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God: An Engineer's Look

By John F. Bulharowski
September 24, 2002
Tape FT02-07

I heard a saying a number of years ago that goes something like this: "If the only tool a man has is a hammer, he tends to approach every problem, every task, or every situation as if it were a nail." This is one of those things that come under the grand heading of aphorisms—something that you might hear Yogi Berra saying.

I don't think this was one of Yogi's, but it has its own element of truth involved in it, because I find from my own observations that people, in whatever walk of life they happen to be in, whatever profession they may be, whatever their experiences or their training may be, it colors their outlook on just about everything. They will tend to approach problems from the background they have.

In my case, I am an engineer. I've worked in electronic engineering for many years now, so I do that myself. Every time there's a situation, a problem, I tend to look through my engineering eyes and start analyzing or start sizing up the situation from what I think of as an engineering viewpoint.

This applies not only to things you would reckon as problems, but just about anything, including, for example, religion, the Bible, the church, and God Himself. What manner of person is God? Well obviously, He's an engineer, because I'm an engineer. I think that's true, but He's also a farmer, a minister, (I don't think He's an insurance salesman necessarily), but He is the master of all of these things—especially the Master of engineering from my viewpoint and certainly my tact for this message. I want to take a brief look at God and how He may approach things from an engineering fashion.

Let me digress and give a very brief definition of what I think engineering is. Over on one side you have the blue-sky people that we call scientists—the folks who dream up all these laws that govern the universe—Newton and his Newton Laws.

Over here you have the lowly people who work by the sweat of their brow and the labor of their hands and make things happen as a result of principles that the blue-sky scientific people invented or thought up.

In between are the engineering people who sort of manipulate the ideas over here and make them into workable, building kinds of things. For example, in the space program we talk about the scientist sending rockets or spacecraft to the moon years ago. It was not scientist who did that. It was engineers who did that. Engineers made it possible because they took the scientific principles and put them into practice.

Engineering, as you may understand or assume, has a lot of different facets to it. Among these are problem solving (you have to be able to figure out what the problems are involved in any task that you take), design and creation (this is a big one). Of course, when we start talking about God, the Engineer, this is probably the first thing that comes to mind, because this is what you get in the very first chapter of the Bible—God created. On the first day He did this; on the second day He did that; He made this come into being. He created. God the Great Creator.

We have manufacturing and production. That's where you take the designs, take the parts that you selected, put them together, put them on an assembly line, and they become, whatever—microphones, televisions, whatever you have.

The last one I have listed (although there may be other categories in the breakdown) is sustaining. You have to take this thing that you built and keep it going. That's sustaining.

Over the years that I have been involved in engineering, I've had contact with all of these phases of it. The one that I really want to limit it to (because this is really too broad to try to talk about everything) is the manufacturing and production aspect of it, and I will narrow it down a little bit further as I go.

By way of my own background, I've worked in a lot of different areas, a lot of different phases of the engineering profession. Right now I'm in space exploration. I work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Before that, I was working in a military company. Before that, I spent maybe ten to fifteen years in what is called consumer engineering, consumer companies.

In case you don't understand or don't realize what consumer products are, they are the things that you go to Wal Mart and buy. You are the consumer. You go and put your money down and you get your TV, your VCR, or whatever, and you consume it. You use it.

This was probably some of the most challenging engineering that I think I've ever done, in as much as the consumer industry (as you may expect) is extremely competitive. You have to ring out every nickel, dime, and penny out of the designs so that you can be competitive with the guy down the street who is producing essentially the same product, so people will be induced to buy your product.

Of course, cost is very important, but it can't be cheap and no good either. So this leads me into the production and manufacturing aspect of engineering.

In the consumer industry, you can imagine that the companies will build hundreds of thousands of a particular product in a year's time. A thousand devices or a thousand products have to be built per day. Based on a five-day week, that would add up to approximately 260,000 of any given product per year. That's a lot.

In order to maintain a profitable operation, in order to maintain your competitive edge, you have to have products that go out and work. They can't come back to you. In the companies that I worked for, the measure of success was basically 99% or better. In other words, you start out with raw materials at the end of the line and you work it down until you have a gizmo of some sort (you pick what it is), and 99% of those or better have to be successful; have to pass the test at the end. The companies usually attain a better than 99% success ratio as far as building the product.

If, per chance, the rate goes above the 1%, then the managers begin to start raising their eyebrows and say, "Well the assembly line isn't doing quite right. The failure rate is not as good as it should be, but it's still okay. It's between 1% and 2%." If that should get worse, 3% is usually a cutoff.

