I saw a report yesterday about yet another attempt to say spirituality is wired into our genes. Let’s think about that for a moment.

What is meant by spirituality? Well, the author used the key phrase, “You feel at one with all that surrounds you” or something to that effect. If you answered, “yes” then you are on your way to being considered spiritual.

Well, I must not be spriritual. I don’t feel at one with all that surrounds me. In fact, I feel a bit disjointed with all that surrounds me most of the time.

People- I have no at-one-ness with someone who wants to kill me and my family because we are Christian. I have no bond with someone who wants to kill me and my family because I am an American. I pray for those who wish me dead, but I do not feel any connectedness.

“Can’t we all just get along?”- Rodney King

“No we can’t. We have to develop into the kind of people who can get along.”- Dallas Willard

Place- I am not at-one with dust. I used to be a semi-clean freak. So, for almost half my life I choose to live in a desert. It’s LA, but it’s still a desert. No, dust here, right?

Thing- I am not at-one with small print. I have glasses. I can squint. But it seems to me, if you want me to know something, you wouldn’t hide it in tiny font. Unless you didn’t want me to know something. Then, that’s deception. And I’m not down with that.

With the yellow “livestrong” Lance Armstrong bracelets popping up everywhere, I thought it was time to go “old school” and start wearing a “WWJD” bracelet again. After all, it’s still cool. Allen Iversen continues to wear his.

In review, WWJD stands for, “What would Jesus do?” Homer Simpson thought it meant “What would Geppetto Do?” but that is for another day. So, what would Jesus do? Quite frankly, I am not so sure. I know he told his main students (disciples) they are to teach everything he commanded to other people (Matthew 28:20). What he commanded is one thing but the resulting actions is another. We might be surprised at some actions Jesus takes in a given situation, but we would know the thinking behind the action through what he taught. “WWJD” is a good reminder, but it may be more helpful to start out with a “WDJT” bracelet. “What did Jesus teach?” Too often people are quick to assume what Jesus would do without the knowledge and understanding of what he taught. “WDJT” bracelets for everyone.

“God will save everyone in the end.” This is called “universalism.” In the designer faith, it means that I need Jesus as my Savior, but someone else doesn’t. How does a Christian come to this contradiction?

Universalism is based on false logic and emotion. “How could God do such a thing?” “A loving God will always forgive.” The trouble with this line of thinking is mistaking the identity of the one who chooses. It isn’t God doing “such a thing.” God does always forgive but this doesn’t mean his forgiveness is accepted.

Doesn’t this mean God is unnecessarily cruel? After all, he has the ability to save everyone, doesn’t he? Well, let’s consider this. If someone has rejected Jesus and chosen not to worship him or trust in him, you would say that person does not want Jesus. If you don’t want Jesus all your life and then you die and face him in judgment, who is going to want to live with Jesus forever when he/she is proven wrong? No one would choose this. He/she has become the kind of person who cannot want Jesus. In fact, heaven would be torture for such a person. No, when it comes to heaven or hell, the person who has chosen to reject Jesus in this life chooses hell.

Besides, universalism is not supported in the Bible. The Bible speaks of heaven and hell. The Bible speaks of those who will live with Jesus forever and those who will be separated from Jesus forever. All people will know Jesus is God, they just won’t all be saved.

God honors human freedom so much he allows us to reject him.

So what are some of the designer faith teachings that some add to their Christianity? I’ll look at several. Today, let’s start with a common statement,

“We all worship the same God.”

Well, yes and no. Yes, if you are worshipping a being outside of yourself. There is only one God. But, no, because you aren’t worshipping the same God.

People use the elephant story to try to explain the belief that Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, and so forth all worship the same God. Several blind men discover an elephant and each tries to explain it. One touches the leg and says, “It is like a large tree.” Another grabs the trunk and says, “No, it is like a snake.” Another grabs the tail and says, “No, it is like a big broom.”

You see, all of them are explaining the same elephant from a different perspective. Now, this is a clever story, but it breaks down because Christianity explains that elephant in reality. Ken Samples and Fuz Rana from Reasons to Believe say it well.

‘A more accurate story about God is this. In the Christian view of God, Jesus heals the blind men and they can clearly see. Or, in the Christian version of this story, the elephant speaks and tells the blind men who he is.’

The Christian claim that God has already revealed himself in Jesus makes other viewpoints unnecessary. If you wish to know about God, look to Jesus. Put Jesus on the table, along with the other views, and then let’s see which is the clearest view of reality. Put it to the test.

