Grateful For Dr. Collins

Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Deborah Haarsma
Faith & Science Conference, San Diego, CA
March 26, 2022

I nerded out this weekend at a ‘Faith and Science’ conference held here in San Diego. Praise the Lord for paid time off and for a grandma who is willing to watch the kid.

The organization that hosted this event - BioLogos - is committed to gracious dialogue. In fact, it’s one of their three core values. That is a breath of fresh air in this deeply polarized moment in America. I think unity between churches and between Christian denominations comes when we are willing to disagree well on secondary and tertiary matters. 

I’ll have you know, dear reader, that we put that core value to the test. BioLogos holds to a specific view on the age of the earth, and when the topic came up at table discussions, I was able to say to really really smart PhD scientists and evolutionary biologists that I haven’t been convinced. 

I have been convinced that believers stand for a supernatural God, book, life, and work. I’m confident in the power of prayer. I’m confident that the God of the universe condescended to earth and took on flesh. I’m confident there are angels and demons. My focus in graduate school was Old Testament literature and I have no problem saying that Genesis 1 is a poetic, priestly piece of literature. My main question is where does the Fall in Genesis 3 fit, timeline wise?

So with a commitment to gracious dialogue we sang praises to Jesus, I left out a word in a liturgy that I didn’t agree with, heard from thoughtful brothers and sisters about awe and curiosity, learned about creation care, heard from a pastor with Asbergers about how the church can minister to those with neurodivergencies, shook my head when I didn’t think speakers were being faithful to the biblical text, was challenged to grow in my walk with Christ, and felt the presence of God. 

It was nice. I must admit, it was nice primarily because all I had to do was show up! It felt good being a consumer. 

It was also timely. A few friends were let-go in a reduction in force just a few days ago. It’s easy to talk about gracious speech but it’s difficult to put it into practice when personal lives are affected or something we love is at risk. We’re praying that God comforts our friends and the leaders who had to make that hard decision.

We know ungracious speech (and thought patterns) can lead to a root of bitterness in our hearts.

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled

Hebrews 12:15

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4:6

I’m sure I’ll be thinking about this conference for a few weeks as I reflect on the ideas (ones I agreed with, ones I didn’t, and ones I need to think more about) that were highlighted this weekend. But for now, I just want to say that I’m thankful for my brother in Christ Dr. Francis Collins. 

You can look up his myriad of accomplishments. He led the Human Genome Project, which is pretty fancy. His research (along with colleagues) found the genetic cause of cystic fibrosis. His work in gene therapy has led to a cure (for 12 patients so far) for sickle cell disease. Most recently, he oversaw Operation Warp Speed to develop the COVID-19 vaccines.

What I’m most thankful for, though, is not his genius but his character. He has been a public servant for over a decade, serving as the director of NIH, the National Institutes of Health. 

After the COVID-19 vaccines were developed and produced, he resigned from the NIH in late 2021, planned to spend more of his time with BioLogos, only to sacrificially say ‘yes’ when asked to serve as the acting science advisor to the president.

Dr. Francis Collins’ talk this weekend wasn’t a lecture. He spoke from his heart. He appealed to our moral imagination. He, like many of us, wants to see gracious dialogue dialed up and polarization dialed down. He explained how he is actively trying to reach out to those who disagree with him through Braver Angels to start charitable conversations. He’s not quite sure where it’s going to go, but he’s hopeful. 

The question is - though - where can we find common ground in our pluralistic polarized society? Dr. Collins highlighted 7 core pillars that he has found to be common values despite differing stances on hot-button issues.

Artwork by Dr. Francis Collins’ granddaughter Bailey.

Thank you granddaughter Bailey for helping out your grandfather. I’m going to think about these 7 pillars. 

And I’m going to pray that more of us, myself included, commit ourselves to being charitable and to having dialogue. It can be all too easy to not engage in conversations at all. And yet, since I know time and mental energy are limited, I’ll need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to show me when it is appropriate to engage and when to disengage. 

I’ll express my thanks to Dr. Collins one more time. Thank you Dr. Collins for your dedication, for using your talents to the glory of God, for modeling the hard work of gracious dialogue, and for not growing weary in doing good, especially to those in the household of faith (Galatians 6:9-10.)