Four lessons from the Joel Osteen controversy
Two explosions rocked a chemical plant east of Houston early this morning. Residents in the area are being evacuated. Up to 30 percent of Harris County (the area that includes Houston) is flooded—an area equivalent to the combined square miles of New York City and Chicago.
Meanwhile, a church in Houston has been in a storm of its own. Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church posted on Facebook Sunday night that it was “inaccessible due to severe flooding.” When photos were posted that seemed to contradict this claim, the church received severe criticism. Some of the tweets were so blasphemous and obscene that I would not consider quoting them here.
Osteen spoke to CBS This Morning yesterday to clarify. He stated that Houston officials initially asked his church to be a distribution center since the city had already opened a shelter nearby. Several areas of the church were flooded at that time. When the city later asked the church to serve as a shelter, it complied immediately, using parts of the campus that were accessible.
My point is not to criticize or defend Joel Osteen. It is to note how willing the media have been to publicize appalling condemnations of his church before giving him an opportunity to respond. But a story about an “uncaring” megachurch fits the secular narrative of our “religion is irrelevant or dangerous” culture.
God’s people are not immune from the crises inherent in living on a broken planet. Hurricane Harvey flooded churches as it flooded houses, schools, and businesses. How should we respond to disaster? And how should we respond when we suffer for our faith?
Romans 8:35–39 is my favorite paragraph in Scripture. It offers four principles worth remembering whenever peril or persecution find us.
One: Expect suffering.
Paul asks, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?” (Romans 8:35). His question assumes the reality of such adversity. Hurricane Harvey has left Houston, but more storms are coming.
Two: Expect to suffer for your faith.
The apostle continues: “As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered'” (v. 36, citing Psalm 44:22). Studies showthat Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. Those who believe God’s word are increasingly in conflict with our secular culture.
Three: Claim your victory in Christ.
Paul continues: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (v. 37). Note that we are conquerors “in” these difficulties. Our circumstances do not change our identity as God’s children.
Four: Celebrate God’s unconditional love.
The apostle concludes: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 38–39). “Nor anything else” includes Hurricane Harvey and every storm you’ll face today.
To paraphrase Philip Yancey, how would your life change if you looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?
God, help me to know me
“Research shows that people who have a high level of self-awareness—who see themselves, how they fit into the world and how others see them clearly—make smarter decisions, raise more mature children and are more successful in school and work. They’re less likely to lie, cheat and steal. And they have healthier relationships.” So begins Elizabeth Bernstein’s article in the Wall Street Journal on the importance of having an accurate view of ourselves.
Granted, I imagine that most of us think we have a fairly accurate understanding of our strong points and our faults, but it turns out that we often overestimate or underestimate our own capabilities. One primary reason for that shortcoming is that self-awareness requires not only a realistic view of how we see ourselves but also an accurate understanding of how others see us. And while the perceptions of others are not always correct, they can still help us see faults or abilities we might have otherwise missed. The tricky part is figuring out whose opinions we can trust.
As Dr. Tasha Eurich, an organizational psychologist from Denver who has studied the subject extensively, notes, oftentimes the people closest to us—friends, family members, etc.—are the ones least able to give us accurate feedback in this area. They are frequently so close that either they can’t be objective or are too invested in the relationship to risk being completely honest. The ideal person is often someone you know well enough to trust but who isn’t in your inner circle of friends and family. And if you’re worried that they won’t know you well enough to make an accurate judgment, studies show that a stranger who watches a person on video for five minutes can evaluate that person with the same accuracy as a close friend or family member.
None of these efforts will make a difference, however, if our first reaction is to either get defensive with criticism or self-deprecating with praise. To make matters more difficult, those who struggle the most with self-awareness are the ones most likely to fall into one of those two traps. But we’ll never grow into the people God created us to be if we remain ignorant of where that growth needs to take place. Such maturation is a fundamental part of being good stewards of the life the Lord has granted us.
Scripture is replete with examples of how this truth plays out and the fact that God is the most capable source for speaking truth into our lives, if we’re willing to listen. Gideon, for example, thought of himself as nothing more than the weakest member of the weakest clan before the Lord appeared to him and told him that he would accomplish far more (Judges 6). Because Gideon began to see himself through God’s eyes, he was able to defeat the Midianites and free his people (Judges 7).
