I’m pretty sure he’s a genius. Definitely one of the most intelligent people with whom I’ve ever conversed. A graduate of Berkeley and Cornell, he spends his days playing with chemicals and debating the difficult questions. He can speed-read a page faster than I can say, “Did you really read it?” What’s more, he remembers every detail.
I enjoy spending time with this fascinating Chinese-American who eats deer hearts, makes music and speaks a few languages. But it’s not his brains that impress me the most. It’s his heart.
“Jason the Genius” is a born-again Christian. As if that isn’t oxymoronic enough, it was how he converted that amazes me the most. I would have guessed Jason saw the light while debating intelligent design and evolution on campus, or while reading the great Christian apologists. For years I’ve insisted that we can only reach intellectuals through reason. “The mind is their door to the heart.” Jason proved me wrong.
It wasn’t through philosophy, new scientific discoveries or historical evidence that Jason came to Christ. Amazingly enough, he heard the simple gospel message at a vacation Bible school as a twelve-year-old. Rather than reason it away with his sharp mind, he embraced it with a humble and receptive heart. Something clicked in his spirit when he heard the truth–We need a Savior. It can’t be us. And it can’t be just God. It must be God becoming one of us in order to bridge the gap between our fallen nature and God's holiness. In an instant, it all made perfect sense and a young boy made his way to the altar.
But Jason didn’t check his brains at the door. I’d love to see any agnostic challenge him on matters of faith.
Jason moved away recently and our family will miss him greatly. He is an inspiration to me, and an example of one who is truly sold-out to Christ and trusting Him with his entire life. His is a solid faith, the stuff of devoted saints willing to go the way of the Cross. I’ll never forget the night we sat around the computer with Jason, watching his idea of a great movie–a document of the suffering underground church of China. This–more than seeker-friendly, happy-clappy church is what attracts Jason. I was sobered.
Jason is living proof that what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2 is true: the things of the Spirit (God’s Spirit) can only be discerned, understood, known, through our spirit–not our intellect. The wisdom of God is foolishness to man. And it is with “the heart”–not the mind, that one “believes unto righteousness” (Romans 10:10).
That explains why people all over the world–of every shape, size, color and intelligence quota–are finding out that Jesus is indeed “the way, the truth and the life.”