by David Melton
For a guy who likes books as much as I do, it was a dangerous place — where books were being given away for free! Most of what I browsed was the kind of stuff I can resist. But I did grab a coffee table book — a very nice, incredibly illustrated (computer-generated) hard copy entitled, Universe. Amazing “pictures” of space, galaxies, all kinds of celestial pay dirt. And there is some text, which begins this way:
“In the beginning, there was no time. There was no space. There was no matter. Space and time did not exist. For a reason that we do not understand, the Universe suddenly was (italics mine). Time began to flow. Space was created, and it swelled in size. Matter came into being, and was carried away in the expansion of space. The result was the Big Bang.”
People began to peek toward me as I grunted, huffed, and muttered reading those words. And then, before I could behave better, I barked, “Are you kidding me?” I took my book, hopped in my car, and drove to campus.
I had this urge to throw Universe into the Boston Baptist College dumpster. I even thought about digging through the dumpster and smearing the last remnant of a roll-on deodorant on that introductory narrative! I’m not proud of that, and, thankfully, it dawned on me how dumb I would look if students saw me dumpster diving, but I’m just saying …
I kept the book. I’m looking at it right now. The pictures of what God created are pretty good. The accompanying explanation is terrible, but valuable. It is a regular reminder of what our job is. The God who made our world has been written out of the script. Not that somebody has thought up a brilliant alternative, mind you (the best they have is “for a reason we do not understand”), but our society denies the reality of the God of the Bible. That means that quality, engaging, Christian education is not a luxury. It is a core necessity!
People, even many in our churches, just don’t see as much value in Christian education — and embrace the challenge to support it — as we saw a generation ago. We live in a Universe world and if our children are going to be disciples in this world, we better do whatever is needed to equip the minds of young Christians. My free book irritates every time I look at it. But it also energizes me, reminding me why Boston Baptist College, and places like it, must exist.
The street-wise atheism represented in Universe took a shot to the gut recently. I read Kirsten Powers, Democratic political operative and former “happy atheist,” recount her journey to the Savior. The mainstream media that has sought her opinion on all kinds of issues are remarkably not curious about this new element in Kirsten’s thinking. Google her story. Read it nice and slow. It is the evidence of the Book, the Truth from the Creator. Books like Universe ironically end up being “free for the taking.” Kirsten reminds us that our job leads to results that are priceless.