Denison Forum – A painting by Winston Churchill sold for $12 million: Finding our true worth in Whose we are

Christie’s employees adjust an oil on canvas painting by Sir Winston Churchill painted in Jan. 1943 called ‘Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque’ during an Art pre-sale photo call at Christie’s auction house in London, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

I have a bust of Winston Churchill on my desk. I purchased it in the gift shop at Blenheim Palace, his birthplace. Several times over the years, I have visited the War Rooms in London where he led England through World War II and the memorial to him at Westminster Abbey.

I have studied many of his speeches in detail, including the famous Iron Curtain speech he delivered seventy-five years ago today. I have given lectures on his life at St. Martin’s Church in Bladon, the place where he and his wife Clementine are buried. I have read four biographies of Churchill and seen three movie biographies of him.

I say all of that to say that I’m a bit of a Churchill fan. And I really wish I had a spare $12 million.

If I did, I would have purchased Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque. This painting depicts a sunset over Marrakech’s largest mosque, which Churchill took President Franklin Roosevelt to see after they participated in the 1943 Casablanca Conference. Roosevelt was so enamored with the sunset that Churchill painted the scene as a gift for him. While Churchill completed more than 550 paintings, this was the only work of art he completed during World War II.

Actress Angelina Jolie and her ex-husband Brad Pitt purchased the painting in 2011; she sold it this week at a Christie’s London auction for nearly $12 million. I wish I had been the buyer.

What Tom Brady did the morning after winning the Super Bowl 

Here’s the part of the story that it pains me to admit: I don’t think Tower of the Koutoubia Mosque is a great work of art. In fact, if its painter had been anonymous, I wouldn’t pay $1,200 for it, much less $12 million. I would guess that the buyer explains to anyone viewing it that it was painted by Winston Churchill; otherwise, they might be as unimpressed as I am.

I say all of that to say this: Our true value lies not in what we do but in who we are. And who we are is best determined by Whose we are.

NBC Sports is reporting that Tom Brady began focusing on next season the morning after he won this year’s Super Bowl. I have no idea how other quarterbacks in the NFL are preparing for next year, but none of them have won seven Super Bowls. Who Brady is makes what he does headline news.

Conversely, our secular culture is built on the belief that what we do constitutes who we are. Winston Churchill’s iconic status as the Greatest Briton in history is largely the result of his leadership credited with saving Great Britain during World War II. Brady’s rank as the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) is the result of his astonishing achievements on the field.

Here’s the problem: if what we do determines who we are, our identity is always the product of our performance, and our performance is never enough. Brady is driven to win another Super Bowl; your work today will not be sufficient tomorrow. This is my last Daily Article for this week, but I will need to write another one Monday.

How to “lay aside every weight” 

God sees us differently. In his view, our status is not found in who we are or in what we do but in Whose we are.

We are each made in his image (Genesis 1:27), which means each of us is as valuable as any of us. We are each loved unconditionally by the God who is love (1 John 4:8), which means that “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us” (St. Augustine). He loves you as much as he loves Paul the Apostle or Mother Teresa. In fact, the Father loves you as much as he loves his Son (John 17:23, 26).

How are we to respond? By returning the favor.

Jesus’ first commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). In a culture that separates Sunday from Monday and religion from the “real world,” God wants to be our “first love” every moment of every day (Revelation 2:4).

This is not for his sake, as if he were an egotist who needs our affirmation or a codependent partner who depends on our love. It is for our sake. He knows that loving him with every dimension of our lives is the best way for us to live our lives.

Our Father knows that when we love him more than anyone else, we will be empowered to love others with his love. When we love him more than ourselves, we will “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (Hebrews 12:1) and experience his best for us (Romans 12:2). When we love him more than the world (1 John 2:15), we will show his love to the world (John 13:34).

The question we should ask every day 

As I have written, I believe evangelical Christians are entering an unprecedented period in American history. Biblical morality is increasingly seen as homophobic, bigoted, discriminatory, and otherwise dangerous to society. As a result, the religious freedom that protects such morality is coming under greater attack than ever before.

We will be sorely tempted to respond either by compromising with immorality, rejecting as the enemy those who need the gospel, or withdrawing from the culture.

The key to “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) will be to experience the love that empowers us to speak the truth. It will be to find our identity in our Father’s love, not our culture’s affirmation or rejection. It will be to love the God who loves us and find in him the security to love others whether they love us or not.

To this end, here’s the question we should ask ourselves every single morning: If I were to be more in love with my Lord today than yesterday, what would need to change?

What is your answer today?

