“You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Jesus, John 8
The Gospel message is not an alternative to but a way to freedom, meaning and happiness.
The Task: This week I am attending Willow Creek’s 25th annual Global Leadership Summit (I’ve probably attended 10 of them). Next week I will pass along my notes. It’s with mixed sentiment that I am here this week. I usually learn some great things and leave both inspired and challenged. But in my mind, the Summit marks the end of summer. I’m not really ready for that.
Authenticity: Many now say that what they value most in others is “authenticity.” Their plea is that we all need to be “our real selves”. I’m not so sure. Scholars studying authenticity note that there is no agreement on whether being authentic means living in line with our emotions or living in line with our ideals. They also note that it is even harder to measure than it is to define. I am left thinking the world would be better off if I passed on the invitation to be authentic and focused on the need to be more like Christ.
Last Week’s Brutality: Much has been written about last week’s two mass shootings. I see no need to pile on, but will direct you to a piece you may not have seen. It’s a post by Russell Moore entitled, White Nationalist Terrorism and the Gospel. Speaking of white nationalism, it’s worth noting that 83 years ago this week, Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the ’36 Olympics, seriously undermining Adolf Hitler’s claims of Aryan supremacy.
Screens > Books. I used to look forward to walking down the aisles of a jet to see what people were reading. (On one occasion, nearly everyone was consumed in the same Tom Clancy novel.) No more. On the flight earlier this week, I noted the following. Of the not quite 100 people sitting in coach: thirty were staring at the screen on the back of the seat in front of them, twenty were watching a movie on their laptop or iPad and another twenty were sleeping. Of those remaining, a dozen were working on their laptop, five were using their computer to play some sort of game (e.g. Solitaire) and two were reading a book. Two.
Question of the Week: A friend gave me this week’s question. He said that he tells his staff, “I do not worry about what you think about me on my best days. What I want to know is, what do you think about me on my worst?”
The Church Wins: Today’s church is in crisis…, just like it always is. The early church was. The church during the Middle Ages was. The church of the Reformation was. And it is a mess today. Crises have been a constant; heresies from within; persecution from without; too few leaders; too little money; moral scandals, etc. I could go on. But you get the point. So let me highlight the other constant: the church is stable. Indefatigable. Individual congregations may come and go, but the big “C” church is going strong. Jesus said He would build His Church and that it would prevail. And it will.
Helping the Homeless: Last week I noted a few ways to help the homeless. Several of you wrote with other ideas: 1) make an arrangement with a restaurant in the area, agreeing that you will send people their way and later stop by to cover the cost; 2) during the winter, pass out the hand-warmer packets that hunters use; 3) carry $5-$10 gift cards to Subway or Steak & Shake, etc.; and 4) in addition to providing physical and financial aid, offer to pray for them.
The Exhausted Majority: In the 150 page report issued by More in Common (a NY based think-tank), the authors argue that we are not as polarized as we assume. Based on the results of a large-scale national survey, they make two claims: 1) that we break out into seven tribes: 8% are Progressive Activists, 11% are Traditional Liberals, 15% are Passive Liberals, 26% are Politically Disengaged, 15% are Moderates, 19% are Traditional Conservatives and 6% are Devoted Conservatives; and 2) that only the Progressive Activists, Traditional Conservatives and Devoted Conservatives are deeply entrenched and polarized. They believe most Americans fall into an “Exhausted Majority” who believe that our differences are not so great that we cannot come together.
Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, let me seek you by desiring you, and let me desire you by seeking you; let me find you by loving you, and love you in finding you. I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving, that you have made me in your image, so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you. But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults, and darkened by the smoke of sin, that it cannot do that for which it was made, unless you renew and refashion it. Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height, for my understanding is in no way equal to that, but I do desire to understand a little of your truth which my heart already believes and loves. I do not seek to understand so that I can believe, but I believe so that I may understand; and what is more, I believe that unless I do believe, I shall not understand. Amen. (Anselm, 1033 – 1109)