4. On God and Engineering

I may not be a practicing engineer, but I enjoyed the study of civil engineering a lot and still think a lot like one. I’ve been thinking a lot about finding God in engineering. It sometimes seems so obvious for my friends in the life sciences as they study the complexities of creation, but I’ve found few people articulating the connection to God and the field of engineering. Yet I believe that God’s story and work is woven throughout our lives, and sometimes we just have to realize it. Once I considered the question, a few very obvious and beloved points jumped out in my mind quickly. Keep in mind that this is from the perspective of a civil engineer with a little background in structural, water resources, and environmental engineering. For those in traffic engineering, electrical, or anything else—I’d love to hear your thoughts!

One of my first thoughts of God/creation/redemption to engineering is how often our designs imitate his creation. The scientific term is “biomimicry”: the examination of nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems (Wikipedia). I like to think of it as God’s design, his nature is so perfect that engineers and designers have a whole term designated to mimic what we see, often because that design is really the best. I remember reading about the central draft air system in a building modeled after ventilation in an anthill. Or surfaces and coatings designed to copy waterproof leaves or semi-permeable skins on a frog (something like that. It’s been awhile since that class).  If this kind of stuff interests you, see this short Fast Company video about biomimicry and energy efficiency.

Secondly, we need to take our cue in design, engineering, and technology from the creator himself and the laws he lays out for us. Specifically, the move towards sustainability is undeniable in the recent years. Being sustainable, “cool”, “green” is the thing these days, which is incredibly important for conserving our natural resources and taking care of the quality of our air, water, and health.  I stand behind this because as a follower of Jesus, I believe that his redemption covers not only us with God and our relationships with each other, but also the redemption of us and creation. God’s original creation was good, and his good plan included proper stewardship of his land. The Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25) includes returning land to those who owned it, forgiving debts, and also allowing the land to rest. God outlines a sustainable system for us from the very start, though we fail to recognize it.

On a side note: One of the biggest challenges of sustainability is convincing businesses and people that It’s good for them and it’s worth it. It’s better to be sustainable: the monetary investment put into designing a LEED certified building, for example, pays off in the costs saved by operations and maintenance. The health benefits of restricting emissions and hazardous waste—can you really argue this? But more importantly, I hear the echo of the good news and of redemption as God tells us that his way has always been better. His intention for us to care for creation has always been better, even in something as the nutrition and benefits of local farmers (more similar to old school/scripture ways of life) than chain grocery stores with shipments coming from miles away.    

Next, on the topic of design, I can’t help but think of the details and details that God provides every time something is to be built. His Tabernacle (Exodus 25-27), the ark Noah built (Genesis 6), the details provided in the repair of Jerusalem’s walls (Nehemiah 3). God doesn’t give any blueprints, and sometimes his instructions leave much to fill in. Still, I read the measurements and the instructions and I see a project engineer who has a vision for a completed product and the ability to delegate his team to get it done.

Lastly, when I think about engineering, I think about integrity. Integrity of the designers, engineers, and builders is essential for safety. I deeply hope that for the lives and safety of all people that they work with good character. Designing without integrity could prioritize profit over efficient design (that conserves resources for the public) or even safety (comprising quality to save time or money). But ultimately the engineer’s role is to design for the people and to uphold a strong ethical law. And when I think about character, truth, and concern for his people over all else—profit, efficiency, even his own choice—I think of the Father. I think of his son Jesus, whose lives we try to emulate. We seek to reflect his truth and justice, and his character alone is perfect. He is an engineer, manager, builder that we could all trust. 

These are just brief thoughts I've been churning, and obviously they could use a little more detail and scriptural back up. But it was fun to finally put them to words. Maybe in my ideal world, they'll turn into a fuller paper or article or something. For now, this will have to do :)