Christus Victor

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America, Christianity, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Culture, Death, Fear, God, Hope, Jesus Christ, Life, Media, Pandemic, Resurrection, Salvation, Society

A few days ago, among the items in an assorted internet news smorgasbord came several headlines to the effect that the president had garnered anger by saying that people shouldn’t fear the coronavirus.  “‘Don’t Be Afraid of COVID,’ Trump Says, Undermining Public Health Messages”, ran the headline from the New York Times.  Surely they don’t mean to say that the public health message is that we should be afraid?  Or do they?

            The president’s tweet didn’t just say not to be afraid of COVID.  He also talked about how great he was feeling, and touted the drugs for treating the coronavirus developed under his presidency.  I won’t dispute that his message suggested COVID-19 was not a serious concern, and that such a message is both frustrating for health workers and painful to those who have suffered and lost because of the pandemic.  Human suffering should not be treated lightly.  When one man has a mild case of the coronavirus, or makes a recovery, it is an occasion for gratitude, not a time to neglect the awful consequences this virus has had for so many.

            But, in terms of the news cycle, anger seemed directly tied to the president’s urge that people not fear the coronavirus.  That, to judge from the news, was an outrageous suggestion.  The implication is that you are only taking COVID-19 seriously if you fear it, and anything less is outrageous.

            I am a cautious man, myself.  I take precautions; in some cases, I am perhaps over-cautious.  Yet I think it is mistaken to put forth fear as a virtue, or to promote a message of fear.  Fear of death may cow people, but it does not make us resilient or noble.  It is good to be wise and prudent.  There is nothing commendable about foolhardiness; but nor is fear a virtue.  For those who see in some dimensions of the various state governments’ coronavirus response an obtrusive overreach, and in the media a political dimension to the coronavirus coverage, this appeal to fear is certainly corroborative.  Another possibility is that they simply present the story as they understand it: this is a fearful time, and it is reckless and foolish to not be afraid.

            Christians have a different perspective.  We recognize that this life is short, and prolonging it as long as possible is not the highest good.  More importantly, we have a theologically informed and redemptively transformed perspective on death.  Death is a consequence of sin, and of itself is indeed a terrible thing; but it has been de-clawed by the atoning death and victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Death is the gateway to one’s eternal destiny.  For those who don’t know Jesus, death should be a terrible and stark reminder that NOW is the time to repent and be saved.  But, for those who do know Jesus, death is the passage to the presence of their Savior. 

For the Christian, death holds no terror; this enemy has been disarmed, and pressed into service to carry the people of God to their rest with their Lord until the day of resurrection.  Our Lord has conquered death.  As Jesus said to John, when the apostle was confronted with His awesome majesty, “Do not be afraid.  I am the First and the Last.  I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!  And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17-18, NIV).

Let’s Get Real

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Christianity, God, Gospel, Homosexuality, Jesus Christ, Journalism, LGBTQ+, Media, Politics, Religious Left, Righteousness, Salvation, Same-Sex Marriage, Sin, Society, Truth

As a postscript to “Pete Buttigieg, Theologian?“, I want to note something on the other side of the interview–because it really was more of a dialogue, not just questions and answers.  Jim Wallis is a theologian, though not a faithful or trustworthy one, as the interview exemplified.

After all, in the article in question Wallis is interviewing a man engaged in persistent and publicly acknowledged immorality of a kind that God declares detestable (Lev. 18:22).  That is a key piece of context for any Christian viewing this discussion.

Towards the beginning, Wallis says:

The lawyer, says to Jesus, “How do I inherit eternal life?” And he says, “Love God. Love your neighbor.” Simple as that.

The reference is to Luke 10:25ff.  Wallis follows that on the question of loving our neighbors, which is quite right because that’s where the text follows.  But something has been left out: what about this love for God business?  What does that look like?

