Once again friends we’re going to need to postpone restarting our studies. Hopefully next week we’ll begin The Second Eve, a study on the church.
No, it’s not my birthday. The anniversary of my annual trips around the sun falls on July 1. Today, however, is the anniversary of a birth day that gives me greater joy than my own- the birth of my dear wife. Had it not been the will of God, she would not have been born. Or she might have been born in another era, another place, and He might not have brought us together. But she wasn’t, and He did. For that I give Him thanks.
Truth be told one of the hardships that comes from marrying later in life is, when you love one another as Lisa and I do, you struggle with regrets that you didn’t marry sooner. What if the blessings I’ve received from Lisa had started to bless me decades earlier? This, however, wasn’t God’s plan. And at the end of the day don’t we have to acknowledge that if we are given the choice between choosing our own days and living the life God has planned for us, that He is altogether more trustworthy than we are?
Which is why, though I did not know her when she was born, nor when she was in grade school, nor junior high or high school, though I did not know her when she was in college, or for decades after that, I can celebrate all those benchmarks with her. The things that I missed out on are the very things that have shaped her into what she has become, my deepest earthly blessing. They were the tools in His hand shaping her into who she is.
In this infamous year of 2020 not only have we faced what all of you have faced, a pandemic, riots in our streets, virtual house arrest, but have faced also the loss of Lisa’s mother, strained relationships, five kidney stones, four for me and one for her, multiple surgeries, financial hardship and uncertainty about our future. What does my bride do? She prays with and for me. She, with me, lovingly raises our two boys that are still with us. She risks rejection daily from those she seeks to love and serve. She covers me with blessing and patiently, gently speaks wisdom into my life. In short, she carries on being who she is, carries on being a blessing to all that she touches. She carries on pouring out God’s blessings.
All of which makes today a special day. Lisa’s mother, who loved Lisa as well as she was able, now loves her perfectly, from the other side of the veil. Lisa’s husband, who loves Lisa as well as I am able, walks toward the perfection that awaits me, becoming more like our mutual Husband who loves His bride fully, perfectly and immutably.
My prayer is that He will bless us with many more trips around the sun together, that our adventure in faith will continue, that we will walk into eternity hand in hand. My prayer is that she will be blessed this day and all her days, as she blesses me, our family, her friends and more. Happiest of birthdays my love. Your husband loves you.
There is a sort of application of the Observer Effect that applies to the news of the day. Sometimes confused with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle which argued that at the sub-atomic level we can either discern the speed of a particle or its location, but we can’t know both, the Observer Effect argues that observing scientific phenomena can impact what we are observing. It’s almost as if the electrons know we’re looking at them, and adjust their dance. With respect to the news of the day, we often hear this kind of argument- “Social ill x is no greater today than it was twenty years ago. It’s just reported more.” Or, “The recent slew of crime y is expected to create copy cat crimes.” It’s like the news knows we are watching. Sometimes the news is how we respond to the news.
In our day, however, the news is not just the news. The news is business. We are far less likely than our fathers were to tune in to respected journalists who at least sought to keep up an illusion of objectivity. We are far more likely to get our news from sources clearly identified with this political party or that, or worse still, from talk radio, or even comedy television. When news becomes commentary and commentary becomes business the greatest good is getting you to tune in. We, particularly those Christians who identify as political conservatives, forget that the goal of talk radio isn’t to inform us. We are not consumers of that product which is conservative commentary. We are instead the product being consumed by advertisers. The goal of the host is ultimately to get us to tune in, then to sell our ears to Madison Avenue. As such, no matter who is in office, no matter what is happening, the news is always the same, “The sky is falling.” Calamity is the order of the day not because we are in a peculiarly calamitous age, but because calamity sells.
There are, of course, plenty of things wrong with the world. We have corruption in high places. We live in an overleveraged, bubble bursting, upside down economic house of cards. Government is growing more intrusive, more bloated, more destructive with every passing election cycle. Our inner cities are cesspools of crimes, drugs, promiscuity and the death that comes with all of the above. All of these things, of course, we have a duty as believers to address. We have the solution to all of these ills, and are called to preach that solution, to disciple the nations. What we should not do, however, is panic. We shouldn’t even be surprised.
Consider the 14th century. Dangerous, attractive heresies were finding a foothold in the church. Like today. Faithful men of God were abused, harassed, even killed for their fidelity by men who believed themselves to be doing the work of God. Like today. Church leaders were publicly squabbling, exposing their own hunger for power and prestige, revealing to the watching world our shame. Like today. One third of the population went to an early grave through the scourge of the Black Plague. Like today, where one third of all babies, at least in these United States, will be cut down by the blackest of scourges, abortion.
