I usually don’t get into current events, but as a math guy, I can’t let this one go. CNN has posted this headline:
I looked up the population of the U.S. in 1918:
Note that the US population has more than tripled since 1918. The headline should NOT be “despite 103 years of medical advances…” but “BECAUSE of 103 years of medical advances, the COVID-19 pandemic has killed 1/3 the proportion of Americans than were killed in the 1918 flu pandemic.”
In fairness, the fine print of the article does include something like what I just wrote.
What are the percentages? So far, according to the official numbers, we have 675,000 deaths from COVID-19 with a population of 328 million. That’s 0.2 percent. (One-fifth of one percent) In 1918, if we had 675,000 deaths, that’s 0.6 percent. (Just over one-half of one percent)
I’m not trying to minimize COVID-19. I’ve known people who were very sick and friends of friends have died. But a bit of perspective is in order.
Unequal weights are an abomination to the LORD, and false scales are not good. (Proverbs 20.23, ESV)
Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. (Isaiah 8.12, ESV)
My friend and former pastor John Ed Mathison put me on to a story I hadn’t seen before. A 31-year-old man, Jerome Moody, drowned at a swimming pool party in New Orleans in 1985. The party was a celebration by the New Orleans lifeguards of a summer swim season in which there had been no drownings. You can’t make this stuff up. Here’s the way the New York Times reported it at the time:
John Ed’s take was something like are we too busy celebrating our success to be doing something significant? Another perspective is this: are we paying attention? And do we have a bias for action?
Are we sitting in church, enjoying the service, thinking what a fine church we have, while the person sitting next to us or in front of us is drowning in a major life crisis?
A friend of mine said to me recently that he was disillusioned with his church, and I didn’t even take time to pursue that. (I’m going to try to remedy that one.)
How are our neighbors doing? Have we asked?
Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. (Psalm 142.4, ESV)
I can’t leave the subject of passing the baton without thinking about the time I preached this on a Sunday night nearly 20 years ago when I was on church staff. It was a large church, but the Sunday night service had dwindled to about 100 people, mostly older. So I took the opportunity to talk about passing the baton. I even had a baton in my hand to make the point. I reminded them that their generation was dying off. That they needed to be serious about training the generation behind them to follow Jesus. For example:
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2.3 – 5, NIV, emphasis mine)
I will never forget that a few days later, one of the older guys (probably about the age I am now!) came by my office. The conversation went like this:
“That was a really good sermon Sunday night! You should think about preaching that to some younger people.”
“Younger people? I was talking to you!!”
Paul took seriously his responsibility to train up the next generation, writing to Timothy:
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction… For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4.1, 2, 6, 7, NIV)
I wrote earlier about the bad baton exchange that cost the U.S. men a chance to compete for medals in the 4×100. The application then was teamwork. But there’s another obvious application for the baton: it’s passing leadership on to the next generation. I write often about generational ministry:
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.2, NIV)
Paul -> Timothy -> Reliable People -> Others
A superb example of passing the baton, literally and figuratively, occurred in the 2012 London Olympics in which the U.S. Women’s team set a world record in the 4 x 100. If you want to see what a baton pass is supposed to look like, you can see the video here (or click the picture). This picture, capturing the moment just after the baton pass, shows veteran olympian Allyson Felix (right) clapping and shouting encouragement to the runner she’s just passed the baton to. GO! GO! GO!
Allyson Felix, right, shouts encouragement to the runner she’s just passed the baton to.
That’s what’s it’s supposed to look like. I want the people I’ve invested in to be more effective in ministry than I am. I don’t want to just “teach” and have people say what a fine teacher I am. I want them to “go and do likewise.” Jesus did:
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14.12, NIV)
I was reading the usual flurry of reports on world events complete with commentary on the quality and competence of government leaders (or lack thereof), and then I read this scripture:
As additional proof, we know there were many priests under the old system, for they eventually died and their office had to be filled by another. But Jesus permanently holds his priestly office, since he lives forever and will never have a successor! So he is able to save fully from now throughout eternity, everyone who comes to God through him, because he lives to pray continually for them. He is the High Priest who perfectly fits our need—holy, without a trace of evil, without the ability to deceive, incapable of sin, and exalted beyond the heavens! Unlike the former high priests, he is not compelled to offer daily sacrifices. They had to bring a sacrifice first for their own sins, then for the sins of the people, but he finished the sacrificial system, once and for all, when he offered himself. (Hebrews 7.23 – 27, TPT)
Who is our leader? Jesus is our leader! Jesus is constant. Jesus doesn’t lie. Jesus really did give his life for me. I have a tendency to think “secular and sacred.” But Jesus is the leader over everything. He is unchanging. All the rest are temporary and apparently increasingly corrupt.
