True Education, Idealism, Dad's Wisdom, Scientific Method, Ordered Universe, Foundational Work

5/24/19          Zhong (click HERE to see video)            about 24

Years ago as a teenager my Dad told me something I will never forget.  I don’t know if he was quoting someone else, but he told me “The mark of a truly educated man is that he knows how much he doesn’t know.”

He told me this from his point of view as a seasoned high school teacher commenting on the idealism of some newly hired college grads who were teaching at our high school, but I know it really applies in a lot of circumstances.

I remembered his words after a conversation with a young man named Zhong, from China, who is about to graduate from college with a bachelors in Chemical Engineering.  At first Zhong described himself as an atheist, but later we figured out the better description would be agnostic.  I really had the sense that the supposed “faith vs. science” debate wasn’t an issue for him, and I believe it had a lot to do with the pastor of a nearby church talking with him and accepting him as he is and allowing him to work through some of these issues.  I believe that for many young people such as Zhong, the tremendous complexity and vastness of God’s created order is leading them to see that there is indeed an “orderer” that makes the scientific method even possible. I believe Zhong is able to see that science can only go so far in explaining this universe, and that he is gradually turning to faith in God as a result.

Zhong had no problem talking with me about such things, and I believe this is a result of his pastor friend trusting and believing in him and pouring time and energy into his life.  I hope I was able to contribute in some small way through this conversation, maybe helping Zhong realize God’s church is much bigger than his local circle of Christian friends. 

In Romans 15, Paul wrote “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.”  Personally, I have no problem with building on someone else’s foundational work in the life of an unbeliever.  I consider it a privilege and am greatly encouraged that this great task of disciple-making is going on all around us.  Maybe the mark of a truly experienced Christian is that he knows how much we need one another in this great Commission God has called us to.

See video HERE