Happy Friday
Loving people is hard. Loving unlovable people is harder. Loving our enemies is harder still. But it is what we are called to do. As I have noted before, this does not mean we are to work to turn our enemies into friends – i.e., to get them to think and act like we do so they are more lovable. It means that we are expected to be the kind of people who treat our enemies as if they were our friends. If you are looking for motivation for this, consider Romans 5:10, which reports that “While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.” By the way, in commenting on this command – which is one of the most frequently cited in the writings of the early church – G. K. Chesterton suggests that the reason the Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies is “because generally they are the same people.”
A Religious People: Fifteen years ago, I paused a series on the Book of Acts, to explore the obvious question raised by Acts 17: If Paul showed up at a Chicago Metra station today and said, “I see you are a religious people,” what idols would he be talking about? What followed were sermons addressing: money, sex, entertainment, science and tolerance. In a recent blog post, a history professor at Asbury Seminary, provided his list: national security, money, guns, the automobile, fame and celebrity, college sports and professional sports. I like my list better. Of course, I am aware that any such list says as much about the list-developer as it does about society. So the real question is personal: What good thing(s) have you elevated beyond their rightful station?
Social Media. In this article, Tim Keller argues that social media: 1) is more about identity creation than ideas, 2) drives extremism, 3) distorts reality, and 4) mutes the moderate majority. I think he is right on all fronts.
The Loudest Voices: During the eight years I directed First Presbyterian Church’s college ministry in Bellingham, WA., I grew disenchanted with denominational politics. Among other things, I realized that the pastors I was trying to learn from were seldom involved, because they had thriving local ministries and consequently little free time. That meant, those with the time to invest in regional governance were often those doing the least in their home communities. Maybe I am wrong, but I suspect something like that happens with social media. Those who have the time to invest online are not doing much in the actual trenches.
Quotes Worth Requoting: 1) “The final secret, I think, is this: that the words ‘You shall love the Lord your God’ become in the end less a command than a promise.” Frederick Buechner; 2) “People who haven’t learned how to love will always feel like victims.” Jacques Philippe
“I am the Vine” 2.0: In response to my comments in last week’s Update – i.e., the statement that the main job of a branch is not to produce fruit but stay connected to the vine – one reader noted, “You never hear an apple tree grunt.”
The Law of Group Polarization: Not that we needed an academic to make this point, but years ago, Cass Sunstein – a professor of Behavioral Economics at Harvard – noted that “When people of a like-mind gather together, the common expression of their shared view becomes more extreme.”
Family ⬇️, Government ⬆️: In healthy societies, care for the young, old, weak and poor is provided by the family and church. When those two institutions lose leverage, government grows.
David Brooks: I recently relistened to this July 4th homily, which was given by David Brooks at the Washington National Cathedral. I do not agree with all Brooks says / writes, but I am encouraged to watch his decades long journey towards Christ unfold.
Foundations: The tragic collapse of the Champlain Tower in Florida has me thinking about other foundations. At the risk of sounding like Chicken Little (again), it sure seems like our societal basement is wet, the concrete is crumbling and the rebar is showing.
Closing Prayer: You taught us, Lord, that the greatest love a man can show is to lay down his life for his friends. But your love was greater still, because you laid down your life for your enemies. It was while we were still enemies that you reconciled us to yourself by your death. What other love has ever been, or could ever be, like yours? You suffered unjustly for the sake of the unjust. You died at the hands of sinners for the sake of the sinful. You became a slave of tyrants, to set the oppressed free. Amen. (Bernard of Clairvaux – 1090- 1153)