Denison Forum

This story brings “getting a dose of your own medicine” to a new level: months after donating $1 million to help develop the Moderna vaccine, Dolly Parton received her shot of the vaccine this week. She also recorded a version of her classic song “Jolene” before receiving her shot, singing, “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate.”

In other vaccine news, the newly approved Johnson & Johnson (J&J) single-dose vaccine is “absolutely” a game changer, according to a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital. “We should all be encouraged that we now have three excellent vaccines available to administer to Americans all across this country,” he said. “I expect we’ll be moving a lot faster with J&J on board.”

However, the archdiocese of New Orleans is urging Catholics to avoid the J&J vaccine, calling it “morally compromised.” Their statement claims that it “uses the abortion-derived cell line in development and production of the vaccine as well as the testing.”

Arguments for and against the J&J vaccine

When the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were developed several months ago, I reported that they used cells from the HEK293T fetal cell line in the testing process, though neither included such cells in the vaccines themselves. This tissue was acquired in the Netherlands in the 1970s, but records pertaining to its origins were lost. As a result, it is not known whether the tissue came from an elective abortion or a spontaneous miscarriage.

By contrast, the archdiocese is now claiming that the J&J vaccine makes “extensive use of abortion-derived cell lines” and urges Catholics to opt for the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines if given the choice. Several Christian leaders wrote to the US Food and Drug Administration in April 2020 warning that Janssen Pharmaceuticals (which produced the J&J vaccine) was developing a vaccine “using old cell lines that were created from the cells of aborted babies.”

J&J responded, asserting that “there is no fetal tissue in our Janssen COVID-19 vaccine.” Other ethicists state that the cells in question are clones and are not the original fetal tissue. They also note that, at this point, most people in the US and elsewhere do not have a choice as to which vaccine they receive. One ethicist warns, “This kind of moral scare-mongering can cost lives, especially among people who might not have access to the vaccine otherwise.”

Numerous moral theologians add that Catholics should feel confident taking the J&J vaccine since it could help protect vulnerable members of society. The president of Notre Dame University, for example, stated, “The Notre Dame community remains committed to doing our part to help fight the pandemic on campus and beyond. The one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be provided to those who meet the state’s age and other eligibility guidelines at the time.”

Since the J&J vaccine is vital to vaccinating all adults in the US, this issue is significant to our nation’s health and future.

What do we do when experts disagree? 

My purpose today is not to offer medical advice or to claim scientific knowledge I do not possess. Rather, it is to ask the question: What do we do when experts disagree?

The New Orleans archdiocese asserts that we should not take the J&J vaccine if given a choice, claiming that it is tied too closely to abortion. But what if we do not have a choice? Are we risking the lives of Americans to protest the taking of lives through abortion? If so, which lives should take precedence: those who have died or those who are still alive?

In addition, scholars seem divided on the degree to which the J&J vaccine is related in any way to abortion. If we assume that the vaccine is tied directly to abortion, we might ask whether, by saving lives, the vaccine is redeeming lives lost to abortion. When a patient receives a heart transplanted from a murder victim, this does not make the patient complicit in the donor’s death.

If you are offered the J&J vaccine, my advice is for you to consult your physician and to seek wisdom from God’s word, God’s Spirit, and God’s people. This is an approach that applies to far more than the vaccine.

Imitating my favorite church 

Over the years, people have occasionally asked me to name my favorite church in the New Testament. My answer is always the same: the Bereans. I have led several study tours to this ancient Greek city; each time, we read that when Paul came to them, “They received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

As a result, “Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men” (v. 12).

In a culture that is growing more and more secularized and opposed to Christian morality, it is vital that we imitate the Bereans. News media are distrusted as partisan; the cancel culture of our day is being described as a dangerous “cultural revolution”; the recent public failures of several Christian leaders are causing many to wonder who, if anyone, they can trust.

Here’s the answer: Jesus told his followers, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). “Abide” in (live in, remain in) the word of God, viewing everything you experience through the lens of Scripture. Then you will know the truth, and that truth will set you free.

Jesus’ promise is not that we will never suffer for such biblical obedience—it is that we will experience the freedom and joy of the Lord even when we suffer for him. And our faithfulness, like that of the Bereans, will plant trees we’ll never sit under and make a difference in this world for the world to come.

Three heroes of the faith 

One of the daily readings to which I subscribe is titled “Saint of the Day.” Yesterday’s entry focused on three martyrs named Eutropius, Cleonicus, and Basiliscus.

In AD 308, their pagan governor tried to turn them from Jesus. He invited Eutropius to dine with him, but the Christian refused, quoting the biblical statement, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1). The ruler offered the three a large amount of silver, but they refused, telling the governor that Judas lost his soul for silver.

