The New York
Times once published a story about how some geneticists had quietly made a
study of the DNA of Adam Lanza, who had killed 20 school children and 7 adults
in Newtown, Conn. They were seeking biological clues to this extreme
human violence. Their plan was to look for some mutations that could be
associated with mental illness ---- genetic mutations that might increase the
risk of violence.
The idea that
our genetic inheritance sets the stage or strongly influences our behavior,
is not new. But this got me thinking. If our particular genetic
structure and possible mutations might push us into violent behavior, could
another combination of genes and mutations give us a bias for emulating Jesus
and living as Jesus taught? I wondered ---- if there are such encouraging
biological structures among some of us, perhaps we should be using genetic
analysis to identify such gifted people, and focus our educational and
evangelical efforts primarily on them!
As I thought
about this question, gradually some other questions began to surface.
Could such research eventually stigmatize people who had never openly accepted
Christ, but turned out to have a genetic structure similar to known believers
in Christ? Did this suggest that something was wrong with them?
But what
about the environmental influences, like family of origin, teachers, Christian
friends, non-Christian friends? And there are probably at least hundreds
of genes involved, as well as the environmental factors, and all of these
interact in complex and unpredictable ways. Perhaps it says
something significant about us, that we are seeking some
simple, science-based predictor of receptivity to the Christian faith and way
of life. Are we hoping for "effortless" salvation for ourselves
---- one for which we do not need to do the hard work of
sometimes denying ourselves.
Imagine if
scientists did discover genes that favored easy adoption of the Christian faith
and related ways of living. This would increase a person's chance of
becoming a faithful Christian, but would not guarantee it. Until such
gifted persons confirm their faith and actually show that they are living by
their Christian faith, isn't this just empty conjecture? Indeed, the
social environment could well overcome any genetic
advantage. Suppose they have "bad" parents,
"unhealthy" friends, etc.
And there are
folks who purposely choose to follow a particular faith, but not because of
generic or environmental influences. For example, perhaps you know of a
married couple where each partner grew up in a different faith tradition, so
when they had children of Sunday School age, they had to make a choice between
two Sunday morning destinations. For the important purpose of family
unity, perhaps one spouse agreed to realign to the faith of the other spouse,
"for the sake of the kids." (They might also say they are doing
it "just to retain family sanity.") This is certainly a
perfectly rational choice ---- and it might be the accommodating parent's
permanent path to a different faith!
The
rationales and emotions for why each of us chooses a particular faith and
related life style are such a unique combination of factors!!
Ultimately,
it might be great if we understood the genetics of a biological tendency toward
faith in Jesus, so as to enable researchers to find ways to intervene and
particularly encourage such receptive people to faithfulness. But the
pursuit of this goal risks jeopardizing their personal liberties, and their
ability to freely use our God-given free will.
My conclusion
is that one's faith and our actions based on that personal faith, ultimately
must be determined by how we use our personal free will. But
our "free will" seems to be something like a kitchen cooking pot
filled with many savory ingredients. We each control the timer and the
heat under the pot. Genetics simply sets the stage for each of us.
Then, on top of that come all kinds of personal and environmental factors that
impact us as we each mature.
Sure, many
outside factors influence our faith choices, but God did not design us as
programmed robots. We have the freedom to define our own faith
and related actions, or not define them ---- it's our call!
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These
thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping
to encourage
you to pursue some personal spiritual growth this summer at CPC.
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