By contrast, David considered himself relatively untouchable after having defeated his enemies and solidified his rule; so much so that he thought he could take the wife of another man without consequences (2 Samuel 11). When that poor decision escalated further and made him an accessory to murder, he still acted as though he were safe. It wasn’t until the Lord convicted him through the prophet Nathan that he saw the error of his ways and repented (2 Samuel 12). Even the person Scripture describes as a man after God’s own heart, at least in his earlier years, was not above the need for a bit of help in becoming more self-aware.
If David and Gideon, two of Israel’s greatest heroes, needed God’s help in becoming more self-aware, chances are that you and I do as well. Fortunately, we serve a God who knows us better than we will ever know ourselves (Psalm 139:1–5) and longs to help us become the people he has created us to be (Philippians 1:6). The only question left to us is whether we will accept his help.
Will you?
Why God allowed Hurricane Harvey: 4 wrong answers
Louisiana began evacuations for Hurricane Harvey yesterday, on the twelfth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. The hurricane has dumped a record fifty-one inches of rain as of this morning, the equivalent of four typical hurricanes.
Why has God allowed such devastation? Here are the logical options as I see them.
One: We didn’t pray enough.
Scripture teaches that “you do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2). Did this storm strike because we did not pray enough for God to stop it?
If so, what about those who prayed fervently but still lost their homes to this storm? Is a lack of intercession to blame for every natural disaster and disease? Can intercession prevent all natural calamity?
Two: We’re being punished for sin.
God brought the plagues against Egypt in response to Pharaoh’s “hardened heart.” The book of Revelation is replete with natural disasters sent by God to punish those who reject him. Is Hurricane Harvey an instrument of his wrath against our sinfulness?
If so, does this mean that people living on the Gulf Coast are worse sinners than those living in Los Angeles or New York City? I’ve lived in Houston and Dallas and cannot say that the former is more sinful than the latter. Clearly, God can use disasters to bring us to repentance, but is this always the explanation for such calamity?
Three: Fairness demands that he not intervene.
If God stopped Hurricane Harvey, wouldn’t he have to do the same with the next storm, and the next? However, this logic would mean that he cannot cure anyone of cancer unless he cures everyone of cancer. He cannot protect one person unless he protects us all. Since I’ve witnessed his miraculous healing and protection, I know that such logic is flawed.
Four: He doesn’t know, or doesn’t care, or can’t help.
Skeptics might claim that if God saw the devastation of this hurricane, or cared for those in its path, or had the power to prevent their suffering, surely he would have intervened. Since he hasn’t, he can’t. But his word teaches that he is “the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). And his omniscience, compassion, and omnipotence are on display regularly in our broken world.
Here’s the bottom line: it’s a mystery.
I don’t know why God sometimes intervenes in natural disasters and sometimes doesn’t. I don’t know why he sometimes heals and sometimes doesn’t. He tells us that “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).
But I know that our Father redeems all he allows (Romans 8:28). I know that he suffers with us and loves us unconditionally (Romans 8:35–39). And I know that one day this broken world will be gone and we will live in “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1).
Until that day, I choose to trust what I don’t understand to the God who does. Will you join me?
NOTE: Ryan Denison has written a fascinating article on the priority of serving those in need. I invite you to read it here.
Why networking is overrated
There’s an old cliché that, in life, it’s not what you know but who you know that will determine your success. Networking is often considered to be one of the most important factors in most professions, and people often go out of their way to prioritize developing relationships with potentially helpful people over cultivating other parts of their professional and personal lives. As Adam Grant writes for the New York Times, however, that’s not usually how the world actually works.
Grant points out that, while “networking can help you accomplish great things . . . . Accomplishing great things helps you develop a network.” He goes on to argue that a far more sustainable and successful strategy is to focus first on making sure that we have something of value to add to a company, relationship, or other venture before we attempt to sell others on why they should partner with us. As he concludes, “Building a powerful network doesn’t require you to be an expert at networking. It just requires you to be an expert at something.”
As an introvert who started to sweat a bit just thinking about the prospect of going around a room handing out business cards, this is good news. As a Christian, though, I’m more convicted than encouraged.
You see, it’s often far easier to do the spiritual equivalent of networking rather than consistently focus on what we can do to add real value to the world around us. On most days, I would much rather share theological insights with people or offer advice on how they can live better before going on with my day than actually prioritize what I can do to improve their lives.
