The world is stuffed full of living things……from our child to the mold we continually scour out of the shower.

But, we know with absolute certainty that we……mankind…..are somehow different from all other living things………not to mention non-living things. And we act that way……..all day…….every day.

But…….if you are a true secular humanist, there is no fundamental difference between man and all other living things. There is no fundamental difference between me and the bacteria in my colon. Both are biochemical accidents, both grow, both reproduce, both adapt to their environment, both come from the same ultimate original primitive life form. In a word……..I am a very distant cousin of the bacteria in my colon.

To the true secular humanist, all living things are on the same plane. This is the realm where the idea of animal rights flourishes. I recently heard an interview where the interviewer told a vegetarian that some plants were “sentient”….capable of sensing and reacting to their environment. This caused a crisis………she couldn’t kill and eat a sentient animal………but now plants might be sentient too?!?

A true secular humanist limits their understanding to those things that can be explained by physical science. But, physical science offers no clear distinguishing characteristic to separate man from other life forms. I have even heard theories that blur the line between living and non-living things. The prion, the virus, even the computer virus…….these all have some of the features of life. One author concluded that computer viruses are alive. So…….if animals have rights……..does a computer virus have rights?………..how about the covid-19 virus?

Sentience is about as close as secular humanism comes to a dividing line that can distinguish between man and everything else……….and this is a slippery slope. In practice, the dividing line of sentience is where ever you need it to be. Sentient beings are like us and therefore require special treatment…….rights. For the carnivor…..a cow is not sentient enough. For the vegetarian, plants are not sentient enough. For someone who is planning to starve, all living things are sentient. For the pro-choice voter, a human fetus is not sentient enough.

After all, according to science……..according to secular humanism, even viruses and bacteria can sense their environment, learn from it, and change in response to it………just like us. To a degree they are all sentient.

If you are living as a secular humanist, there is no intellectually honest difference between man and all other living things.

But man is different. And the hard truth is that Secular Humanism…….science……has no answer to this crucial question:

WHAT MAKES MAN DIFFERENT?

But, Christianity has an answer.

The answer is the human soul………and along with the soul, the source of the soul, the creator……..God.

The thing that makes man different is his soul. The failure of secular humanism is that, because science cannot detect……because science cannot measure the human soul, it denies the existence of the soul…….and therefore, its creator…….God.

The problem is this: it turns out, that it is very difficult to function in a “soulless” world. Because secular humanism gives us no clear dividing line between man and other living things, we have to create arbitrary divisions. We generally put these divisions wherever we need them to be……..in order to get what we want. It’s OK to kill a cow or a chicken, so it’s OK to kill a deer, but it’s not OK to kill your wife, but it is OK to kill your unborn child.

This is dishonest.

Secular humanism is dishonest.

If you are a secular humanist……..and if you are honest……you must act as though you have a soul. You must treat me as though I have a soul. Even worse……you must treat the guy who cut you off in traffic as though he had a soul.

To function in society, you must act as though you have a soul.

Maybe this is telling you something.

and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Solomon, NIV

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

David, NIV

God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Moses, ASV

“God uses broken people.”

If you are a Christian you often hear this phrase. It is not a phrase that usually catches my attention. My response is usually something on the line of……..ok…..so….. next.

This week I am reading the writings of David in Psalms. David repeatedly thanks God for blessings, recaps his triumphs, and calls death and damnation down on his enemies.

God repeatedly rescues David, promotes his interests, and blesses him. God uses David to build Israel.

But…….David is the “poster child” for the “broken man”.

We meet King David on a fine spring day in his palace…….where he is a coward, voyeur, adulterer, liar and, ultimately, a murderer. In a few introductory paragraphs, he violates about half of the ten commandments. Later, he occasionally shows mercy to Saul, but, on balance David really isn’t a very nice guy.

There are many others:

Adam was disobedient.

Jacob was a liar and a cheat.

Noah was a drunk.

Rahab was a prostitute.

Solomon was promiscuous.

Judah had sex with his daughter in law.

Peter denied Jesus.

Judas betrayed Jesus.

I could go on.

We look at these people…….and we say, “OK, I may mess up from time to time……but I never did that!”

The first simple fact is this:

God uses broken people because he has no choice…….we are all broken. We shop around til we find somebody more broken than we are. We pat ourselves on the back and say I’m OK…….because I’m better than Joe.

But the second simple fact is this:

On God’s scale of righteousness, there is no meaningful difference between me and David……or Rahab……or Judas…….or Hitler.

How do we deal with this?

First, we have to stop patting ourselves on the back…..we have to stop putting confidence in our own righteousness……….because it isn’t enough…..not by a long shot. We must come to grips with the reality that we are a mess. We are not able to undo the wrongs that we have done, and only God can fix us. We must humble ourselves.

