God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Ps. 46:1
Given that Christ typically greeted His friends by saying, “Fear not,” we can assume that fear was as prevalent in the 1stcentury as it is today. That should not surprise us. After all, there were at least as many things to be anxious about then, and we do not need to look for things to unsettle us today. Fear finds us, even when we try to hide from it. However, it does not need to get the last word. Learn to rehearse the promises of Psalm 46 – the very passage that inspired Martin Luther to write the hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. His care for you is not a wish for the future but a fact in the present. As Jesus said, “Fear not!”
9/11: Just over twenty years ago, a young scholar from the Central African Republic was told by his doctoral committee that they were not approving his proposal to write on radical Islam because they did not think his topic was large enough to be relevant. Two weeks later – i.e., one day after jets crashed into the Pentagon, the Twin Towers, etc. – the committee reversed their decision. The horrors that unfolded this week in Afghanistan left me thinking about how much I wish they had been right the first time. They also reminded me of one of the things that young scholar – who I know because he was sponsored by ScholarLeaders International – taught me. “We must not confuse our enemy with the victims of our enemy.”
A Modest Apologetic: Ross Douthat, the conservative Catholic who writes for The NYT, published an interesting op/ed this week. In A Guide to Finding Faith, he argues that those who’ve walked away from belief in God – especially those who walked away because they thought 21st century life demanded as much – have good reasons to rethink their views. It’s not a CS Lewis piece, but I am encouraged that Douthat has this platform. Pray he uses it well. You can read his article here.
Quotes Worth Noting: I often share a line I’d like you to ponder. What follows is not that. (It’s a Quote Worth Noting, not a Quote Worth Requoting). The statement was made by Andrew Cuomo during his resignation speech from the governorship of New York. After explaining that he was stepping down so others “could get back to the important work of governing,” he claimed that “government is still the best vehicle for making positive, social change.” I thought little of Cuomo’s comments at the time, but “after further review” the ruling on the field is being reversed. The family, not the government, is the best vehicle for positive, social change. We get into a lot of trouble when we forget this.
Orwell’s Comeback: Scholars typically claim that Huxley’s Brave New World does a better job describing this moment than Orwell’s 1984. I suspect they’re right (and cited Postman saying as much in this sermon). But don’t dismiss Orwell just yet. After all, Big Brother is watching. And there is a lot of Doublespeak being bandied about. In fact, the other day I think I overheard, “Four legs good. Two legs better.”
Keep Your Perspective: It used to be that everyone had a church, even if they didn’t attend it. Not today. Secularism has spread from Western Europe, the faculty lounges in Boston and the editorial offices of more than a few papers to, well, most of the Western World. And one of the results is that church attendance is down. But on this issue – as with so many others – we need to keep our perspective. Jesus will prevail and secularism will collapse. Indeed, secularism has never grown biologically (secular people tend not to have children), and societies that embrace it break down. It cannot be otherwise, because “there is no ‘there’ there.” Yes it remains rough out there. (I was told this week that everyone I meet is either paralyzed by fear, medicated for anxiety, or angry.) But as I noted above, your days can be shaped by hope. Remind yourself that God loves you and that your future is not in doubt. And while you are at it, be the hope you hope to see. If you are hoping for kindness, compassion and grace, embody that. After all, hope, like fear, is contagious.
Who Moved: As promised, here is the study that led me to suggest the Left has moved further left than the Right have moved right. It explains the research conducted by the Pew Research Center late in 2017.
Good Enough: The late Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones – a prominent British pastor – used to ask people, “Are you now ready to say that you’re a Christian?” If they responded with anything that suggested they were not quite good enough to make that claim, he knew they did not yet understand the Gospel. “It sounds very modest, but it is a lie of the devil, it is a denial of the faith . . . you will never be good enough; nobody has ever been good enough. The essence of Christian salvation is to say that Jesus is good enough — and that I am in Him!”
Without Comment: 1) According to a May study at Carnegie Mellon, vaccine hesitancy (defined as those who “probably will not” or “definitely will not” get the vaccine) breaks out by education level the following way: a. High school or less – 20.8%; b. Some college – 18.3%; c. A bachelor’s degree – 11.0%; d. MA – 8.3%; e. Professional (e.g., JD) – 12.3%; and f. PhD – 23.9% (you can see the chart here); 2) According to the Dept. of Ed., the class of 2021 has 41.1% males and 58.9% females; 3) According to a recent Barna study, COVID prompted enough people to start reading the Bible that “the proportion of American adults who never use the Bible has fallen to just 29 percent;“ 4) According to the recently released 2020 census of the 331,449,281 people living in the United States: the White population declined for the first time on record, while Hispanic, Asian, and multi-race populations grew significantly. Also, Phoenix kicked Philadelphia off the “Top 5 Biggest U.S. Cities.” It is now: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix.
Please Pray: As you likely know, the challenges being faced by Afghans – especially Afghan women and Afghan Christians – are unthinkable. Please pray for wisdom for those with an ability to help mitigate the chaos and suffering.
Closing Prayer: O Lord, the house of my soul is narrow; enlarge it that You may enter in. It is ruinous, O repair it! It displeases Your sight. I confess it, I know. But who shall cleanse it, to whom shall I cry but to You? Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord, and spare Your servant from strange sins. Amen. (Augustine of Hippo)