That’s not to say that such advice is without its value, as one of our primary tasks as Christians is to make disciples by teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded (Matthew 28:20). The example of Jesus, however, is that such teaching is often far more powerful when it’s accompanied first by acts of love and selflessness. The Lord’s instructions regarding helping people to grow in their relationship with him presumes that they have already become disciples, but that’s far more likely to happen if they’ve first experienced his love through their interactions with us.
Hurricane Harvey and the massive destruction it has wrought in South Texas offers an excellent opportunity to earn the right to share Christ’s message with those who so desperately need to hear it. Each of us, however, has the same opportunity to do that with our neighbors, coworkers, or even just the stranger standing next to us in line at the grocery store on any given day.
Jesus built his church through a network of relationships with people from all walks of life. Those networks started, though, because the people involved looked at how he lived and decided that they could trust what he said.
Will people say the same of you today?
‘We hear you, we feel you. Believe me’
Art Acevedo is police chief in Houston, Texas. His message to people in his beleaguered city: “Just hunker down, hold tight—we hear you, we feel you. Believe me.” His police officers have rescued more than three thousand people as of this morning.
911 operators fielded fifty-six thousand calls within twenty-four hours when the crisis began. Numerous companies have pledged millions of dollars to relief efforts. Red Cross personnel are preparing for weeks of assistance to those affected by Hurricane Harvey. President Trump and the first lady will visit the Texas Gulf Coast later today.
While police officers, 911 operators, and disaster relief workers have been saving lives in Houston for days, some may wonder where God has been as this disaster unfolded. What would our Lord say to those devastated by this unprecedented crisis?
• He knows your name. He called Zacchaeus and Saul of Tarsus by name, even though they were two of the most infamous sinners in the Bible.
• He knew you before you were born: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16).
• He knows your actions and thoughts: “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:2).
• He knows every detail of your life: “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30).
• He knows your pain: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people . . . and have heard their cry” (Exodus 3:7).
• He suffers as you suffer: “In all their affliction he was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9).
• He will never forget you: “I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15–16).
• He walks with you through calamity: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
• He knew you before you were born: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:16).
• He knows your actions and thoughts: “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:2).
• He knows every detail of your life: “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30).
• He knows your pain: “I have surely seen the affliction of my people . . . and have heard their cry” (Exodus 3:7).
• He suffers as you suffer: “In all their affliction he was afflicted” (Isaiah 63:9).
• He will never forget you: “I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15–16).
• He walks with you through calamity: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4).
The psalmist declared, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). As a result, he testified, “we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling” (vv. 2–3).
Every rescuer is an extension of God’s compassion and care in these catastrophic days. If the Lord could describe a pagan king like Cyrus as “my anointed” (Isaiah 45:1) and call Nebuchadnezzar “my servant” (Jeremiah 43:10), he can use every person who will be used. Every act of assistance, every resource and provision is his gift of grace and mercy.
I believe that the One who wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) weeps over Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast today. Now our Father calls us to share his heart for his children. If those devastated by this crisis were your brothers and sisters, how would you feel about them?
They are.
‘A storm that the United States has not seen yet’
“This disaster is going to be a landmark event.” That’s how the head of FEMA describesthe devastation of Hurricane Harvey. “This is a storm that the United States has not seen yet,” he adds.
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Except for four years when Janet and I pastored a church in Atlanta, Georgia, I have lived my entire life in Texas. Never have I seen such destruction in my home state as we are witnessing in these days.
This morning, a local official called the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey “an 800-year event.” The National Weather Service describes the damage as “unprecedented” and “beyond anything experienced.” According to the Insurance Information Institute, flood damage may equal that of Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in United States history.
Our nation’s fourth-largest city is predicted to get as much as fifty inches of rain, the highest amount ever recorded in Texas. Thirteen million people are under flood watches stretching from Corpus Christi to New Orleans. A FEMA spokesman warns that “the recovery effort is going to be going on for weeks, months, and probably even years.”
It is only natural to ask what difference faith makes in the face of such devastation. Didn’t the God we worship make this broken world? The Bible explains that human sin corrupted our planet so that “the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:22). But did God then abandon us to the consequences of our Fall?
In fact, the opposite is true.
Our Father promises us, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2). His word assures us, “There is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39, GNT).
If you’re a parent, do you love your children less when they face catastrophe? Or do you find tangible ways to make your love real to them in their pain?
Rescuers have saved thousands of people across the Texas Gulf Coast. Donations from across the country are supporting relief agencies. One ministry Janet and I have already supported in this crisis is Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief, which is in the midst of the largest Texas response in its fifty-year history.