According to Scripture, love for God involves obedience (Jn. 14:23).  Indeed, the most interesting parallel to note is that in Luke 18, Jesus is asked the very same question, but this time He points the inquirer to the commandments of the Old Testament law (Lk. 18:20).  This isn’t Jesus giving two different answers; He’s giving the same answer in two different ways; after all, as Jesus Himself says, the two commandments to love God and love neighbor are a summary of the law (Matt. 22:37-40).

The failure of the social gospel has always been that it taught love of neighbor but neglected love of God.  For loving God requires not only that we love our neighbor but, first and fundamentally, that we turn from our sins and receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  There is no gospel without the call to repentance and faith.

To talk about eternal life with someone who is living in persistent sin, without calling them to repent and believe, is a mockery of the gospel.

But there is a real gospel, a good news of eternal life for all who will turn from sin and trust Jesus.  God sent His Son to save sinners from all their sins; Jesus Christ died upon the cross and rose again so that we can have life in Him.  And yes, this has inescapable implications for what we do with our lives in this world.  But the real gospel is good not only for human flourishing in this present world, but for human flourishing in the kingdom of God through all eternity.  And a real theologian must declare the real gospel to people who really need it.

The Yearning of the Soul

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Astrology, Atonement, Christianity, Culture, Gospel, Hope, Humanity, Jesus Christ, Life, Media, Nonsense, Paganism, Society, Truth

G.K. Chesterton has been frequently quoted as having said something like, “The first effect of not believing in God is that you believe in anything.”  Apparently Chesterton did not write that phrase, though the idea is true enough to what he elsewhere communicated.

In any case, it is a startling idea, and one that helps explain the resurgence of paganism, witchcraft, and astrology in the (post)modern era.

For astrology is all too alive and well in America today.  Our civilization, that prides itself on its technology and scientific advancement, has, to a startling degree, returned to the most nonsensical spiritual practices.  But the reason for this is obvious–pagan spirituality tells us just what we want to hear.  Paganism is amorphous, obsequious, relativistic, and self-indulgent in all the ways that true Christianity is not.

Consider this telling interview at Vox.com, The existential lure of astrology (sic–we shall pass over their abhorrent lack of title capitalization with no more than the wagging of a disapproving finger).  Chani Nicholas, “head astrologer at O Magazine” (?!) makes the self-indulgent appeal of astrology quite transparent.

For the (post)modern gospel is that you’re great just the way you are, and accepting yourself in all your goodness is the first step towards building a better world.  Or:

As Nicholas sees it, the more we accept ourselves for who we are, the more we can show up and effect positive social change, both in our immediate relationships and our communities. Astrology is one tool, she argues, for getting to know ourselves, what drives us, and how we can be of use in the world.

For all its mushy sentimentality, that is much easier to deal with that the gospel of Jesus Christ, which tells us that we are corrupt, condemned, and need to be redeemed by faith in the Son of God who gave Himself for us; that we need to repent and follow Him, being transformed by the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit, both to be useful for God’s redeeming mission in this world and to attain eternal life in the world to come–rather than suffering the wrath of God.

You see, mushy and sentimental self-acceptance is just easier and less offensive.

Astrology, Nicholas admits, appeals to our basic narcissism.  Having put it so bluntly, she tries to add a positive spin:

But also, there’s a deep need for self-actualization, and a deep need to know that we’re worthy of that.

Which is really just an embrace of our narcissism.  The sad news is, there’s no hope to be found in that direction.  Self-acceptance is only the determined satisfaction with what is obviously false and illusory–the idea that I’m alright just how I am, and don’t need God to fix me.

But Nicholas understands that there are deep matters at stake in the pursuit of spirituality, even if she misses the truth:

When we self-actualize, we’re much less interested in all the outer things and we’re much more interested in the quality of the moments of our life. That’s actually where the soul is yearning to go.