The governor then subjected them to torture, but they refused to abandon their Lord. Finally, he crucified Eutropius and Cleonicus, for which they gave thanks that they had been found worthy to die in the same way as Jesus did. Basiliscus was held in prison in hopes that the deaths of his companions would weaken his resolve. When he remained steadfast, he was beheaded.

When we know and live by biblical truth, “the truth will set us free”—in this life or the next.

How free will you be today?

Denison Forum

Bethany Christian Services is the largest Christian adoption agency in the United States. This week, the organization announced that it would begin providing its services to LGBTQ parents nationwide. Their decision is in response to requirements from various states that agencies serve such couples to maintain their governmental contracts.

In 2007, the organization specified that “God’s design for the family is a covenant and lifelong marriage of one man and one woman.” However, two years ago, the Michigan chapter changed its policy to begin placing foster children with same-sex couples.

At the time, the CEO wrote: “At Bethany, we believe the Bible is the living Word of God, and we still believe in God’s plan for marriage and family as it is outlined in the Scriptures. At the same time, it is clear to us that Bethany cannot cede the foster care space completely to the secular world and leave children without the opportunity to experience Jesus through our loving care.” (As we will note below, numerous Christian ministries do not believe this to be a binary choice and are continuing to be faithful to their biblical mission in the face of governmental pressure.)

The organization added: “The mission and beliefs of Bethany Christian Services have not changed. We are focused on demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ by serving children in need, and we intend to continue doing so in Michigan.”

On Monday, Bethany announced that it would make this change nationwide. Bethany’s vice president stated, “Faith in Jesus is at the core of our mission. But we are not claiming a position on the various doctrinal issues about which Christians of mutual good faith may disagree. We acknowledge that discussions about doctrine are important, but our sole job is to determine if a family can provide a safe, stable environment for children.”

Beware of “redefining civilization” 

This tragic announcement proves at least three points.

One: Government intrusion on religious liberty is escalating. 

Jim Daly, head of Focus on the Family, is right: “Bethany Christian Services should not have to choose between holding to their deeply held religious convictions and serving children and families. No government should tell any ministry how to run their ministry, let alone violate deeply held biblical principles.”

Two: Our culture and civilization are at stake. 

Al Mohler responded to the announcement: “The moral revolutionaries are now demanding that every single individual in this society, every single institution, every single school, every single religious denomination, every single adoption and foster care agency must pivot.” He added that “Christians have to understand: If you’re redefining marriage, if you’re redefining parent and family, you are redefining civilization.”

Three: We need to support ministries who stay faithful to their mission. 

Ethicist Russell Moore responded: “The need is great for distinctively Christian adoption and foster care services” who believe that “children need both mothers and fathers.” He added that “many evangelical orphan care ministries are working, and will continue to work, for vulnerable children in need of families, while still holding to the faith.” I am grateful for Buckner International and other Christian agencies who refuse to mortgage their mission in the face of social and governmental pressure.

“The most potent way Christianity is marginalized” 

This story also highlights a critical principle for all Christians seeking to navigate our anti-Christian culture.

Bethany claims to “believe in God’s plan for marriage and family as it is outlined in the Scriptures,” but it will now adopt children to families who reject that plan. The organization claims that their “mission and beliefs . . . have not changed,” but they have adopted policies that clearly violate them. How are we to understand these contradictions?

One of the most tempting ways for Christians to deal with the opposition we face today is to separate our private beliefs from our public actions.

In Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity, apologist Nancy Pearcey states: “The most potent way Christianity is marginalized in modern society is through the division of life into two separate spheres: a sacred realm of prayer, worship, and personal morality against a secular realm of politics, business, academia, and so on.” According to this division, our personal values regarding same-sex marriage or any other biblical moral issue should be kept separate from our public actions in secular society.

This juxtaposition allows us to tell churches, donors, and other supporters that our biblical values remain intact while bowing to cultural pressure to conform to unbiblical requirements. Bethany is not the first ministry to strike such a Faustian bargain; I fear that they will not be the last.

“May we be so bold as to set our eyes on heaven” 

Let’s close by making today’s article personal: Are you being tempted to separate your personal beliefs from your public life?

For example, are your thoughts about others different from your actions toward them? Jesus correlated anger with murder (Matthew 5:22) and defined lust as adultery (v. 28). Paul exhorted us: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8).

Are you willing to pay any price to share your faith with others? Craig Denison asks, “Are the opinions of others really so important to me that I would withhold from them eternal, abundant life with a God who loves them relentlessly and perfectly?”

He adds: “May we be those who set aside our pride, seek humility, and love others whatever the cost. May we be so bold as to set our eyes on heaven and sacrifice this life for the sake of eternity.”

Will you be so bold today?

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