Almost every time someone comes late into the AiG booth at the Iowa State Fair, you can be assured that they want to talk and have some deep concerns. This 2023 season was no exception and happened several times. One such time was a gentleman by the name of Nathan. As my fellow team members left one by one, I was alone in the booth and could immediately tell that he was bothered by something. His left eye twitched involuntarily, his posture was puffy, and his lips were pursed.
“I don’t understand you Christians that believe in a young earth and that God created everything in six literal 24-hour days,” he said. “I think if you are open to other interpretations, we would all get along better.”
Employing the ‘Columbo Tactic’ from Gregory Koukl’s: Tactics, I said, “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, there are many interpretations of creation, like millions of years. Why can’t we all be right, or at least agree that we could be right?”
A little confused, I thought for a moment. “So why can’t I be right in saying God created the world in six days and the earth is about 6,000 years old? Why do I have to be wrong? If you came over to my side, maybe we could get along.”
His eye twitched stronger. “You’re missing the point. There are many interpretations, who’s to say that yours is the right one?”
“The Bible. It’s how it’s written. When we calculate the genealogies, it gives us around 6,000 years. 2,000 years from Adam to Abraham, 2,000 years from Abraham to Christ, and 2,000 years from Christ to today. It’s also backed by science.”
“But that’s still your interpretation,” Nathan said. “What if there were a million years in each day of creation? What if they didn’t write down everyone’s name in the genealogy record and skipped generations? You could get millions of years from that.”
“Millions of years between recorded generations? How far back have you detailed your family tree? Not only that, Nathan, but when the Bible says this person beget that person, it’s a direct offspring from their loins.”
“But that’s your interpretation.”
Now I’m getting annoyed and praying to God in my head that this would be a fruitful conversation because now it’s 8:10pm and we are going to get ejected from the building if security finds us. The only thing keeping me in this is that for whatever reason I believed he was being sincere and not messing with me.
“So, Nathan, I have a friend on Facebook who sincerely believes because of how the Bible is written, that the earth is flat, and that the moon gives off light.”
Confused, he said, “What do you mean, ‘gives off light’?”
“That it doesn’t reflect light from the sun, but lights up like a light bulb. Is he wrong?”
Shaking his head and laughing out loud he said, “That’s ridiculous. Who in their right mind would believe that?”
Surprised by his response, I looked at him with furrowed brow and said, “Why are you laughing? That’s HIS interpretation.”
His eyes widened and he stepped back about two feet. He realized what had happened, and knowing our time is short he asked me to look at a video in my own time, which was only fair because I gave him two booklets to look at. We shook hands, and as I held on a little longer, I shared that I don’t care what the Bible means to him, or to me, or to anyone for that matter. I care what it means, and what it meant to the person who wrote it down. It matters when we study Scripture in context according to Biblical hermeneutical, historical, and grammatical interpretation. By that standard, there can only be one interpretation. Saying anything else you are trusting in man’s word, not God’s Word.
Nathan smiled, thanked me for the conversation and said, “This is a lot to think about, and we better get going.” It was a great conversation and I’m glad that I stayed as long as I could. As I walked out, I gave the security guard a Gideon Testament, The Purpose and Meaning of Life tract, and thanked him for his patience.
Many Christians worry about getting into conversations like this and not having the right answers. But here I was giving all the right answers and it still didn’t matter. That’s when we need to think outside the box and either use questions, employ their reasoning momentarily, or create a parable to make the person see for themselves the way Jesus did multiple times. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes refused to see, and Jesus continuously gave them grace upon grace trying to teach them in different ways. We don’t always have to have all the answers; sometimes all we can do is help them to see it for themselves.
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Pens & Wrenches 