Happy First Friday of 2022,
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Jesus, John 15:12
When initially asked about God’s commands, Jesus summarized the Law by instructing us to: love God and to love our neighbor. In his Farewell Discourse, He mentions only the call to love one another. What happened to the call to love God? Nothing. A careful reading of the Old Testament makes it clear that we love God by loving our neighbor. Indeed, whenever God’s people tried to worship the Lord while mistreating their neighbors (e.g., orphans, widows, immigrants, the poor, et. al.) He brought swift judgment upon them. Love God by loving those He created in His image.
Lists, Resolutions, Lists and More Lists: Many used the end of December to share their “Best Of ’21” rankings. I’m referring to: best books, best movies, best podcasts, best blog posts, etc. I’m tempted to publish a list of “The Best Lists,” but I’m not sure everyone would get the joke. I’m also going to pass offering advice about resolutions. I will, however, note the following: 1) I have made it six straight days with Trevin Wax’s Psalms in 30 Days, a reading plan that assumes devotional moments in the AM, at noon and before bed – and I like it; 2) As a pastor, one of my cool super powers is the ability to absolve you of guilt for failed resolutions. So… boom, you are absolved; 3) It’s worth pondering our attraction to resolutions. Clearly we want to raise our game; and 4) I like the meme that suggests we should resolve to be more like Jesus – i.e., hang out with sinners; upset religious people; tell stories that make people think; choose unpopular friends; be kind, loving and merciful; take naps on boats.
The Eight Still Hold: Back in mid 2020, I scribbled a list of things I needed to keep front and center. I pass them along (again) because I think they still have some value. They appear in no particular order: 1) Many things are going right; 2) Many things are more fragile than I understood; 3) Things are not going back to the way they were; 4) In addition to expecting change, I should expect hard; 5) I need to be more like Christ; 6) The church needs to be more fully conformed to the Gospel; 7) God remains in control; and 8) I cannot do everything, but I can do the right thing.
Two Additions: At some point during 2021, I added two items to my list: 9) Stop listening to the fringe. There are angry and scared people out there invested in selling the apocalypse. You cannot allow them to make you angry and scared; and 10) Stop listening to so much news. A few weeks back, I interrupted my history podcast to share my concerns about news journalism. If you care, you can find that episode here. All I add today is the recent news that John Huey – the former editor-in-chief of Time – recently published his New Year’s resolution. It is – to consume less news. In a Washington Post piece he writes, “Having spent more than 40 years reporting, writing and editing the news, I am surprised to conclude that overconsumption of news, at least in the forms I’ve been gorging on since 2016, is neither good for my emotional well-being nor essential to the health of the republic.” He goes on to argue that there isn’t enough going on to “fill the 24/7 maw” of cable, talk radio, and social media. “I don’t intend to stop fretting about my country. Nor will I give up reading the newspapers and magazines I deem essential to understanding the world around me. But I am planning a crash news diet. … If the news is big enough, it will find me.”
All Things William Shatner: After reading Mission at Nuremberg – a book about the chaplains who provided spiritual care to the highest-ranking Nazi POWs – I tracked down Judgement at Nuremberg, a 1961 film starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland. Much to my surprise, the film also featured a very young William Shatner. I was never much of a Trekkie, but I am impressed by Captain Kirk. In 1961, a 30-year-old Shatner had roles alongsideHollywood’s elites. In 2021 – at the age of 90 – he actually went into space with Jeff Bezos. (BTW, I am not sure what is more curious. The fact that at 90, Shatner looks only slightly older than Bezos, or at how little space travel has advanced since Star Trek debuted. Trekkies were expecting much more than Blue Origin delivers.)
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John Adams Updated: In Why We are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment, Drs. Benjamin and Jenna Storey argue that “Today’s US political institutions were designed for people who were already strongly committed to churches, localities, professions and families. But when private lives have broken down – families dissolved, localities less important, religious life absent – liberalism’s framework institutions no longer make sense.” This sounds like an updated version of what John Adams said over 200 years ago, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Without Comment: 1) The average person gains eight pounds between T-day and New Year’s Eve; 2) China’s aging population will soon join Japan in buying more diapers for seniors than for infants; 3) Apple has become the first US company to surpass $3T in market value; 4) According to the most recent Gallup poll: 94% of Americans favor interracial marriage, 70% favor same-sex marriage, 68% favor legalizing marijuana, 62% are hoping that a third political party is formed, and only 36% trust the media; 5) According to the most recent Pew survey: 44% of non-parents ages 18 to 49 say “it is not too or not at all likely” that they will have children someday (an increase from the 37% who said the same in 2018), eight in ten Asians say that violence against them is increasing in the US, only 17% of Americans think the US is a good model for other countries; and most democrats in the US see voting as a fundamental right while most Republicans view it as a privilege that comes with responsibilities.
Quotes Worth Requoting: “In virtually every church there is a smaller or larger body of Christians who have been radicalized to the Left or to the Right by extremely effective and completely immersive internet and social media loops, newsfeeds, and communities. People are bombarded 12 hours a day with pieces that present a particular political point of view, and the main way it seeks to persuade is not through argument but through outrage. People are being formed by this immersive form of public discourse—far more than they are being formed by the Church. This is creating a crisis.” Tim Keller
Closing Prayer: I am no longer my own, but yours. Put me in any place of service, rank me with any type of people. Put me to work, put me to suffering. Let me be useful for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low by you. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and for your use. John Wesley