Intelligence and Wisdom

The Bible lays out for us in Romans that everyone has sinned and shows us our need for a Savior. The 6th chapter of the book presents these words:
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Verse 23 is another stop on what is called the "Romans road," following Romans 3:23, which states: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  The road ends with Romans 10, that instructs someone how to be saved: by confessing the Lordship of Jesus and believing that God raised Him from the dead. 

The Bible equips us in order to share with another person how to be saved. The book of Romans is quite direct in telling us not only who we are - sinners in need of a Savior - and who we can be. John 1:14 says that Jesus was "full of grace and truth," and we can make it our aim to walk in the grace of God, in a relationship with Christ, and to be devoted to His truth. We can know the truth and in so doing, we are prepared to live the truth.

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We are familiar with John 3:16 - it is a key verse of the Christian faith. Those words were spoken by Jesus in response to the questions of a Pharisee, who came to Jesus at night, someone about whom a well-known Bible teacher wrote in a recent op-ed piece. That Pharisee, Nicodemus, was met by Jesus sharing with Him about salvation through Himself. We can read in the first part of John 3:
1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.
2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

If you were seated at a table with one of the world's richest and most innovative men, how would you respond?  That was the opportunity that was given to some of the guys from the Christian satire site, The Babylon Bee, recently, as they hosted billionaire Elon Musk for a lengthy video podcast.

Initial reports from the interview had to do with Musk's comments about what is termed, "wokeness." A piece at The Federalist stated:

Tesla CEO and the world’s wealthiest man Elon Musk said the prevalence of the “woke mind virus” in the U.S. is choking out true comedy and poses “arguably one of the biggest threats to modern civilization,” in a wide-ranging interview with popular satire site The Babylon Bee.

“Wokeness wants to make comedy illegal. … Do we want a humorless society that is simply rife with condemnation and hate, basically?” Musk asked. “At its heart, wokeness is divisive, exclusionary, and hateful. It basically gives mean people a shield to be cruel, armored in false virtue.”

When it came to spiritual matters, The Christian Post reports that Musk was asked directly by now-former Bee staffer Ethan Nicolle, "To make this Church, we’re wondering if you could do us a quick solid and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?”  The article continues:

Musk said that he respects and agrees with “the principles that Jesus advocated,” such as forgiveness and “treating people as you wish to be treated.”

“Things like turn the other cheek are very important, as opposed to an eye for an eye. An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind,” Musk maintained.

That, of course, is the "good teacher" thing that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien panned.  The contention is that Jesus is not just a good moral teacher - certainly, He offers sound principles, but He also calls people to follow Him, to make Him their Lord. The Post goes on to say:

“As Einstein would say, ‘I believe in the God of Spinoza,’” said Musk, seemingly referencing deist beliefs.

Musk was referring to the quote believed to have been spoken by Albert Einstein in 1921 at the Institutional Synagogue in New York. Einstein was quoted as saying: “I believe in Spinoza’s God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings.” 

But, then, he turned around and said, "But hey, if Jesus is saving people, I mean, I won’t stand in His way. Sure, I’ll be saved. Why not?” The article said that the Bee-keepers celebrated, but I'm not sure I'm convinced.  

Greg Laurie, in a Christian Post piece, provided a counter-point to Musk's statement about Spinoza, stated, "But Scripture makes it clear that God is intimately involved in our day-to-day lives and has a unique plan motivated by love for each of us." He added, "God Himself says, 'For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope' (Jer. 29:11)."  He went on to say:

This interview reminded me of a similar conversation that Jesus had with a very influential man named Nicodemus. He did not serve as the face of electric cars or shoot rockets into space like Elon Musk, but he was known and respected by many. We could not have chosen a better representative of mankind to interact with Jesus. This interaction was effectively a conversation between God and man.

Laurie reminded readers that, "Jesus was straightforward with Nicodemus. He said in no uncertain terms, 'You must be born again' (John 3:3)."  In his piece, he also shared a clear gospel presentation, about which the Babylon Bee guys have been criticized for not doing.  Laurie writes:

To be saved, which means to be forgiven of your sins, you must believe, not by mere intellectual assent, but by putting your faith in Jesus Christ and Him alone, turning from your sins and following Him. And if you believe, Jesus promises that you will have everlasting life.

I want Elon Musk and anyone else reading this to know that truth. Where we will spend the afterlife is really the most important issue we will deal with in this life.

Nicodemus ultimately did believe in Jesus. I pray that Elon Musk and everyone else reading this will, like Nicodemus, come to a complete understanding of the Gospel of Jesus. No matter what sins you have committed, God can and will forgive you.

That is truth that transcends human understanding. It doesn't matter whether or not you've financed and built a rocket ship, or whether or not you're a rocket scientist - the wisdom of man cannot attain the righteousness of God. Laurie described Nicodemus as someone who "was supposed to have all the answers...But he didn’t."

Was the Babylon Bee interview with Elon Musk some sort of scoop or coup?  You might call it that - after all, it's not every day that a Christian publication scores an interview with a high-profile billionaire, at his request.  Was it a missed opportunity?  The evidence does point to that, as well. But, we have to be vigilant not to miss the opportunities that we have.  When God opens up a door, perhaps through an unbeliever asking questions about spiritual matters, we can make sure that we are equipped and bold to present the gospel, to point someone to Christ.