No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Your church can partner with churches and ministries on the front lines of this unfolding disaster. You can give time, money, and resources to help those who have lost everything. And you can pray fervently, asking God to redeem this tragedy by using the “body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27) to share the love of Christ with millions in need.
A man from a small town on the Texas coast was interviewed yesterday as he unloaded his boat. A reporter asked him what he was going to do. “I’m gonna try to save some lives,” the man responded.
Let’s join him.
Bracing for Hurricane Harvey: four responses
Hurricane Harvey is expected to make landfall on the Texas coast late today or early tomorrow. It could become the biggest hurricane to hit the mainland United States in twelve years. Some areas could get thirty-five inches of rain.
When natural disasters strike, our first impulse is to ask why God allows them. But Scripture is more practical than speculative. Knowing why a storm is coming is less relevant to those in its path than knowing how to respond.
So, let’s ask a practical question this morning: How does God want us to respond to the meteorological and personal hurricanes we face?
One option is to retreat. As a Houston native, I remember well the trauma of hurricane season. Several storms caused my father to mount plywood over our windows and pack our family into the car, joining thousands of other vehicles creeping north on I-45.
There are times when God calls us away from the storm. In Mark 6, Jesus told his disciples, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (v. 31). After feeding the five thousand, “he went up on the mountain to pray” (v. 46). Solitude was a regular discipline for our Lord, as it should be for us.
A second option is to move. Galveston is affected by a hurricane every 2.74 years. In 2008, I witnessed personally the devastation of Hurricane Ike, which tossed cars onto bridges and flooded much of Galveston. Many residents chose to relocate rather than face future hurricanes.
Paul urged Timothy to “flee youthful passions” (2 Timothy 2:22). Some storms are not meant for us. Martin Luther advised, “If your head is made of butter, don’t sit near the fire.”
A third option is to serve. I met Galveston residents who returned to their city after Hurricane Ike so they could minister to others affected by its devastation. The Lord instructed his people in Babylon to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:7). Cancer survivors make some of the best cancer counselors. Your challenges may also be your ministry.
Whether we’re called to retreat, move, or serve, we’re all called to pray: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Have you prayed yet today for those in the path of Hurricane Harvey? Have you asked God how he wants you to be an answer to your prayers?
In 1939, as his nation was fighting for its very survival, England’s King George VI read this poem in his Christmas Day broadcast:
I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year,
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.”
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.”
Someone won $758.7 million last night
The odds of winning last night’s Powerball jackpot were one in 292.2 million. You weremore likely to be killed by an asteroid (one in 700,000), be struck by lightning while drowning (one in 183 million), or give birth to quadruplets (one in 729,000).
Nonetheless, someone in Massachusetts bought the winning ticket. The annuity option totals $758.7 million, doled out in thirty payments over twenty-nine years. The cash option, which nearly all winners choose, would pay out $443.3 million.
If you’re like most of us, you’re imagining what you would do if you won the lottery. Here’s the ironic part: compared to most of the people who have ever lived, you already have.
You are living in the most prosperous time in human history. As Yuval Harari notes, GDP in America grew between 1950 and 2000 from $2 trillion to $12 trillion. Real per capita income has doubled. Has all this prosperity made us happier? Not at all. Studies show that our subjective well-being levels are the same as they were in the 1950s.
In Peru, Haiti, the Philippines, and Ghana—developing countries dealing with poverty and political instability—the suicide rate is half of prosperous countries such as Switzerland, France, Japan, and New Zealand. South Korea has seen an amazing rise in economic prosperity since 1985, but its suicide rate has quadrupled since then.
Depression is such an epidemic today that a San Francisco company has created a “chatbot” (a computer program that simulates conversation with humans) to talk to people needing counseling. Alcohol abuse is much more common among the wealthy than the poor.
My point is that happiness has never depended on wealth and never will. In fact, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Timothy 6:10). That’s why we are warned to “keep your life free from love of money” (Hebrews 13:5).
But using money for the right purposes redeems its potential.
N.T. Wright: “Spiritual experiences, great moments of illumination and transformation, are never given simply so that we may enjoy them for their own sake. We live in an experience-oriented culture, which teaches us to value experiences for themselves. The danger . . . is to think that one’s experiences of the presence and love of God are somehow a possession, given simply to be enjoyed, clung to, celebrated in themselves.” Rather, “the gift is given within a context of vocation, and to strengthen us for that vocation.”