We trumpet “democracy” in this country, which seems to give leadership to those who campaign well or have the best “machine” to win (or steal!) votes. We submit to our earthly leaders as Peter tells us to (see 1 Peter 2:13 – 17) but not necessarily because they are worthy. Peter lived under Nero!
Again, Jesus is the leader, the smartest person in the room, the only one worthy of worship.
Now this is the crowning point of what we are saying: We have a magnificent King-Priest who ministers for us at the right hand of God. He is enthroned with honor next to the throne of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 8.1, TPT)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1.15 – 20, ESV)
When I was an Air Force major working at International Officer School, I took the men out to play soccer one afternoon around 3p (duty day went until 4:30). On the way out the door, our boss’s boss, Colonel Bailey, was coming in the door. The conversation went something like this:
Ewell! Where are you going?
Sir, I’m taking the students out to play soccer.
Why?
For fun, sir!
OK.
Sometimes it’s OK to do something just for fun, and June and I did – Sunday, September 5, we drove over to tiny Hugo, Colorado, near Limon to see Big Boy #4014, one of the world’s largest working steam engines. It’s 132 feet long and weighs 1.2 million pounds. (A more modern diesel locomotive that I looked up for comparison is 76 feet long and weighs just over 400,000 pounds.) June and Babo the dog were impressed!
Union Pacific’s Big Boy, #4014, parked in Hugo, Colorado, then en route to Denver.
It was fun to see, and when I posted the story on FaceBook, I got over 50 “likes” and 18 comments. So we not only had a fun adventure, we blessed some other people as well.
A merry heart does good, like medicine,… (Proverbs 17.22, NKJV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul… (Psalm 23.1 – 3, NKJV)
Seth Godin wrote a short piece on September 11 called “We are not astronomers.” Here’s most of what he said:
Unlike most of the sciences, astronomy is always done at a distance. You can see the stars, but you can’t do anything about them. Sometimes the media would like us to believe that we’re all astronomers, simply passive witnesses in a world out of our control. But the world is never out of our influence. Remembrance, connection, possibility, invention, empathy, insight, correction, care and justice are all up to us. We not only observe, but we make changes happen. Our participation (or apathy) leads to a different future. – Seth Godin, September 11, 2001
This sentiment goes with our previous two blogs on loving and praying for our enemies. More than that, Seth is rightly calling for action.
You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, ESV)
Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” (Zechariah 7.9, 10, ESV)
But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3.17, 18, ESV)
We’ve been thinking about 9/11 and how to apply clear Biblical teaching on loving and praying for our enemies, and the Taliban (today) and al-Queda (then) certainly qualify as enemies. By the way, I’m not talking about how our government should respond. As Chuck Colson said on September 14, 2001:
This [loving our enemies] doesn’t obviate the government’s use of the sword or a military force to swiftly and proportionately respond to those terrorist attacks. We must do that. Our government will. But as the nation’s anger rises, there is a great test for American Christians. Can we live by the Gospel? Will we love our neighbors, even those who look or sound or seem like those who so ruthlessly attacked us? – Chuck Colson
We as individual believers are called not to hate. Can we bring this closer to home?
I was thinking about these concepts when I read a first-person account of what a liberal bishop in north Georgia is doing to a conservative United Methodist Church. Here’s how the essay starts:
In April 2021, Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Annual Conference made an abrupt and unrequested decision to move Mt. Bethel Church’s senior minister, the Rev. Dr. Jody Ray. I know it was abrupt and unrequested because I serve on the church’s Staff-Parish Relations Committee (SPRC); the committee was among the last to hear about it.
Typically, a change of this magnitude in a church our size – with a K-12 Christian school attached – would involve several conversations and consultations. Meetings would begin nine to 12 months prior to such a major change as the church and conference carefully considered the gifts and graces required of a pastor overseeing numerous programs and a large staff. These conversations are part of a deliberative process to ensure a smooth transition and the continued health and vitality of the church. Unfortunately, our bishop refused to engage in any meaningful and deliberative consultation with us. We became very concerned that the best interests of Mt. Bethel, its mission and ministries, were being ignored. – Casey Alercon, “Unbelievable Heartbreak: Confronting the Mess My Bishop Created at Mt Bethel Church“
If you’re a conservative, it’s hard to read about this controversy (which has been brewing for going on five months now) without getting angry. It appears to be a deliberate abuse of power. But when I read this a couple of days ago, I intentionally stopped and prayed for that bishop. Just as John Schmidt suggested that among the things we pray for Afghanistan, we pray for the Taliban.
