Our culture has lost the ability to see the wonder of God in the workings of this world. Ancient cultures would marvel at the mysteries of why we are the way we are and why the processes of this world (and universe) work the way they do. But what was once observed as marvelous is now ignored amidst the hasty and mundane routines of daily life. The world no longer marvels at the vast complexity, beauty, and mystery of life. This is not how it has to be.
Awakening people from this slumber and creating in them a desire to wonder can be a powerful apologetic to revealing the King and Creator. How can you do it? Two ideas come to mind, and both of them can be used in the next conversation you have today.
Reveal the wonder of God in our obsession with order
“Order” may seem like an odd place to showcase the wonder of God, but that’s what makes it interesting. We are obsessed with order. We have kitchen cabinets for specific dishes, shelves in nearly every room designated for specific things, and dresser drawers for specific clothing items. Beyond our living spaces, we have planners galore to help us order our days, time management tools to help us order our time, and in the midst of a chaotic day we even desire a moment to order our thoughts! But here is the question: why is there so much desire for order?
We can’t simply explain it away as a cultural preference, because the desire for order transcends all cultures. It can’t even be confined to humans, because animals show innumerable evidences of order. Beyond that, the various cycles of our planet and fine tuning of our universe scream, “order!” When we help others stop and think about this innate desire for order and take time to help them see the presence of order all around us, something begins to happen – they begin to wonder at something that seemed so simple just a moment ago. That opens the door of opportunity to talk about the One who is behind it all. From the creation account to the final Amen in Revelation, the Bible describes a God of order. So a world created by Him would be a world of order, and a people created in His image would be people obsessed with order – which is exactly what we find.
The next time you’re at the house of a friend who doesn’t know the Lord, take the opportunity to point out an example of order and simply ask, “have you ever wondered why we’re so obsessed with order?”
Show the wonder of God in our obsession with hope
Everyone is continually hoping for something. And what happens when someone attains the thing they have been hoping for? They immediately begin hoping for something else! We are hardwired for hope – always looking to the future to attain the next thing, and consistently left unfulfilled. This leads to a pretty simple conclusion that C.S. Lewis pointed out long ago in Mere Christianity:
“If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Why not introduce this seasoning into the traditionally ho-hum conversations we have with others? Consider asking, “Have you ever wondered why people are always hoping for ‘the next thing’ even after they just got ‘the last thing’ they were hoping for? How we are simultaneously hopeful and unfulfilled at all times?” It would not be surprising to receive a response like, “I’ve never really thought of that before.” And suddenly, an opportunity opens to take a deeper look at a seemingly mundane truth about all people. All cultures across all time are obsessed with hope. What an opportunity to share how we are hope engines built by a Designer who is the only One who can fulfill our hopes. While hope here is always seeking and never fulfilled, the Bible tells us not just about lasting hope, but a living hope!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).
Finding the wonder of God everywhere
So many other examples could be used as well. Consider entertainment. Why do we seek to escape the world via entertainment? Could it be because the world is not as it should be – a broken version of a once perfect paradise? How about justice? Why is “let all do as they please” a policy in zero cultures? Why are we obsessed with punishing those who violate laws, orders, and rules? Could it be that since this desire transcends all cultures, something outside of culture is behind this desire for justice? A Perfect Judge? It goes on and on.
These (and many others) are great conversational questions that can awaken people to deeper truths and open opportunities to show how behind the seemingly mundane, lies a marvelous reality that ultimately points to King Jesus.