From Rich Dixon:

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I’ve been thinking about how I think about God.

I was reminded recently of a casual party (remember those?) conversation. I didn’t know the guy well, so the discussion skimmed among superficial subjects. Somehow the topic skipped onto “religion” and he proclaimed, “I’m just too smart for miracles.”

There’s a time and place to respond. This was neither, so we bounced to another topic. But his pronouncement stuck with me as one of those nagging questions that won’t go away.

Can we be “too smart for miracles”?

We’ve cheapened the word. Miracle doesn’t mean inexplicable or highly unlikely. Outcomes we can’t explain are often just that—unexplainable, at least at the time. It’s easy to scoff when every extraordinary event is characterized as miraculous.

An improbable end to a football game isn’t a miracle.

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Sight restored by mud made from spit. Five thousand people fed from an armful of supplies. A man with withered legs stands straight and strong, healed by a single command.

These things simply can’t happen. The probability isn’t small—it’s ZERO. Science can never explain water turned to wine.

Easter. A man dies. A human heart doesn’t beat for 3 days. Then it does.

No way to explain it. Literally, totally impossible – unless what we see isn’t all that is.

Faith isn’t a function of intelligence. I know really smart people who don’t believe in God. I know really smart people who do.

Am I so eager to explain God that I lose sight of His unexplainable nature? Do I confine Him within a box that “makes sense” to me?

Instead of concocting a clever response for a party conversation, I want to acknowledge that Jesus is beyond my understanding.

I don’t want to be too smart for miracles.