You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. (Matthew 5.43, 44, ESV)
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. (Romans 12.14, ESV)
Yesterday we observed the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Another aspect of 9/11, pointed out at the time by Chuck Colson, is that believers are supposed to respond to such things differently. Here’s part of what he said:
Sher Singh was born in India and has lived in the United States for two years. On Wednesday, when his train from Boston to Washington, D.C., stopped in Providence, RI, he was arrested, suspected of involvement in the terrorism that rocked the country on Tuesday. Alerted by television reports, a crowd gathered outside the train station as police led Mr. Singh from the station. The crowd whooped and jeered. “Kill him!” yelled one man. “You killed my brother!” shrieked another. Mr. Singh, who had absolutely no connection with terrorism, is a Sikh and wears a turban, a long beard, and a ceremonial dagger strapped to his shoulder.
Sadly, this is not an isolated incident. In Chicago, a crowd marched on a local mosque shouting, “USA! USA!” Someone threw a firebomb at an Arab American community center in Texas. Arab Americans have been assaulted and harassed across the country.
A 19-year-old from Chicago commented, “I’m proud to be an American and I hate Arabs and I always have.” Evil in this world begets more evil. It’s self-perpetuating and we’re already seeing that in the rage against Mr. Singh and people like him.
By sharp contrast, Paul wrote to the Romans, “Overcome evil with good.” One of the reasons I believe the Christian Gospel couldn’t be a made-up religion, as some people think, is that it tells us to do those things which are contrary to our human nature when evil is done to us. -Chuck Colson, September 14, 2001 – the essay goes on. I recommend you read all of it.
It was tough for me to be reminded that this is the way some of our fellow Americans were behaving after 9/11 because I’m reading Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II by Daniel James Brown. The same thing happened after Pearl Harbor: people were attacking U.S. citizens of Japanese descent. And then, persecution of Japanese people in this country became official policy.
Such behavior was shameful then, and it’s shameful now, especially for followers of Jesus who said:
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? (Matthew 5.43 – 46, ESV)
We all remember where we were 20 years ago this morning:
I had just arrived back to my church office after an exciting kick-off to a men’s morning Bible study – over 200 men were there, hearing a short lecture, then processing it around tables. We were excited. Then, I received an email from one of the news services: “A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.” And, as we all remember, events and our reactions unfolded from there.
At the one-year anniversary, I was still on church staff, and one of the local television stations asked one of us to comment on the state of church attendance one year later. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but it had something to do with the fact that for a few weeks, church attendance was up…for answers, for comfort, for encouragement…but one year later? Not so much.
How about 20 years later? We’ve just left Afghanistan in essentially the same state it was on 9/11 – harboring organizations that will continue to promote terrorism and jihad. In fact, if we look around we see, essentially, business as usual:
Deception
Wars
Earthquakes
Famines
Plagues and epidemics
Cataclysmic storms
Religious persecution
And this list is precisely what Jesus told us to expect – not during the “end times,” but before the end times – that is, any time:
Jesus responded, “Deception will run rampant with many who will appear on the scene, saying I have sent them, or saying about themselves, ‘I am the Messiah!’ And the doomsday deceivers will say, ‘The end of the age is now here!’ But listen to me. Don’t be fooled by these imposters. “There will also be many wars and revolutions on every side, with rumors of more wars to come. Don’t panic or give in to your fears, for these things are bound to happen. This is still not the end yet.” Jesus continued, “There will be upheavals of every kind. Nations will go to war against each other and kingdom against kingdom—and there will be terrible earthquakes, seismic events of epic proportion, resulting in famines in one place after another. There will be horrible plagues and epidemics, cataclysmic storms on the earth, and astonishing signs and cosmic disturbances in the heavens. But before all of this happens, you will be hunted down and arrested, persecuted by both civil and religious authorities, and thrown into prison. (Luke 21.8 – 11, TPT)
Check, check, and check – Jesus is right as usual. But it’s not “the end.” It’s life on this earth before his return. An event like 9/11 wakes us up to what others experience daily as a matter of course. Whether it’s COVID or another 9/11-type event, C.S. Lewis’ advice that I posted last week still holds:
If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb [or COVID or a terrorist attack or an earthquake or a hurricane], let that bomb, when it comes, find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds. – C.S. Lewis, “Living in an Atomic Age”
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. 5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. (Psalm 91.1 – 6, ESV)
6 Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembered forever. 7 They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. 8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes. (Psalm 112.6 – 8, NIV)
