"Why do you want to study engineering?"
It is a question I was asked when I applied to university and have myself asked students numerous times thereafter. Almost invariably the answer included some combination of “I like solving problems” and “I am good at maths and/or science”. Left unsaid are the good job prospects and the ability to avoid writing essays or reading long books! Engineering is the application of science to real problems, and we accept that it is useful. So, if you have a natural aptitude, why wouldn’t you study it?
All of this feels very remote from the question "how did you become a Christian"? And it is easy to see the two as very far apart. Faith can feel very personal, apparently removed from the day-to-day activity of university study or work. Even if you understand that following Christ is a whole life activity, it is still very easy to slip into seeing the study of engineering as just a ‘neutral’ activity. One that as a Christian you believe you should do conscientiously and ethically, but nothing more.
Working for the wellbeing of creation
One answer to connecting Christian faith with engineering is to find a 'noble' motivation. I have friends whose enthusiasm for biomedical engineering was motivated by the ability to bring their mathematical/scientific talents to healthcare, for example. This was a more productive approach for them than becoming a doctor, and meant they were offering a kind of compassionate resistance to the effects of the fall. It is certainly true that engineering can offer solutions to help battle illness, injustice, poverty and the like. If that is a motivation for you then (literally) praise the Lord. But I suspect it might not be for many - it certainly wasn't for me, though I might have fallen back on such an answer if I was asked.
The other apparent solution is to lean into the separation I alluded to above. Engineering is a good way for me to do something to earn a living, be part of society, but sits in a secular realm where Christian and non-Christan are appear alike. It is not as if the Christian engineer understands Hooke’s law any differently to the non-Christian, or that there is a uniquely Christian perspective on circuit analysis. Western culture will congratulate you for taking this option (and then invite you to go even further down this line of thought…). But I think this is an uncomfortable place to exist when the Bible insists that Christ is Lord of all.
As a Christian engineer you can contribute to the wellbeing of creation in many of the same ways that a non-Christan engineer would. What is more challenging is to notice where your motivation makes a difference, or what assumptions are you bringing to a problem for which you might engineer a solution? Some of the more obvious questions are around profit: who ultimately benefits from your work? You might ask the question whether maximising efficiency is always the best option, what other consequences might there be for people who have to use an engineered solution/technology? This falls under the broad category of ‘ethics’, something that engineers rarely study. But, you do not need to have taken a course to take an interest in how your study and work might affect the world and the people who live in it.
More generally though, you might want to examine if you are studying engineering because it is a genuinely appropriate way for you to contribute to the good of others, or simply the means to a comfortable life?
Worshipping the God we work for
Whilst engineering doesn’t necessarily lend itself to observing the wonders of creation in the same way that leads people to worship when studying sciences. Engineering is a product of our ability to study the world, come up with explanations of what is going on, and then use this knowledge to design tools and technologies and solve problems that we face. This points to an ordered creation, made originally to be good, by a loving God. We might not possess the sort of creative power that God does, but we are remarkably able to create and order our world, and engineering is a fruit of that good.
As a Christian you can worship God for all the potential He has allowed, but also for the limits He has set. The biblical story of the Tower of Babel shows us the goodness of God’s limits. In Genesis 11 we see what humanity thinks it is capable of and the place it wants to take in creation. In response we see God’s judgement and His mercy, humanity is diverted from a path that would have led to something far more catastrophic than simply scattering. It is a reminder that some of the limits we face as engineers, some of the frustrations and things we cannot find a solution for, might sometimes be a blessing within a wider plan of judgement and salvation.
Engineering is the very much in the realm of rational efficiency. There is much good and much gain from making things more efficient, and as an engineer you can see ways to achieve this that others might miss. At the same time, we worship a God who exists beyond our narrow view of efficiency, a God who loves us despite how far we have fallen. We can pray that He will equip us for service that brings efficiencies where that is beneficial, but also to see where that comes at a cost.
Witnessing to the world
It is true that engineering can take you places that other subjects might not. There are plenty of countries in the world where it is hard to be a Christian and certainly not possible to live openly as a missionary. But in such places the door may be wide open for engineers. This might be a very particular calling and not for everyone, but it is not only in nations where Christians are few and far between. Whole workplaces and industries, such as technology companies, while not actively hostile to the gospel are not places in which a Christian view of the world is necessarily welcomed. The world of engineering is regarded as rational and pragmatic, it can come as a shock for people to meet an engineer who is more than just culturally Christian, but actually believes in Jesus.
In our society engineering carries with it the potential to change the world, normally using whatever the latest technology happens to be. For example, there is no shortage of predictions of the good that Artificial Intelligence will achieve, with engineers working at the very forefront of this technology. With a ‘noble’ mindset it is easy to get caught up in this and so end up following along with the implicit assumption that we can reverse the fall and have no need of Jesus at all. Faithfully operating with the ‘tools’ that God has given within the constraints he has set, for the ongoing good of His creation, but with a knowledge that whatever we create with our hands will not last, is a challenge but also a rich witness. We are not those who have given up hope in what can feel like a hopeless world. But for all the good we might try to do, we possess a hope that doesn’t rest on what humanity is capable of.
Conclusion
The answers you give to your assignments, the sorts of job you take, the way you go about the day-to-day activities of studying and practicing might not look very different from any other engineering student. And that is okay! There is no need for super-spiritual engineers (whatever one of those would look like), nor do you need to feel a bit guilty for being an engineer and not something ‘more Christian’. But remember that the world will be comfortable with you if you conform to the standard pattern of an engineer who makes things more efficient and, even better, enables a bigger profit to be made.
Ultimately serve a different master, who is working on a different timescale. Who has already accepted you and is equipping you to live with a different set of assumptions. Taking the lead from Colossians 3, the challenge for all Christians is letting the word of God dwell in us richly, for the engineer it might be specifically not letting it get drowned out by the clever work of our hands and the understanding of our minds.
Reflect and discuss
Think: Think back over what you have studied so far in your degree. Where have you seen God's fingerprints? Where have ideas presented to you challenged what you believed to be true?
Live: What do you think your coursemates would know about what is important to you from the way you live? Is there anything you want to change here?
Speak: Are there topics in your subject that are closer to talking about your outlook on life, God or the gospel? Pray for people on your course and for opportunities to share about Jesus with them this term.
Taking it further
- A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers Ethan J. Brue, Derek C. Schuurman, Steven H. VanderLeest
- Engineering and the Ultimate : An Interdisciplinary Investigation of Order and Design in Nature and CraftJonathan Bartlett (Editor), Dominic Halsmer (Editor), Mark Hall (Editor)
- By Design : Ethics, Theology, and the Practice of Engineering Brad J. Kallenberg