I like to joke with people and say, “The church is the only voluntary organization in existence today where people go to consistently be told they are wrong.” Obviously, this is an exaggeration, but if the center of human nature is narcissism, “it’s all about me and what I think,” then it is not too much of a stretch. The first basic message we learn in church is “Jesus is Lord and we are not.”

A healthy church community is a place where we open ourselves up to the message of Jesus where he says, “My way works. Learn from me and connect with me and I will guide your development to be the person I have destined you to be.” In this development, clear teaching and trusted Christian friends who are also on this journey provide feedback.

Without a church community guiding you in a basic biblical model of faith, and calling into question places where you stray, it is too tempting to design a faith that reflects whatever you want. It’s like going to Coldstones for ice cream. If you don’t know Coldstones, these are ice cream shops that not only have a ton of flavor choices, but also a ton of additives, like crushed Heath bar and gummi bears. You order a base ice cream and then as many additions as you choose and then they crush it together, mix it up, and there you go.

Whenever someone says, “I am very spiritual, I just don’t go to church,” I hear, “I really benefit from religious teachings, but I don’t want to be challenged. I don’t want what I think ever questioned. I don’t want to take the chance that I am not going to be able to do exactly what I want.”

Now, I don’t think people realize this might be their meaning. I do know there are other reasons people who are “spiritual” don’t participate in “spiritual” communities. I just can’t help thinking, “Coldstones.”

Why do human beings throughout history have taboos against certain behaviors? Whether thousands of years ago or modern times, whether in remote jungles or urban areas, there are certain behaviors that are universally condemned. How is it that humans have a conscience?

What are some of these behaviors that are condemned and punished? Examples:

• torturing children for pleasure
• incest
• rape

The Darwinian evolution model doesn’t have any mechanism to explain these moral codes. There is something much greater than the brain going on here.

Whether you call it a “soul” or “conscience” or anything else, it is not simply brain connections. It is given to us from the outside. The evidence is some caring, intelligent, outside agent has given us this ability to know certain things are wrong. I call this agent, “God.”

How does consciousness originate from material alone? If you follow Darwinian evolution then you are left with everything consisting of material. The theory is challenged in a compelling way by consciousness. How can thought itself be simply material?

Well, the evidence shows it’s not. We have no evidence that you are simply your body parts. The evidence weighs in the other direction. You are the thing that has parts. There is much support for the existence of something beyond the tissue and circuitry of the brain.

For example, studies have consistently verified patients who had no brain activity measured (popularly called “brain dead”) who came back to consciousness. They report experiencing memories and reasoning during the time the brain was not functioning that prove to be accurate.

It is also logical to assume that thought is not simply material. Think of this.

• Persuade someone there is no such thing as persuasion.
  
• You may know the makeup of my brain, but try to predict my free decisions.

How do you get life from non-life? There is no Darwinian evolution explanation for the origin of the first living cells. Find a scientifically supported theory for the origin of life. You won’t. You will get a lot of guesses. There is no specific research that shows this is possible.

Because the evidence for explaining getting life from non-life is non-existent, there is a big push to try to explain life on earth coming from outer space. Life on Mars, moons of Venus, moons of Jupiter and so on. This doesn’t solve the problem of origin of life, however. Just shifts the location. If it were from Mars, how do you get life from non-life on Mars?

The weight of the evidence is that the first living cells were specifically designed by a Creator. The best explanation is they were miraculously formed. And that’s just a start. Let alone how you get body structures and organs and a brain and, well, you. Random chance?

Science research overwhelming supports a physical universe with a beginning. A moment before creation there was no space, matter, energy or time. Then suddenly everything in our physical universe came into existence. This is informally labeled, “The Big Bang.” There are many different types of big bang theories, but they all have the same general principles. They all support a universe that has a beginning.

There are philosophical arguments that there are countless universes and we are just in one that supports life. There are philosophical arguments that our universe was birthed from another universe and so on and so on. I say philosophical because there is no scientific research showing anything but a big bang single creation event. All else is imagination, thus far.

Two of the most basic laws of physics are:

1. Nothing comes from nothing
2. Something had to
   

I call that something “God.”

When considering the question, “Does God exist?” there are four questions that have to be answered before one can begin to speak of no god (or whatever term you want to use, intelligent designer, intelligent agent, etc.) Does the evidence support there being no god or a god? Here are the questions:

1. How do you get something from nothing?
2. How do you get life from non-life?
3. How do you get consciousness from material?
4. How are there universal moral codes (taboos, in particular) across cultures and across history?