The kingdom of God, global warming modeling, and the perils of incomplete modelling

The perils of incomplete modelling

I just posted an article over on the LochLomondFarms site on the inadequacy of the global warming models that has application to the Kingdom of God.

By nature (pun intended), humans have to "simplify" the climate in order develop and run computer models of it. This simplification involves humans trying to figure out which factors are essential to include and which we can drop.

Researchers also have the "unknown unknowns" problem (as Donald Rumsfeld so colorfully said). There are simply factors that we don't know that we don't know. These will also cause models to fail.

The models have consistently failed because they are OVER-simplifications of reality.

What does this have to do with the Kingdom of God?

On a Facebook posting, a friend of mine explained, from his point of view, why there was a significant failure in the church we were both attending at the time. He was focused in on specific events and people. I am looking at it more broadly. 

Model making
So what is a model, in this context? It is an analogy for the way we put together our world view.

Take maps as an example. The earth, in its riotous complexity is the real world. Maps are models of it. We can have road maps, topographic maps (maps of surface features), geologic maps, political maps, population maps, maps of religious beliefs, or beer preferences, or surnames. All of these are models. All have their limitations.

Maps of religious beliefs may be at a national, state or county level. I saw one that showed religious belief by major denomination. Does anyone believe that Lancaster County, PA, home of the Amish, is predominately Roman Catholic? But it was, by the criteria that the map-makers set.

How/Why did it happen?
My task is to find and know God. But "His thoughts are not our thoughts."

My task is to go from being a self-centered individual to being a God-submitted believer in a God-centered gathering. But I am a fallen human being, of limited (not God-like) intelligence.

I am commanded to do impossible things: "Go, and sin no more." 

I am going to fail because I have to over-simplify my models of reality: my models of God, of church, of myself, of marriage, of sin, of forgiveness. The list is functionally infinite.

I have working models of all these things. However, none of them are going to correspond to God's reality of them.

Good ideas, even "quoting the Bible good ideas" have to be over-simplifications of God's reality. Throw in fallen human nature, and reliance on any models, no matter how "Biblically-based" will cause problems (sizes ranging from hang-nail to catastrophic).

In others words, "it happened" because I am not God. And neither was anyone else.

(Just a note, I was not in leadership prior to or during the disaster alluded to above. However, when talking about failure, I prefer the first person singular, rather than "we" "you" or, even worse, "him/her".)

What can be done? Solutions?
The oversimplification problem precludes anything from being a complete solution. We simply cannot model anything well enough to avoid failure. If, in hindsight, we come up with a model to stop a repeat of a given failure, it will not stop failure in other areas.

It may not even prevent failure in the same area again.

On the other hand:

• Humility. For me, humility is the conscious awareness of my own abilities, inabilities, fallibility and limitations in the face of God. 
• I must NEVER get stuck on "my" interpretation of a controversial scripture. And it is controversial if ONE believing, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led (you chose) person disagrees with me.(And, yes, there is a difference between genuinely controversial and the "I don't want to believe that" fake variety.)
• Pure and simple devotion to Jesus. I have found that looking at Jesus alone avoids some problems, offense is taken less frequently, and allows quicker healing of real damage. On the other hand, I am part of a body, a gathering we call the church. I have to allow others to be part of who I am.

Summary.
Not failing is not an option. I do not deserve success. I have sinned, and will continue to "fall short of the glory of God."

I am saved by grace through faith. Even my victory over the world is because I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. It is not because I have done anything or have modeled God and church properly, that is, by works.