No, the soul is yearning for God, and will never be satisfied with the self.  She completely misses the solution, but she has something of a handle on the problem:

I think we’re really lonely. I think we are really afraid. I think that we live in a world that feels increasingly less stable and less known. And I think we need to know ourselves as a counter to being in this place. We need to deepen our relationship to knowing who we are, and astrology is one way to do that.

We are lonely, and afraid.   The world is unstable and filled with darkness.  But knowing ourselves can never bring joy, security, stability and light, because we’re part of the darkness of the world.  Sin has darkened the human heart.  We cannot find light in our own hearts, because the light of the world comes to us from outside ourselves.

Jesus is the light of the world.  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12, NIV).

We have a yearning of the soul, a deep yearning, because we were made by God to be in a right and loving relationship with Him, to be holy and to love the God of holy-love.  But sin has plunged our hearts and our world into darkness.  So we yearn and grope for what our souls long after, but which we can no longer see.

But false hopes will never satisfy our souls.  The stars can’t guide us through the darkness of sin.  There is no inner light to be gained by self-acceptance.  These things only lead to death.

Jesus is the light of the world.  He has brought light into our darkness, and life to the dying.  He came to show us the way home, so that we could have fulfilled the great longing of our souls.

In His life He showed the light.  In His death He made atonement for our sins, satisfied the wrath of God, and bridged the gulf that separated us from our maker.  In His resurrection He offers us the hope of life, if we are united by Him with faith.  In Christ, we are made whole and brought home to God.

In Christ is fulfilled the yearning of the soul.

 

Two Things…

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America, Censorship, Christianity, Cultural Engagement, Culture, Culture War, LGBTQ+, Media, Secularism, Society, Truth

…worth taking in from Rod Dreher at The American Conservative:

1. His insightful line, “Sexual permissiveness is the prosperity gospel of progressive Christians. Nadia Bolz-Weber and Creflo Dollar are working against the Gospel in equal measure.”
2.  If you’re willing to risk feeling a bit depressed, he shows a bit more specifically how the whole tolerance thing is going.

How Tolerance Works

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Anthropology, Culture, Culture War, Facebook, LGBTQ+, Media, Social Media, Society, Tolerance, Transgenderism, Truth

…or doesn’t, as the case may be.

First you bring in a new ideology, say, one that’s manifestly absurd and overturns the most basic facts about humanity which have been understood by every culture throughout all of human history.  But you say that this new ideology is deeply important to some people–a few people, which makes them a vulnerable minority who must be protected, but an increasingly large number of people, which demonstrates that however contrary this ideology is to science and common sense, it must be true.

You insist that people tolerate this ideology out of love and kindness to those who are different from them, out of charity and humility, and out of regard for a persecuted and misunderstood minority.  Somehow, you convince influential people to begin tolerating, then advocating for the tolerance of, what is obviously untrue and ultimately misanthropic.

Then, with a critical mass of social support, you begin bullying opponents of the new ideology into silence.  When someone speaks out against the nonsense you’re promoting, you arrange that anti-bullying educational efforts will be used to get their teachers, peers, bosses, etc., to call them bigots, discipline them, and possibly fire them.

In a late stage of the effort, between the general social stigmatizing of reasonable opinions and making such opinions actually illegal, private social media platforms begin declaring that speech against the new ideology is totally out of bounds and must be silenced.  There can be no discussion, because to even disagree about this ideology is hatred.

Tolerance at its finest.

Way of Death, Gift of Life

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Abortion, America, Celebrities, Celebrity Culture, Christianity, Culture, Evil, Forgiveness, God, Life, Media, Pro-life, Sin, Truth

One of the most noted features of the Golden Globes ceremony last week was the speech by actress Michelle Williams, who used her acceptance speech–as is now frequently done by entertainment elites–as an opportunity for political advocacy.  Specifically, Williams decided to promote abortion.

From The Christian Post:

Williams, who won Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie for her role on “Fosse/Verdon,” told the crowd Sunday evening that she was “grateful to have lived at a moment in our society when choice exists, because as women and as girls, things can happen to our bodies that are not our choice.”

