Happy Friday,
Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Paul, Colossians 3:1
Among the many things Marx was wrong about, Heaven is not the opiate of the masses. It does not lull us into indifference to present injustices; it motivates us to deny ourselves and work for the good of others. It also helps advertise the gracious love of God and the goodness of his kingdom. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world are just those who thought most about the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this one. Aim at Heaven, and you’ll get the earth ‘thrown in.’ Aim at earth and you’ll get neither.”
J.I.P. While I’m citing late British theologians, let me remind you that J.I. Packer suggested we start each day rehearsing several truths: 1) God is my Father; 2) Heaven is my home; and 3) every day I’m one day nearer. It is likely that reflecting on these truths will be more spiritually-enabling than reflecting on whatever’s in your Twitter (X) feed.
BTW: As easy as it is to bash social media—and as hesitant as I am to defend it—it should be noted that Twitter doesn’t corrupt the human heart as much as it reveals it.
WOTW: Honorable mention goes to: attention economy, sex recession, epistemological modesty, and digital Babylon—the last being shorthand for our complex, algorithm-driven, always-connected culture. Full honors go to tripledemic, which wins in part because it’s doing double duty. I saw it used to refer to our climate/AI/China challenges and also to the threat of a fall riddled with COVID, the flu, and RSV.
Good Advice: While not a WOTW candidate, I’m giving a shout out to “touch grass,” the snarky advice being directed at those thought to be spending too much time in digital Babylon. Being told to “touch grass” is a not-so-subtle suggestion that you need to reconnect with reality.
FWIW: 1) The Surgeon General remains worried about our “epidemic of loneliness and isolation.” So do I; 2) We should be encouraged by PETBAR—the George-W-era-US-led effort to fight AIDS. Forty million lives have been saved to date; 3) A while ago we traded heroes for celebrities. This has turned out to be a worse move than Boston trading Babe Ruth for $100,000, Charlotte trading Kobe for Vlade Divac, and St. Louis trading Bill Russell for Ed Macauley combined.
Without Comment: 1) Far more Americans believe in angels than believe in hell; 2) Both sides of Barbenheimer set box office records; 3) It’s now clear that academics plagiarize and falsify research much more than previously thought; 4) The CEO of Zoom has ordered company employees back to the office two days a week; and 5) In 2000, 2/3 of Americans gave to charity; in 2018, fewer than half did.
Resources: In this week’s podcast episode, I talk with Katie Schnack, the author of Everything is Not Fine: Finding Strength When Life Gets Annoyingly Difficult (IVP: Sept. 2023). Through lots of stories (and humor) Katie reflects on the struggles she and her husband faced when their son was born with very serious—and life-long—medical challenges. Here is last week’s sermon, which is best faced after strong coffee. It was based on 1 Cor. 3, in which Paul scolds the Corinthians for failing to gain spiritual maturity.
Lakelight Live: The Sept. 12th Austin reception—at which I am going to talk about how Christ-followers can best manage their relationship with the news media—generated enough interest that we are considering offering similar events in Nashville, Naples, and Bellingham. If you live in one of those areas and would be interested in attending such an event (time and location permitting), let us know here. (BTW, Austin has a bit more room. You can register for it here.)
Ouch: I thought this was funny. It hit too close to home, but it was funny.
Closing Prayer: O God of Love, we pray you to give us love; love in our thinking, love in our speaking, love in our doing, and love in the hidden place of our souls; love of our neighbors, near and far; love of our friends, old and new; love of those whom we find it hard to bear, and love of those who find it hard to bear with us; love of those with whom we work, and love of those with whom we take our ease, love in joy, love in sorrow, love in life and love in death; that so at length we may be worthy to dwell with you, who is eternal Love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen (William Temple, 1881-1944)