There is nothing new under the sun. Our hardships, and the wickedness from which they flow are not new things, not things unique to our age. They are the fruit of our fallen humanity. This, this is what comes of sin. How then should we now live?
Like Jesus did, by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Like Jesus does, bringing all things under subjection (I Corinthians 15:27). Like Jesus will do, handing it all back to the Father (I Corinthians 15:24). What we must do, in short, is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we forget about the wickedness all around us. Even less does it mean that we forget about the wickedness all inside us. It does mean that we do not worry like the Gentiles. We seek the kingdom precisely because we have a king, and He shall reign forever and ever.
This same Jesus reigned in the 14th century. He will still reign in the 24th century. His reign does not, for now, mean that there will not be death, corruption, heresies and murders. Neither, however, is it a mere hope that one day He will overcome. Rather, under His kingship His kingship goes forth to war. Things are not now as they should be. But things not being as they should be, is precisely as He would have things. For now.
Our calling as we fight faithfully beside our King against the world, our flesh and the devil, is to fight as those who are at peace. We fight with fervor, with fidelity, with faith, because we are of good cheer, knowing that He has already overcome the world. We live in interesting times indeed, because they are His times. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
I realize that my take is not apt to make any search engines roar like a Lamborghini. I can’t even claim that it’s “true.” Since COVID became a thing I have routinely put on my prophetic pantaloons and declared, “Heck if I know.” I have friends who insist with the utmost vigor that it’s a tempest in a petri dish and I have friends who can’t squeeze into their bunker without squeezing the Charmin they’ve crammed in there. And to both I’m honestly able to say, “You may be right.”
There are three basic reasons why my magic 8-ball keeps coming up “Maybe.” First, never before has an illness been so politicized, nor has there ever been a time of hotter political rhetoric. Second, this involves science which is not my strong point. Third, this involves math which is the next not my strong point. I didn’t know in March and I don’t know today. So what do I have to say about it?
Something has changed. COVID has gotten close. While the inconveniences along the way have always been part of my life, the illness itself hasn’t. My immediate family has been untouched. I haven’t lost a single close friend to the illness. That said, in the past few days COVID has touched people I care about. My pastor, as I type, is in the hospital. He is expected to be released soon. His family has suffered from it and has been through quarantine. Another friend from church is also in the hospital, dealing with Covid while in the middle of a battle with cancer. It’s no longer something “out there.”
This, of course, doesn’t change the answer to the question, is COVID just this year’s flu or this century’s black plague? I still don’t know. It does mean, however, that I’m upping my precautions. Better still, it means I’m upping my prayer regimen. We would be wise to remember that God doesn’t send circumstances principally so we might change them. Rather He more sends circumstances that they might change us. We’re supposed to be learning, and responding out of what we learn.
As we pray for the safety of those whom we love, we grow in our capacity to love them. As we pray for deliverance to the One who loves us, we grow in our visceral grasp of our dependence on Him. As we pray in repentance for ourselves and our nation, we grow in our understanding of the breadth of our sin, and from there, in our understanding of the scope of His grace. That’s what I’m asking you to do. Would you pray for the deliverance of those close to you who are impacted by this illness? Would you pray in agreement with me for those close to me? Would you pray for deliverance from this hard providence? And would you pray in repentance for your sins, the sins of the church and the sins of the nation?
We don’t need to know the answer to the question. We need to rest in the Answer.
My Dearest Gaulips,
You asked about some of the newest features our media consultants are working on, and how you might put them to good use in your treatment of your patient. I will explain a few of them, but do not lose sight of the simple principle- the more we can take these cursed humans away from their bodies, the better off we can be. Entice them with ease, with reach, with speed, with convenience, but take away from them the things that matter the most- actual communication. When we move them from aural communication to written communication we automatically remove all the subtleties of communication, the non-verbal cues that give context, and perhaps more important, social lubricant.
Our Enemy, however, managed quite well with the written word. I remember those heady days when we lit so many fires in those early churches. And that accursed traitor Paul would take pen to parchment and put out our fires. Hand copied, hand delivered letters, some plain and simple, others complicated and deep established and strengthened, and still strengthen His body. So we’re trying another tack.
