Survival of the fittest is fine, unless you are not fit, then it stinks. In fact, I'm beginning to think that survival of the fittest is not a very biblical phenomenon. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, God is on the side of the powerless. Psalm 35:10 says, "Lord, who can compare with you? Who else rescues the weak and the helpless from the strong? Who else protects the poor and the needy from those who want to rob them?" Jesus' first sermon emphasizing his solidarity with the poor and the weak was as a baby, when he cried out as one of them, born into the harshness of peasantry. Instead of the house of Caesar or Herod or even the household of the High Priest, all of which would have made perfect sense, he chose the obscurity of a poor family. The Bible is filled with references to God's predilection to act on behalf of those who are weak and his preference for the powerless, particularly when they are preyed upon by the strong. Ezekiel 34:16b states, "I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!"

Secondly, strength, wealth and power do not necessarily befall the righteous and the wise. Perhaps that is why God invented human authority structures, it was his fail safe to protect the helpless. The purpose of power is to protect and serve the weak, not to increase the realm of the already powerful. Proverbs 29:14 says, "If a king judges the poor with equity, his throne will be established forever." There are a number of places (particularly the prophets) where God commands those in power to "give justice to the weak and the orphan, maintain the right of the lowly and the destitute." (Ps. 82:3). God's intent in giving humans dominion over the earth, is to act as mediator to the survival of the fittest phenomenon, lest we have a world of predators - mostly lions and dandelions.

Woe to us if we do not look out for the weak - unborn children, those trapped in poverty, child soldiers in Uganda among other places, all people caught up in human trafficking. If we are complicit or silent in the face of such atrocities, we are caving into the unbiblical principle of survival of the fittest.

There is something troubling about the creation account in Genesis. I am not talking about the six days of creation versus evolutionary science, nor the order of the created elements in Genesis, with the creation of stars coming quite late in the picture (the fourth day). I am troubled by the position God gives to feeble, fallible, frail human beings.

The fact that we crown his creation at the end is one thing, but that we should be positioned almost equal to Him Who is Omnipotent - the radioactive core of power and love and righteousness - is dumbfounding. There are several places in Scripture where this near equality with God is affirmed.

Consider…
1. We are the only things in all of creation made to be in His image – like Him in some profound way that sets us apart from everything else He made.
2. He charges humans with oversight of creation. God is quite capable of ruling over creation Himself. That he should give us this privilege and responsibility astounds me.
3. God invited man into the creative process and let him name things he made! This naming process is laden with power when you look at how names are understood in Scripture. This is seen today, even in modern Western society, when you consider the special position afforded the kid who gets to name the family pet.
4. Psalm 8 says, “You made us a little lower than ‘elohim’” which can be translated “God” or “heavenly beings.” The entire Psalm expresses awe that though God is so majestic, so utterly above, He positioned you and me above everything but Himself.
5. The broken, fallible and very human church is not described in a parent-child relationship with Jesus, but in a husband-wife relationship. Whether you are complimentarian in your understanding of husband-wife relationships or egalitarian, this should stun us all. We are in a marriage relationship with the one who made the universe.

Psalm 8:3-6 (NLT)
“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in place; what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor. You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things.”