On Memes, Spock, and the Nature of God

There is a particular kind of engagement that shows up reliably whenever theology surfaces on social media: the meme reply. A gif, a Spock quote, a Dawkins one-liner, deployed with the air of someone who has just settled the matter with wit rather than argument. I understand the appeal. There is something satisfying about a well-timed image that seems to capture exactly what you’re trying to say without having to say it. But as a counter-argument to a serious theological question, the meme does nothing but signal that the question was never taken seriously in the first place.

The Spock quote in particular (and the Dawkins view of God it echoes) reminds me of how often the loudest rejections of God are rejections of a God who doesn’t actually exist. If God were as Spock and Dawkins describe, I too would not believe. But their characterization is not representative of God. It is a misunderstood and misrepresented caricature cherry-picked from the worst portrayals of God and from people who claim to speak for Him, rather than from God’s own Word. I find the Spock quote especially telling because Spock is supposed to be entirely logical, and yet he can’t reason something elementary about the nature of love, justice, and grace even when it is laid out plainly in the Scriptures and in common sense.

The whole of Spock’s and Dawkins’ arguments have been thoroughly addressed many times over. I won’t rehash all of it here, but will leave it in a short bulleted version.

Setting the stage: the problem of evil

The standard version: if there’s a God, and especially if God is good, why does He cause — or even allow — so much evil and suffering in the world?

”For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” — Romans 3:23

”For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” — Romans 6:23

God is both good and just. God created man and all that is in the universe for His glory.

All have sinned, and the consequence for sin is death.

His goodness is displayed in the mere fact that we are not all immediately and currently dead and suffering the consequences of our sin. Each day that we have is a gift.

Suffering, even great suffering, is a gift in that it serves to remind us of what the real consequence is and how we can be absolved from that consequence.

And yet, God is also glorified for His grace and justice in death. For the believer, He is glorified for His grace; for the nonbeliever, He is glorified for His justice. God has provided a way out of this consequence for us by taking it upon Himself. In this, He is glorified. This shows the fullness of His goodness and His Justice. Either way, God is glorified.

So, back to the original question: God, especially a good God, is glorified by evil and suffering as it demonstrates His goodness (mercy & grace) and His justice (punishment for the evil will of man).

Mostly, I’m amazed at how often I’ve been seeing this question lately. I mean this is the root of Christianity here, have we as Christians done such a poor job of communicating the essence of the gospel and God’s nature that even those raised in the church don’t have a basic grasp on who God is? And further, that non-Christians are trying to use the existence of evil to prove God doesn’t exist, when evil is the greatest argument we have for God as God’s purpose is fulfilled on both sides of the evil coin (grace/justice=glory). God’s purpose isn’t goodness, but glory.

”For I consider that the suffering of this present time is not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed.” — Romans 8:18

On worship and insecurity

Spock’s focus was on worship and insecurity. God doesn’t demand worship every seven days as Spock says. Spock confuses a special time set aside for remembrance with something else altogether: Apples and Oranges. As for insecurity, God doesn’t call us to worship Him for His benefit, but ours. It is through our worship that we can glimpse His glory. It is through our worship that we are reminded of our need for Him and we are kept humble, thankful, and full of joy at His Saving Grace. God doesn’t demand our praises, it is our privilege to worship Him.

”The whole multitude of His disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.’” — Luke 19:37–40

An invitation

Memes are fun. They communicate a mood efficiently. But they don’t advance truth, and they don’t engage the questions seriously. The theological questions underneath the trolling (about suffering, about the nature of God, about what worship actually means) are worth the real conversation. These are not questions that have gone unanswered for two thousand years of Christian philosophy. They have answers, and the answers are worth sitting with.

One of my favorite things to do is sit with people who disagree and civilly discuss and argue these topics. I have learned much from such discussions. The church is at a crossroads. Being a Christian is no longer the norm or the cool thing. I think this is good for the church. We became wedded to the state and it created a shallow belief system and an oppressive state. We now have to defend the faith earnestly and truly know what we believe and why. We must not belabor the truth by how we wield it, but advance the truth through compassion and understanding.