Again, just to put numbers into your mind to give you an idea on my 1,000 units per day, that amounts to 30 units. If you have 30 or more rejects at the end of the assembly line that have to be either scraped or sent back for rework, you have problems. Usually that's the time when the bells go off and they start coming to the engineer and say, "Hey, there's a problem out there. Stop what you're doing now. Forget it, set it aside, and go out to assembly line number one and start working on this problem. Figure out what it is."

This is basically the background in which I want to get you thinking. How do we go about engineering something? How do we go about setting things up so that we get this better than 99% efficiency success rate, as far as getting these products off the assembly line? Basically, it requires good engineering. You have to have people who are astute (good) at what they are doing, so the basic design is sound. You can't overstress the parts. You have to make sure the heat gets out of the amplifiers so it doesn't get too hot. Heat generally tends to destroy just about anything, whether it's an automotive engine or an audio amplifier.

But (here's where I want to narrow things down a little more), the best design in the world done by the best designers—the sharpest, most intelligent designers in the world—will not work (you won't get the 99% plus success rate) if you have not started with the right materials.

If you have picked the incorrect transistors, or integrated circuits, or the incorrect heat seek, or the incorrect material to make the box out of, it's not going to work. You're going to have serious, serious problems. The 99% rate is out the window.

Let's get to the essence of what I really want to talk about. We're talking about God—the Engineer who is making His product. Let me go back to a specification here.

Genesis 1:25-26 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. [Verse 26 is a specification that God, the Engineer, said] And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness."

"Let's make man in Our image, in Our likeness." This is God's specification. This is what He's doing and He's looking for at least 99% success rate. How's He going to do it? He's going to start out (after He has made His plans, His engineering drawings, figured out how to set up His production line) and select the best materials He can find.

Do you get what I'm driving at? You are the materials with which God has chosen to work. Don't let yourself get too inflated yet.

Let me go to a couple of biblical references of this selection process. The book of Ruth is a very interesting one. We all know the story. A man named Elimelech, in a time of famine, took his family (presumably he already had his two sons)—he and his wife Naomi and his two sons Mahlon and Chilion—in order to get away from the famine that was in Israel, decided to pick up stakes and go off, of all places, to Moab.

You have to wonder why he went to Moab, because Moab and the Moabites were not particularly on really good terms with Israel. They didn't put out the welcome mat when Israel was coming out of Egypt. They were really kind of at odds. When reading through the book of Judges, the Moabites and Israel were continually locking horns. They didn't have good relationships.

But here's Elimelech going to Moab. We know what happens there. Elimelech dies. Chilion dies. Mahlon dies and Naomi is left with her two daughters-in-law. We have Ruth, who said upon Naomi's urging to stay in Moab with her family:

Ruth 1:16 "Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people and your God, my God."

This is the great affirmation of tremendous faith on Ruth's part. In light of my engineering God background that I've laid, do you think that this was something that happened by accident? Could it have been a God surprise? "She's pretty good. I think I'll use her." I seriously, seriously doubt it. He knew that Ruth was there in Moab. That's why Elimelech went there. He knew where Ruth was. He had her prepared. He had the whole scenario set up.

If we go to the end of the book, Boaz (another "accident" of God's) just happened to be there. Of course you've read the book. (I love the way he does his maneuvering to outfox the other redeemer who is really closer than he.) Boaz gets Ruth and the property.

Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife; and when he went in to her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bore a son.

This is pretty amazing. The Lord enabled her to conceive and she bore a son. This is not something that happened by accident. God was working it out. He chose the parts. He chose the materials. He made it happen.

Ruth 4:18-22 Now this is the genealogy of Perez: Perez begot Hezron; Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot Amminadab; Amminadab begot Nahshon, and Nahshon begot Salmon; Salmon begot Boaz, and Boaz begot Obed [by the mother Ruth]; Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David.

Of course, to continue it on, we know that Jesus of Nazareth came in further on down the line.

One other very hard-hitting example is Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 1:1, 4-5a The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. Then the word of the Lord came to me saying: "Before I formed you in the womb . . ."

That's a pretty definite statement. The popular word (or at least it has been popular for a number of years) is proactive. If there's anything proactive, it's this statement here. God's says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." It's not, "Before you happened to be, by random selection conceived in the womb of your mother and it worked, and I saw that you were not too bad and I figured I'd use you."

"Before I formed you I chose the parts. I selected the proper materials. I put them together. I formed you in the womb and I knew the product that was coming out with 99% plus certainty that it was going to be successful. I knew you," He says. This is God talking to Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 1:5 Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.

I'm sure you all have your favorite characters in scriptures. I have a lot of them. Some of the ones that come to my mind very quickly are Abraham, Israel, David, Paul, John the Baptist, Ruth, Rahab the harlot, and on and on it goes. Many, many people.