The same is true of money: As an end, it is dangerous. As a means, it can be transformative.
Joseph’s wise financial stewardship saved the lives of his family in Egypt. Solomon’s wealth brought glory to his Lord (1 Kings 10:9). A Levite named Joseph was so generous that he earned the nickname “Barnabas,” meaning “son of encouragement” (Acts 4:36–37).
The question is not what you would do if you won last night’s lottery. It is what you will do with what you already have. Thomas Chalmers: “It is more blessed to give than to receive, and therefore less blessed to receive than to give.”
How blessed will you be today?
Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn photos spark furor
Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn is threatening legal action against those responsible for leaking nude photos of herself and then-boyfriend Tiger Woods. Dozens of such photos of the couple and other celebrities are reportedly being released onto the internet.
Here’s my question: If Lindsey Vonn and Tiger Woods followed biblical morality, would they be in this position? They were never married, yet they obviously behaved as if they were. The seventh commandment would have prevented the humiliation that is now transpiring.
We can ask a second question of the other celebrities whose intimate photos are now being published: Why do these photos exist? I’m not defending those who are distributing them, of course. But if the celebrities obeyed Scripture regarding modesty (1 Timothy 2:9–10), lust (Matthew 5:28), and stewardship of our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19), we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Here’s my third question: When you heard about the photos of Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn, did the immorality of their relationship come first to mind? Or is such sexuality so common today that you’re desensitized to it morally?
In a culture as hedonistic as ours, one of Satan’s most effective tools is the “everyone’s doing it” strategy. Three results please him and grieve our Lord:
One: We participate in ungodly activities because they’re now “normal.” One surveyreports that only 11 percent of Christian singles are waiting to have sex until they’re married.
Two: We stop teaching biblical morality to our children. Scripture calls us to teach God’s precepts “diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:7). But it’s hard to teach what we don’t believe. If we think sex outside of marriage is normal, so will our kids.
Three: We stop advocating for biblical morality in our culture. What Christian voices are standing up for purity today? Many are afraid of being branded “intolerant,” the cardinal sin of our tolerance-based culture. Satan has unfettered access to our media and society because biblical voices are so silent on the moral issues of our day.
What is the answer to sexual immorality? One major step is understanding why God forbids it.
Our Lord is not a Cosmic Killjoy who wants to inflict an unrealistic sexual ethic on us. Rather, he is a loving Father who wants only what is best for his children. And he knows that sex outside of marriage is devastating to our bodies, families, and souls.
Sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise in the United States. Sexual activity outside of marriage damages us hormonally and psychologically. The pain inflicted on childrenand families by adultery is well-documented. And the guilt that persists long after the relationship is over burdens our souls and grieves our Father.
Charles Spurgeon: “I would sooner be holy than happy if the two things could be divorced. Were it possible for a man always to sorrow and yet to be pure, I would choose the sorrow if I might win the purity, for to be free from the power of sin, to be made to love holiness, is true happiness.”
Are you truly happy today?
NOTE: Ryan Denison has written an insightful article on the Confederate statues controversy. To read it, click here.
Confederate statues: Remove or rebrand?
Confederate statues around the country have often been a battleground on which wars over racial issues are waged. The latest round of bouts, stemming from the horrific actions in Charlottesville, VA, and the tragic death of Heather D. Heyer has given new life to the debate over the proper course of action with these monuments. Around the country, cries to remove statues of Confederate soldiers, generals, and even the “Mount Rushmore of the Confederacy” at Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta, GA, are matched in volume only by the voices of those rising in their defense.
The latest example took place in Baltimore, MD, where mayor Catherine Pugh removed her city’s Confederate monuments in the middle of the night. She did so without public notice to avoid granting a platform for protest by either side. Her reasoning was simply that she felt it was “in the best interest of my city.” She would go on to say that, “For me, the statues represented pain, and not only did I want to protect my city from any more of that pain, I also wanted to protect my city from any of the violence that was occurring around the nation.”
Was she right? Does removing these statues and monuments offer the chance to also remove the sting of racism and end the violence it causes on a near daily basis? I doubt Mayor Pugh really believes that, but her actions demonstrate that she does think it’s a necessary step toward that end.
I disagree.
While I cannot understand what it’s like to be an African American looking at statues memorializing those who fought in defense of slavery—though the Civil War was about far more than which states could and could not have slaves—the fact remains that we don’t grow as a people by ignoring our history. We grow by learning from it.