“I’ve tried my very best to live a life of my own making and not just a series of events that happened to me, but one that I could stand back and look at and recognize my handwriting all over it — sometimes messy and scrawling, sometimes careful and precise, but one that I have carved with my own hand.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to do this without employing a woman’s right to choose,” she added.

The reality behind these euphemisms is that Williams seems to be indicating she killed one or more babies, that she wouldn’t have been able to achieve the success she has as an actress without doing so, and that she thinks it was a good trade.

The fact that such statements are unsurprising and supported by a large percentage of our society is a telling demonstration of the moral degradation of American civilization.

But look also at how central the framework of choice is to the way Williams presents it.  This is just one piece in a life lived by her own self-determination.  She’s made a concerted effort to live “a life of my own making”, she wants to be able to “stand back and look at it and recognize my handwriting all over it”.

That’s what sin is about.  We do not wish to live according to God’s good design, to be what He has created and called us to be–we wish to be our own masters, and to remake ourselves in the image of our choosing.  The terrible irony is that self-determination is only disguised slavery to sin.

And the way of sin is the way of death.  It is no surprise that the desire to lead “a life of my own making” can involve taking away the lives of innocents.  And the way of self-determination brings no fulness to those who follow it.  A Golden Globe is a hollow thing; fame and fortune are fleeting.  In the end, all that matters is whether you have served yourself, and given your life to Christ and found in Him life eternal.

As sinful men and women, we cover our lives with our own handwriting, in lines of sin and guilt; but Christ can wash it all away, and give us the true and abundant life.

A Different Standard

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Celebrity Culture, Christianity, Church, Evangelicalism, Journalism, Media, Megachurch, Truth

The church is supposed to be radically different from the world.  We are an alternative community, existing by grace and pursuing purity.  We all fall short in many ways; but our utter reliance on God’s mercy is not an excuse for failing to pursue a different standard than the world around us.

A recent piece of news, the latest in a long and tragic saga, has brought one more reminder of the dangers of evangelical celebrity culture.  Far too often in recent decades the evangelical world has been providing platforms to charismatic leaders without due attention to the character of the people being promoted or to the dangers of celebrification for a leader’s soul.  To list the good and committed Christian institutions, organizations, publishers and others that have fallen into this trap would be sobering indeed.

There is a serious need for self-appraisal and housecleaning in the evangelical world.  It is not a matter of Pharisaical legalism; we all need grace.  But we also need the discernment to see through popularity.  For the world, fame is enough; but the church is supposed to be different.  Wisdom and virtue, rather than marketability, should be the characteristics that matter to us.

Gone Bananas

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Art, Beauty, Culture, Media, Postmodernity, Society, Truth

I know, I know, but I just couldn’t help myself.

You have perhaps already read that a banana duct-taped to the wall has been declared a sculpture and sold (in three versions) for $120,000 or more each.  This is only the latest demonstration of the farcical level to which the art world has sunk in the (post)modern era.

There is an absurd pretentiousness about it all.  Consider the words of the gallery’s founder, Emmanuel Perrotin:

Prior to the reported sale, Perrotin told CNN the bananas are “a symbol of global trade, a double entendre, as well as a classic device for humor,” adding that the artist turns mundane objects into “vehicles of both delight and critique.”

Such is the vacuous defense of the debasement of art in a culture that has lost sight of truth and goodness.  Those are the three characteristics classically referred to as the “transcendentals”: the true, the beautiful, and the good.  It makes sense that our cultural elites, who have so constantly twisted the truth and perverted goodness would develop a debased sense of beauty.

The ready reply is that, by seeing foolishness here instead of brilliant artistic satire, I only show myself to be a Philistine who doesn’t understand art.  Ignorance is why someone like me rejects modern art.  This is the paradox of our educational system; somehow, adequate education and enlightenment is supposed to produce people who think a duct-taped banana is art, and that eating that banana is “performance art.”

