Happy Friday.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress.
Psalm 18:2
The Psalms regularly refer to God as our refuge. David does so in Psalms 2, 7, and 18. In the Psalm 2, he finds comfort with God’s assurance of a good ending; in Psalm 7, he relaxes after reminding himself of God’s control over his troubled circumstances. In Psalm 18, he rests after rehearsing God’s faithfulness in the past. During this season of crazy-making, we are wise to follow David into the refuge God offers.
Question: Did I miss the memo about a second wave of COVID in July? I thought the second wave was scheduled for the fall.
Worship Shifting: COVID has brought with it new words and phrases: herd immunity, social distancing, flattening the curve, contact tracing, covidiots, PPE, etc. One of the latest is worship shifting. It refers to those who have gravitated to the online services of a different church. I have mixed feelings about shifters. I’m glad when anyone finds a resource that feeds their soul and excited when people curate their own development—mixing Tim Keller and John Mark Comer sermons with Hillsong worship. But when a church 1,500 miles away becomes a person’s main connection, it’s all a bit shortsighted. YouTube services only work until a crisis hits. We need people who know our name and can visit us in the hospital.
Disruption not Interruption: COVID was initially thought to be an interruption—i.e., after it blew through, things would go back to normal. Most now accept that it has permanently remade the terrain. What’s more, pundits now observe that COVID fast tracked changes not previously due to arrive until 2025. It’s all a bit unsettling. I was having a hard enough time keeping up before we started skipping ahead.
Fauxnerability: In this piece, Christian therapist Chuck DeGroat notes the difference between vulnerability and its weaker sister, fauxnerability. Sharing specific and sometimes painfully honest things about our brokenness is an example of the first. Saying, “I’m a sinner,” or “My heart is an idol factory” is an example of the second. Both admissions may be accompanied with tears, but only the first leads to deep friendships and healthy small groups. Sometimes sharing 90 percent of the story is not really sharing at all.
As Expected: I disappointed people on both sides of the aisle with last week’s comments about Black Lives Matter. The left was frustrated that I didn’t say, “Black lives matter” and stop there. The right found me naïve for engaging the phrase. I didn’t expect to find a happy middle ground, nor was I trying to make both sides happy. I was simply trying to map a path forward. After reading all who responded, I’m doubling down on what I wrote: 1) Christ-followers must find ways to celebrate the dignity of black people and better understand the unique challenges they face; and 2) we must listen carefully to the agendas of any political organization we support.
Wisdom from Sam Harris: New atheists Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris were dubbed the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, so you might think it odd that I cite one of them favorably in this update. But I appreciate the clarity Sam Harris brings early in his Letter to a Christian Nation. There he writes, “Let us be honest with ourselves; in the fullness of time, one side is going to really win this argument, and the other side is really going to lose.” Yes, either God exists, Jesus rose from the dead, and He will bring His kingdom—or not. And what we believe about this should shape our life and purpose.
HBS Professor Clayton Christensen on Religious Freedom: I am a fan of the late Professor Christensen who died just a few months ago. Indeed, I’ve handed out his book How Will I Measure My Life? as a pre-evangelistic conversation starter for the last few years. I had forgotten about his ninety second video about religious freedom. I thought it was insightful when it came out ten years ago. I think it’s even more prescient now.
The Great “Awokening:” A few weeks ago I noted that the Cancel Culture was cannibalizing itself. A lot has happened since then. To read Ross Douthat’s exploration of this movement, click here. To read the open letter Harpers will publish on the topic (in which 150 mostly liberals express alarm over liberalism’s growing illiberalism), click here. To read former WSJ writer Bari Weiss’s recent letter of resignation from the NYT—because she grew weary of her colleagues efforts to cancel her—click here. Perhaps recent attention will encourage people to douse their torches and set down their pitch forks (I doubt it). Whether that happens or not, Christ’s followers must love even those cancelling them. Easier said than done.
It’s not about you: In this post, J.D. Greear reminds us that we are not the star of our story; we are just minor characters. When we think otherwise, we mess up everything.
Closing Prayer: “Be kind to your little children, Lord. Be a gentle teacher, patient with our weakness and stupidity. And give us the strength and discernment to do what you tell us, and so grow in your likeness. May we all live in the peace that comes from you. May we journey toward your city, sailing through the waters of sin untouched by the waves, borne serenely along by the Holy Spirit. Night and day may we give you praise and thanks, because you have shown us that all things belong to you, and all blessings are gifts from you. To you, the essence of wisdom, the foundation of truth, be glory for evermore. Amen.” Clement of Alexandria, 150-215