The Civil War began after seven southern states seceded following Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t run on a platform of abolishing slavery throughout the nation. Rather, he promised only to outlaw slavery in all territories that had yet to become states. However, the writing was on the wall in the minds of many southerners, and eleven states would eventually leave the Union to join the Confederacy.
It’s true that a host of other economic, political, and social factors contributed to that split, but slavery was the issue that proved most irreconcilable. As many as 850,000 Americans would lose their lives over the course of the next four years because, as a country, we gave up on trying to resolve the issue of race peacefully. That’s more Americans than have died in every other one of our nation’s wars combined.
While protests outside of statues are a far cry from the violence and bloodshed of war, we must never forget the price that has already been paid on behalf of this issue. As Atlanta mayor Andrew Young described, “I think it’s too costly to refight the Civil War. We have paid too great a price in trying to bring people together.”
Removing the Confederate monuments is not the answer to this problem because it’s only by remembering our history and the price hundreds of thousands have already paid for these same mistakes that we can find the perspective to seek a better way.
Rather than toppling monuments, what would happen if we rebranded them instead?
What if every time someone looked at a Civil War statue, Union or Confederate, they thought not of the war over slavery, but rather the price that was paid by those who failed to find a better way to deal with these issues? What if these monuments could serve as a warning to us and our future generations about the inevitable costs associated with racism and bigotry? And what if every time our children ask about the man memorialized on a pedestal, we took it as an opportunity to help them understand how important it is that they not repeat those same mistakes today?
In 1 Corinthians, Paul concludes his description of the Israelites’ failures with the note that their stories were recorded to serve as a warning to future generations (1 Corinthians 10:1–13). His basic point is that unless we learn from the mistakes of those who came before us, we are all but certain to repeat them.
The statues that reside across our nation to commemorate those who fought in the Civil War could offer us just such an opportunity. They can be daily reminders of the costs inherent to the racism and bigotry that allowed slavery to exist for hundreds of years and continue to demean and diminish the lives of countless people today. Rather than acting as though that history never took place, let’s learn from it and allow their example to serve as a warning to our generation and those to come. Perhaps then, those who have already lost their lives to this struggle will not have died in vain.
Our tragic history in addressing this issue makes clear our need for a better way. But whether we will learn from our past or run from it remains a question each of us must answer for ourselves.
Which will you do today?
President announces new Afghanistan strategy
Last night, President Trump announced a new strategy for winning America’s longest war.
Our troops have been in Afghanistan for almost sixteen years; more than two thousand American soldiers have died there. The president plans to deploy more troops to continue training Afghan forces, with the goal of defeating the Taliban and securing the country.
Meanwhile, the news has been dominated by the first total solar eclipse to be seen coast to coast in America since 1918. Millions of people watched what the Associated Press iscalling “the most-observed and most-photographed eclipse in history.”
I was one of them. I was also one of the millions who watched the president’s speech live.
I could have read about either event after it happened. Viewing them personally changed neither of them. It’s not as though I had nothing else to do.
Why, then, was watching the eclipse and the president’s address as they occurred so important to me?
There is something in us that wants to witness history. We want to be part of the big events, the significant moments that will be discussed far into the future.
I still remember when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and President Nixon resigned and the US hockey team won the Winter Olympics. When I was in Berlin recently, I was surprised to see that the city still marks where the Berlin Wall stood, nearly thirty years after it came down.
We want to be part of history in large part because we know that our lives will one day be history. We are all one day closer to death than we’ve ever been. We want today to count because we are not guaranteed tomorrow.
In Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noah Harari documents the growing number of investors and inventors committed to delaying and even eradicating death. He cites Google, which is investing 36 percent of its $2 billion portfolio in life science start-ups, including several intended to extend life and even eliminate death. And he quotes the award-winning scientist Ray Kurzweil, who predicts that anyone with a healthy body and a healthy bank account will be able to cheat death by 2050.
Imagine that we could keep our bodies from dying due to disease and aging. Even then, our death is just a car wreck or jogging accident away. And after death comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
On that day of days, what will matter is not the history you witnessed but the history you made.
Last Sunday was Francis Asbury’s birthday. The Methodist missionary was born on August 20, 1745. Asbury rode 300,000 miles on horseback and preached over 16,000 sermons across forty-five years. As a result, Methodist churches in America grew from 1,200 members to 214,000 members with 700 ordained ministers.
David Livingstone, the missionary to Africa, said, “I will go anywhere, as long as it is forward.” Can you say the same?
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