You can go to the faith chapter (Hebrews 11) and you find a list of names. You can see that the author is getting a little bit weary of naming them all. He says, "This one, and this one, and don't forget those." A lot of people personally and carefully selected by the Most High God—the right parts for the right use for the right positions—99% success rate He expects. God selects the parts and what they are supposed to be very, very carefully.

I know you're thinking, "Wait a minute. Jeremiah was a special guy; Ruth was a special person." We've already heard about Abraham this week. Abraham was really, really special. They were special and of course God selected them. Of course, the idea in your mind you have to deal with is, "What about me? Do I fit into this category too? Am I one of these special stones that God has selected?" Yes, you are. How else is God going to get his 99% plus success rate?

Let me again take you back to Jeremiah and continue. Do you think Jeremiah thought he was special?

Jeremiah 1:6-7a Then said I: "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth." [I've heard he was 17 or 18, but hear what God says.] But the Lord said to me: "Do not say, 'I am a youth.'

Again, I think the words of scripture tend to be a little bit softened. I don't think God was particularly speaking softly. "There, there Jeremiah. You're not really a youth. Don't say that."

I think He spoke rather sternly. He said, "Look, don't even tell me that. I don't want to hear it. I've called you." Here's what God says:

Jeremiah 1:7-8 "Do not say, 'I am a youth,' for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you," says the Lord.

He calls you. You say, "Why did He call me at this time? What am I? What can I do?" Don't even ask that question. "I've got jobs for you. I've got things for you to do, places for you to go, and I will take care of what comes out of your mouth. I will take care of all of the things that you have to do."

Once again, like I said, lest you feel a little bit inflated, a little bit egotistical at the thought of this ("well, I'm really special"), consider the plight of Jeremiah, for example, who was thrown in a slime pit. He had a pretty rough life. Although he was saved from going into Babylon into captivity, it wasn't too easy for him afterwards.

Look at the Apostle Paul—a really special guy. He lost his head one day, quite literally. And on and on it goes. You look at what they had to deal with.

I'm reminded of the movie Fiddler On The Roof. I really like the way the main character would stop on any occasion and he would talk to God. "Dear Lord, the Good Book says . . . Why am I telling you what the Good Book says? You wrote it."

But on one occasion he says, "I know we're the chosen people. But couldn't you choose somebody else for a change?" That's when the persecution came along.

There's another scripture I would like to bring out in I Peter.

I Peter 2:1-5 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built [you are specially chosen components, specially chosen parts by the Engineer] up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

You are the holy stones, you are the special parts that our engineering God has collected and is putting together in this edifice that He is building.

I realize that in preaching this, that it's (I guess what might be labeled) predestination. I realize that it's rather touchy ground and we can skate rather close to an edge if we're not careful, because having once convinced ourselves of this—that we are special—it's a very short step from there over to the 'once saved always saved.' "Hey, I've got it made. I'm the special part that God selected." Let's waylay that one right off the bat.

In Revelation 3, this is talking to the church in Philadelphia. I don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that Philadelphia had this super duper special kind of place that we want to ascribe to it. But be that as it may, Philadelphia does appear to be sort of special because God doesn't really give any bad things about it. Nevertheless, in Revelation 3:11, God says:

Revelation 3:11 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown."

The crown is take-able. Hold fast so that no one takes it. And again, a rather strong admonition in the book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 18:24 "But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die."

That is just to emphasize and underline the idea that we are not 'once saved always saved,' even though we are special living stones, special parts selected by the living God. He is not haphazard in what He is doing.

I have heard ideas expressed and even sermonettes and sermons given from the pulpit over the years that I've been around the church, specifically regarding Matthew 25. Remember Matthew 25, right in the beginning where it talks about the parable of the ten virgins. There are five wise and five foolish. I don't claim to have a deep understanding of this particular parable. I'm not sure anyone really does.

But I've heard it said on the basis of this five wise/five foolish that only 50% of us are going to "make it." Fifty percent! I'm a man. I'm an engineer. I'm part of a team that can put together things that have 99% plus rate of success. Is God not better than I am? That's a stupid question. Of course He is. He picks the right parts, He does His right engineering, and He puts them together. God is much better than the 99%.

If I can digress from good speaking practice and introduce a somewhat different thought regarding the parable of the sower and the seeds. The farmer goes out and he sows some seed. Some falls on hard ground, some falls among rocks, some falls among thorns and some falls on good ground.

What's not expressly stated there is that most of the seed falls on the good ground. Any farmer worth his salt is going to go plow, harrow, and fertilize, and most of his seed is going to go into this field that he's prepared. God's a farmer. He's an engineer. God selects His parts. God tills the ground.

JFB/stf/drm

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