Second, we must open ourselves to the thought of being used…….by God. There is no stain on my character that is so bad that God cannot use me……..or you. Time and again, in the Bible, God approaches a broken man, or woman, with a job to do………..and the broken man says, “Here I am……send me”.

My challenge for all of us is that we must first humble ourselves and then allow ourselves to be used by God.

I have a mallet in my woodshop. It is decades old. It has pounded on tens of thousands boards and tools. It is covered with grime and dried glue. It is chipped and gouged. By any measure, it is an ugly mess. But I use it every day to create beautiful things. If I lost it, I would miss it desperately, glue, gouges, and all.

I hope to someday become such an ugly broken tool in God’s hand.

You can too.

All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

David, NIV

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah, NIV

Seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?

In the Bible, we see a lot of Jesus. We see some of the holy spirit. And we see a bit of God in the old testament.

We see evidence of some of God’s character. He embodies justice and mercy.

We see evidence of his love for us. We see evidence of his patience…….especially when we mess up.

But, who is God?

When asked his identity, his name, God has a two word answer.

I am.

A good name identifies someone, a better name tells us a little about them, a great name tells us the central, dominant feature of their character.

I think that God chose his name very carefully. I believe that the most important thing that you can know about God……….is his name.

I am.

In my reading of the Bible, I have, for years skimmed past this point. It always seemed a little odd, a little arcane. And yet, I am coming to understand that this is the most important statement in the Bible…….the most important fact in all of Christianity……….the most important idea in all of creation.

I am.

In point of fact, this name…….these two words……these three letters……..divides humanity into two completely separate and mutually exclusive camps. It divides humanity into two separate and mutually exclusive destinies.

I am……..versus……..God is not.

The entire old testament fleshes out…..I am. The new testament adds a flourish………you are pardonned…..if you accept……I am. The entire point of the Bible is to explain………I am…….to build a bond between I am……..and you.

Secular humanism/Darwin fleshes out……..God is not. Thousands upon thousands of theories, based on observations, layered on more theories attempt to explain why we are here. But, the central tenet, the one rule that overrides all of secular humanism/Darwin……..is this:

THERE IS NO GOD.

Any explanation that includes God, any theory that includes God, is rejected out of hand…….is not even investigated.

In a word……..in the world of secular humanism……….God is simply against the rules.

Some try to split the difference……..to believe in both God and secular humanism/Darwin. This is dishonest and maybe even a bit cowardly. I know, because I tried to do it for decades. I finally realized that the mental gymnastics that this requires is extreme.

The hard truth is this. The choice is binary……..God either is or he isn’t. There is no middle ground. You must chose……..one camp or the other………one destiny or the other. And, like it or not……..ignoring the question, as many of us do……is to decide by default………that God is not.

So, back to the question.

The answer to the question “Who is God?” is in his name.

I am.

God is. This is the most important thing that you need to know in your life……..in this world.

And this answer comes from God himself.

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

God, NIV

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus, NIV

“before Abraham was born, I am!”

Jesus, NIV

To begin with, I don’t claim to be a Bible scholar. So….I’m on thin ice here. Take this for what it’s worth.

My daily reading this week includes Job. I have often thought that this book is the “wordiest” book in the Bible. The writer uses an enormous amount of florid language and repetition. So much so that my eyes tend to glaze over and I miss the key points. Moreover, the writer never seems to get around to answering my central question………Why so much suffering?

So…….the object today is to cook Job down to the essentials.

The book of Job……..abridged:

God – Job is blameless and upright.
Satan – Only because you have blessed him.
God – OK……then test him.

and Satan did.

Job’s wife – curse God and die.
Elephaz – God is good, you aren’t, do better and he’ll fix it.
Bildad – you are a worm, if you are good, God will fix it.
Zophar – you are a sinful fool.
Elihu – you are a wicked, rebellious fool.

God – your friends are the fools.
Job – my “friends” are no help.

Job – This is so unfair. God doesn’t seem to be paying attention. I know I will someday see God…….though right now I can’t find him.

God – you don’t have a clue as to what I’m up to. How can you know justice?

Job – Only God has wisdom…. the closest I can get is to fear God and shun evil.

Job – I’m sorry Lord……. you are sovereign.

And then God fixed everything.

And he never did say why.

The End

So…..the moral of the book of Job is this:

A sovereign God doesn’t owe us an explanation. We can’t expect to understand what he is doing.

And most important of all…….. we don’t get to pass judgment on what God does or doesn’t do.

WE DONT GET TO PASS JUDGEMENT ON GOD.

Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.

David, NIV

All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”

Nebuchadnezzar, after his period of insanity, NIV

But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?

Paul, NIV