Yet there is a comfort in the observation of common grace.  I think that this story is so widely publicized because most people see this situation for what it is.  Only those initiated into the nonsense of (post)modern art are deceived by this; only the elitists are buying it–figuratively and literally.

That To Which We Are Entitled

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Abortion, Christianity, Culture, Humanity, Jesus Christ, Life, Media, Rhetoric, Society, Truth

A recent salvo from the cultural left comes this article describing 350 members of the legal profession who filed an amicus brief regarding a supreme court case, in which they share about their abortions.  The basic goal, as even stated later in the article, would seem to be the normalization and de-stigmatization of the horrendous evil of abortion.

One may wade through the typical and deceptive jargon that attempts to make personal determination the central issue, rather than the lives of all the vulnerable innocents these women have killed.  This is the standard lie, and it needs no more comment than that.

What I did find interesting was a statement at the beginning of the article, where one lawyer says,

I was smart and I deserved my career and I deserved to be able to give it my all and to become a mother when I was fully, emotionally, psychologically, and in terms of resources prepared to become the best mother I could be.

The rhetorical and political success of abortion comes substantially through framing it as a right, something that is deserved.  It is connected with personal autonomy and flourishing.  And notice how positively everything is put: she does not say, ‘I deserved to decide whether to kill or give birth to my baby’ but ‘I deserved to focus on my career and defer motherhood until I was ready for it.’  It just so happens that deferring motherhood came at the price of an innocent life.

There are curious comparisons of this attitude with the story of the Fall.  We’re not told Eve thought she was entitled to the forbidden fruit; but she was given the idea that it was something good which God wanted to withhold from her, and she decided to reach out and grasp it.  Abortion advocates tell women that the God-given fruit of their womb is theirs to reject, if they decide it is not good.  In both cases, the basic lie is that we know better than God, and we can make our own path to flourishing.

But the attitude of entitlement moves us even further from the truth.  We don’t deserve to actualize ourselves at the expense of others.  We’re not entitled to kill people who stand in the way of our careers.

When you put it that way, it sounds absurd that anyone could think otherwise.

But add to that a true perspective on what we do, in fact, deserve.  We are sinners, and the judge of the universe is absolutely righteous.  We deserve the wrath of God.  The good news is that if we come to Christ, we receive not the just sentence we deserve, but mercy instead.

We shouldn’t be too quick to demand what we’re entitled to.  There’s no life that way.  But a society that trades the pursuit of righteousness and mercy for self-actualization and the pursuit of an increasing list of supposed rights is prime soil for a culture of death.

Christ is the answer.  Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

Regressing

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Books, Christianity, Culture, Humanity, Media, Paganism, Secularism, Society, Truth, World

I read old books, and learn interesting things.  Sometimes you see things that were common knowledge a hundred years ago, but not so well known now.  But today I saw a rather sobering instance of the reverse.

In a book from about a century ago, I saw that the author felt the need to explain the concept of a horoscope.  Now, perhaps astrology was better known at the time than she thought, but perhaps this is a pointer that paganism was not so mainstream then as now.

We like to think that we are enlightened, sophisticated, and so on; but in some ways we seem to be regressing into ignorance, both intellectual and moral.  The rise of paganism in postmodernity is a sobering reminder of what G.K. Chesterton so aptly said,

Every man who will not have softening of the heart must at last have softening of the brain. (Chesterton, Orthodoxy, 42)

History does not advance at an ever upward climb.  Enlightenment is not guaranteed to increase over time.  Sometimes light grows dimmer, and hearts and minds become darkened; and our society loves the darkness.  Those who think of themselves as progressive are in some ways most prone to regress.

But while enlightenment is not guaranteed, it is also true that regress is not inevitable.  The light still shines in the darkness (Jn. 1:5).  We do not have to become ever more mired in paganism.  Revival can be had; but you have to want the light.