough to disagree?
What does it mean to Trust the Science? Basically, we’re being asked to trust that due diligence has been done in the lab. Science is defined as the activity of systematically studying the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Science works to produce tested, proven solutions.
When we were in school, there was the Theory of Evolution. That meant Evolution wasn’t a provable fact, only a theory, an idea of what might have happened. And even though it’s touted as truth, it remains a theory today because there are no records of any animal evolving into another. It can’t be proven by science because science is built on reproducing facts.
- Chemistry – combine these two elements and you get this result every time.
- Mathematics – add these numbers together and you get this sum every time.
- Biology – combine these animals and you get this offspring every time.
- Physics – apply this force to this matter and you’ll get this result every time.
- Meteorology isn’t an exacting science because weather is too unpredictable.
- Neither is Medicine an exacting science. How many times has a doctor said, “Let’s try this and see if it helps.”
Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge discovered by following a systematic standard of actions based on evidence, which includes:
- Observation: Measurement and data – a record of the facts
- Evidence – proof of an outcome
- Repetition – reproducing the outcome
- Critical analysis – questioning if the research was done accurately
- Verification: scrutiny – are these results reliable
You don’t just say something’s right without scrutinizing it to see why it’s right.
Today, things are different. Today, science is getting blurred with social programming. Trust the Science becomes the Drop the Microphone moment when someone believes they have won the argument for what they want to be true but can’t prove it’s true. And if you disagree, you are denying Science. You are the offender of the narrative. Then, you and your opinion are dismissed.
Misgendering can get you thrown off of Twitter, or, as one professor found out, fired. A scientist, who disagreed with Global Warming, also got fired. A policeman who shared on Facebook his opinion about Critical Race Theory lost his job. One legislator wanted to make it a hate crime to challenge Dr. Fauci.
If you are not allowed to disagree about the matters someone is trying to weave into the social fabric of our day, using Trust the Science as the end of the discussion, that’s not science, it’s censorship.
Like elephants and fleas, we’re trained to believe the experts. We want to trust those we think know what they’re talking about. But what if the experts are wrong. You don’t just move forward because you found 4 out of 5 scientists who would agree. The science may be wrong.
- Science of the day said the earth was flat.
- Science of the day said the earth was the center of the solar system.
- Science of the day said men will never fly.
- Science of the day said there was a five-second rule to food falling on the floor.
Go back to Evolution. Whatever happened to the Theory part of Evolution and why is it taught as the foundation of Biology? It can’t be verified, reproduced or tested. What happened? It left science and became a philosophy, woven into a social context. Evolution was necessary to control beliefs within that context, and to redefine the context.
Evolution takes away the need for a God of creation. If you have a Creator, there must be a reason He created everything. To reject there being a reason, you also have to reject that reason having any bearing on life. When we do that, life becomes a product of chance and choices. Without a reason behind the design, we determine who we are and what we become.
Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
When God is removed or minimized, we are left to the foolishness of our own speculations. So that, whatever develops is acceptable.
Jer 18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. 4 But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 6 "Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.
If there is a Potter who shapes the clay, there is an accountability to the Potter. If there is no Potter there’s no one to be accountable to except ourselves. With no one to be accountable to, we determine the design. So that, if we don’t like being a pot, we can decide we are a tea cup. And anyone who disagrees with us being a tea cup, they have the problem, not us.
So, the question is: what is the context for our lives? If evolution, we are whatever we become. But, if we live within the context of God, we become what we are designed to be. Look at how this is laid out in Scripture:
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.
blessed us with every spiritual blessing – the fulfillment of the promises connected to His plans for us.
chose – called out of one realm of life into another
chose us in Him before the foundation of the world - those plans went back to the beginning
chose us for this purpose: that we would be holy and blameless before Him – how’s that going to happen? He has to make it so. Remember: this isn’t evolution. We don’t create ourselves, neither can we become holy and blameless on our own.
predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself – predetermined we would have a relationship with Him as children by adoption through what Jesus did. We are as much a part of the Family of God as if we were born into it. Which adds an interesting background to the story of Nicodemus being told by Jesus he must be born again.
to the praise of the glory of His grace – the praise goes to Him, the grace goes to us, the glory is the evidence that what has happened is His doing. e must place our lives into a God-context.
freely bestowed, lavished on us. – more than adequately supplies all we need. Evolution speaks of survival and existence. God speaks of life and the abundance He has placed within it.
Eph 1:8 In all wisdom and insight 9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
made known to us the mystery of His will – which is the foundation of life
administration suitable – His will is broken down into livable components. It’s revealed as we go. That’s why the command is to simply follow and leave the organization of the affairs of life to Him. Take the bus and leave the driving to us.
Administrators structure, organize, implement and oversee. They take the pieces and make them make sense.
predestined according to His purpose –all of this was predetermined
that we would be to the praise of His glory – our lives can express the greatness of God
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
By grace – God’s work in our behalf. It is the means of God applying Jesus’ work to our benefit. GRACE – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. God doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Through faith – How we participate in what God is doing to save us. We must believe to receive.
The gift of God – is the entire redemption story of God coming to bear on our lives. Determined, packaged, delivered, received, opened, enjoyed.
workmanship Masterpiece – the height of His creation. What the Creator is known for.
Good works – the products of faith.
The world was created to reveal the goodness of God. We have been brought into this world to know the Creator and enjoy His goodness. What we then do is to reflect on the greatness of God through our lives.
Matt 5:16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
How does the moon shine?
Glorify: means reflecting back what the original is shining.
Which means, there is to be a connection between who we are and what we do and how that honors the Lord. A context. A consistency that verifies He is good.
2Cor 4:6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves… 10 so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
Next week, we’ll see how we are designed to do that.
TAKEAWAYS
- It is vital that we determine the context of our lives.
- We can adopt the pattern of the world to find meaning and purpose, or we can center our lives on the intentions of God to find our purpose in Him.
- Fulfillment comes only from that which fully satisfies.
- The world is limited in its ability to produce such a life; Jesus offers it in abundance.
- That life works best when God is honored most.
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