Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Psalm 34.8
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
When God says, “Taste and see,” he invites us to experience his goodness. Walk with God and experience the peace, comfort, and assurance along his firm path. We find solid footing, an anchor for the soul, a straight and sturdy path.
Men often try other paths only to flail and fall, some never to stand again. Two major paths men have taken today are the ways of Darwinianism and Materialism. How do those paths compare with the Christian path? Which path works?
The Darwinian Path
“Our great ancestors were the apes,” the Darwinian claims. “Our furthest-back ancestors were single-cell amoebas.”
“How did that first living cell come to be?” we ask.
“It took millions of years for it to happen. It’s very scientific. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Where did the stuff come from that made that single-cell thingy?” we also want to know.
Amazingly, those who hold Darwin’s theories of macro evolution have proposed several theories which fly directly in the face of science, even as they claim to have science on their side.
Some have suggested that aliens planted the first forms of life. Unfortunately, that just pushes our question back another step or two. From whence came the aliens?
Others have theorized a stack of multi-verses, dazzling us with words like “quantum” and “string theory.” Do any of those pesky things—what do the scientists call them these days?—oh yes, facts, support this theory? No? Seems like a bit of a reach…
What does the Darwinian path teach us about ourselves? We are nothing more than meat bags. It’s startling to think that we can think, but let’s not think too hard about it. We are the tip of an ice burg that never should have formed in the first place, but here we are, the winners of the cosmic lottery. Perhaps, rather, we are the losers, as we have the faculties to dwell on the fact that this world holds no real meaning. What is love? What is beauty? What is goodness? What is truth? Those must be figments of our meat-brains.
In the end, the Darwinian path leads to despondence, dead ends, and darkness. It’s a human-created path designed to eliminate a need for God or to walk his way.
The Materialist Path
Another favorite path is that of the Materialist. Both empiricism and rationalism attempt to find truth starting in the hearts and imaginations of men. Though they say they only accept truth as it presents itself in the “real world,” they really depend entirely on the observer’s sense perception, level of brilliance, and rationality. Who will ever know all the data? Therefore, who can ever know something for certain? Who can think with entirely pure reasoning? The Materialist is always left with a fuzzy notion of reality and truth because all he knows is what he knows. Perhaps he doesn’t have all the facts.
Why is it possible to be rational in the first place? Why is there order in this world? If all we have are the literal facts on the ground (those things we can touch, see, taste, hear, and smell), then what is logic? Is not logic something intangible, non-concrete? What about love and joy and beauty? For those to exist, something must exist beyond the physical.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – America’s Declaration of Independence.
What are human rights? Under Materialism, there can be no such thing as inherent human rights. Privileges may be granted to some, but where did this notion that all men have certain unalienable rights? You certainly cannot touch or taste those. Why should we protect human life as precious? Why should we enjoy liberty and be allowed to pursue our own happiness?
The path of Materialism is too narrow. It does not account for so many “self-evident” realities, and it does not answer our deepest life questions. Alongside Darwinism, it’s another path forged by men to avoid God’s way.
The Christian Path
The Christian worldview handles all the questions man’s worldviews cannot. It fits reality as nothing else does. Every other path is too small and narrow because it is less than God; it leaves out the Creator.
No scientist can avoid recognizing the apparent design in nature. The Christian worldview says, “There’s a reason for that—a Master Craftsman designed it.”
No philosopher can avoid dealing with ethics, morals, good vs. evil—but only the Christian worldview has a good explanation for why all humans have an innate sense of right and wrong. If there is no God, there is no such thing as good or bad, except what we decide for ourselves. But universally understood morals do exist on this planet. Christianity declares it’s because our Creator created us as moral creatures.
No government can exist without an understanding of authority. Who gave them the right to govern? Do they get to rule just because they have the most guns? Do we obey the laws of our state because the governor would jail us if we didn’t? Or is there a higher authority who put those governments in place? Christianity says God is the ultimate authority. He instituted governments to rule over men, to keep the peace and punish the evildoer.
No architect can build a house without trusting in his measurements. Truth and order exist in this world, and the Christian says the Divine Lawmaker ordered everything just so.
The Christian worldview can tell you why there is good and evil in the world, why we love and hate, why we consider things beautiful, and why we search for truth. It can tell you how to live most wisely on this earth. It opens doors no other worldview opens, because it gives you a head-start on correctly interpreting reality.
Taste and see—the LORD is good. His perfect way will never fail you. Darwinism and Materialism and all other human-constructed -isms will end abruptly, but God’s path extends past death on into eternity. God is real, and he has promised everlasting life to those who receive his word as his word (1 Thes. 2.13), who receive Jesus (John 1.9–13) and believe God (John 5.24).
The world is a mess because of sin. Everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
Jesus calls us back to the truth—God’s word is truth, and his way is pure and right.
God’s path works.