Our internet division has still managed to hype all the familiar communication strengths while diverting attention from the weaknesses. Because the internet allows them to write and publish quickly, it encourages them to write and publish foolishly. One key stroke and every ill-formed, ill-informed and ill-intended thought is launched like a flaming arrow. I remember how humans used to labor over their words, how even the practical challenge of finding an envelope and a stamp would allow their ire to chill, and for cooler heads to prevail.
The same principle of speed works on the other end as well. Because it is so easy to send information there is a corresponding increase in information. But the eye gate cannot convert to broadband. That is, they can only read so much. Since there is so much to read, they read too swiftly, too carelessly. They scan just enough to form a broad opinion, then switch over to outgoing and send their take into the web. Soon enough such carelessness, in connection with the lack of context leads to giving offense and taking offense, and we enjoy a feast of bitterness.
The humans, noting the glut of information, the bottleneck of the eye, have come up with an interesting solution. They call it Twitter, and its key function is that it reduces all communication down to 280 characters. Paul would not have even made it out of his greeting. Imagine him trying to write to the Corinthians-
Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes,
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all
and he’d be done. When Paul wrote, people mulled over the letters, studied them. They smelled of the very love and labor of the author for his audience.
Which brings us perhaps to the best feature of the internet- it is unreal. There is no actual world in the world wide web. Though there is a web. Just like buying with a credit card is easier because it doesn’t look or feel like money, so communicating via the web, where there is no ink, no paper, no hands touching, feels like not communicating at all. Which means none of the rules of communication apply. We aren’t lying if we aren’t actually saying something. We certainly can’t be held accountable if no one knows us, or knows our name.
My advice with your patient then is to push him away from patience. My advice for your human is to push him away from his humanity. Teach him to see himself as a mere collection of ever changing opinions about an ever changing world of issues. Teach him to see those with whom he disagrees as a collection of ever changing opinions about an ever changing world of issues. Encourage him to see letters as the media of a dead generation, and his own generation on the cutting edge of communication. As always, when we give them a shiny bauble, never let them see the beauty we make them give up.
Don’t forget that letters are personal, just as this one is. Be sure not to miss my tone. In case you’re unsure, it’s hungry.
In His Satanic Majesty’s Service,
Baron Tech
PS Now is the time. Election season is when our strategy shines.
It is just about the time that we begin to mock our fathers that we find ourselves slipping on the banana peels they have left behind. Consider our fathers’ failure to contextualize in missions. Generations ago great heroes went forth carrying the good news of Jesus Christ to unreached people. That’s good. They also, at least we are told, carried with them deep into untamed interiors, musical organs. Because, you know, these new converts had to, in order to be Christian, sing western music with western instruments. Like Christians do.
I’m afraid we haven’t quite gotten past this. We may not send out organs, but we do send out our own traditions, our own way of doing things, and perhaps too often, our own people. I’m not, of course, opposed to going. That’s a good thing. But when we go we go to grow and encourage the church of Jesus Christ. Which means we go to grow and encourage the local believers. Which means we encourage them to follow Jesus, not us.
We know how churches operate. A man is gifted and called to serve as its pastor. He sets up his shop, and works to persuade consumers to shop at his store. As he succeeds the church grows and the pastor then begins to think in terms of franchising himself. More church plants. Fancy letterhead and a whiz-bang website. When we go overseas, however, we find something different. We find pockets of believers, oftentimes in hiding. We find them struggling to put food on their tables. And we find them well served by pastors with whom they share a common life.
Now I believe it is a good and fitting thing to pay a pastor (I Timothy 5:17). But I think we just might be guilty of cultural imperialism if we determine this is necessary, or even helpful in all circumstances. Worse we do the same thing with any number of western traditions that have even less biblical support. We send off missionaries to train locals on how to host a youth group. We raise money to build church buildings. Or we establish seminaries to make the local pastors as petty and confused as we are. All because this is how we do it here.
It ought to tell us something about how we have done things here that now third- world, poverty stricken countries are sending missionaries here. They are concerned for the weakness of our churches. They do not come with programs, but with the gospel. They do not come to remake our churches or cultures in their image. They come to win the lost. Too often when we go overseas we see ourselves as the savior. Instead when we go overseas we should go remembering, and therefore preaching, our need for a Savior.
He is the great missionary. He came to a desperately weak and wicked people carrying not an organ, but a cross. And He calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him. Perhaps we would do well to become the pupils rather than the teachers of our brothers around the world who know the difference between a cross and an organ.
