Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, wrote an article Monday titled, “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans.” In summary, he reports that he was inadvertently included in a group chat with high-ranking Trump administration officials via the messaging app Signal. Their discussion regarded military strikes in Yemen that took place on March 15, among other geopolitical issues.
In an interview last night, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz assumed “full responsibility” for the leaked group chat. “It’s embarrassing. We’re going to get to the bottom of it,” he said.
“Politics is downstream from culture”
Response to Mr. Goldberg’s report was immediate and continues this morning.
Democrats castigated the administration as “complete amateurs” who “texted out war plans like invites to a frat party.” Several called for Mr. Waltz and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign.
Many Republicans, by contrast, were less concerned. One called it a “mistake” that “is not going to lead to the apocalypse.” Another said, “This is what the leftist media is reduced to . . . now we’re griping about who’s on a text message and who’s not.” In an interview yesterday, President Trump said he still had confidence in Mr. Waltz, stating that his inclusion of Mr. Goldberg had “no impact” on the military strikes in Yemen.
We should not be surprised by these partisan responses. In a pragmatic society, truth is what works for us. Capitalistic consumerism defines truth as what we want it to be. In the case of partisan politics (is there any other kind today?) our party is our “tribe” and the other party is evil. We don’t shoot at our friends, only our enemies.
Since “politics is downstream from culture,” we should expect a similar approach to truth in our relativistic society. With no true north on our moral compass, secular people go where their fallen nature takes them. (For examples drawn from the immorality of popular culture, see my latest website article, “Why ‘Anora’ and ‘The White Lotus’ are making headlines.”)
There is a better way. You and I can actually partner with the God of the universe in finding the healing we need for our hurting souls and broken society.
To do so, we need to answer one of the most overlooked questions in Scripture.
“Do you want to be healed?”
John 5 tells us about a man lying beside the pool of Bethesda who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years before Jesus healed him. When speaking to tour groups at this site over the years, I focused on a subtle question embedded in the story: “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’” (v. 6).
We might wonder why Jesus asked such a question. Of course a paralyzed man would want to be healed, we think.
But, as the verse states, this man had “already been there a long time.” Invalids often congregated around public places like this pool to seek alms from religious people passing by (cf. Acts 3:2). Historians believe that the pool of Bethesda served as a mikveh, a place of ritual cleansing for worshipers on their way into the temple. Since almsgiving (tzedakah in Hebrew) was a core duty in Judaism, this man likely lived off such generosity.
If Jesus healed him, he would then have to get a job to support himself. But he was at least thirty-eight years old, which was longer than many people lived in his day. Due to his infirmity, he likely had not learned a trade. At his age, what employment could he find? How would he survive?
As a result, Jesus would not force the man to accept the gift of healing against his will. The man made clear his desire to be made well (v. 7), but our Lord still required his permission and engagement in his healing: “Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk’” (v. 8).
Two stages were involved: the man was to “get up” for the first time in four decades, then he was to pick up his bed and walk. Verse 9 tells us, “At once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.” It seems that he was healed “at once” when he tried by faith to “get up,” then he subsequently “took up his bed and walked.”
“Let down your nets for a catch”
From this discussion, it is clear that Jesus honors the free will he gives us, inviting us to partner with him in his redemptive work. When we do what we can do, he does what only he can do.
As we work, God works.
We find this divine-human partnership all through Scripture:
- The Lord commanded Noah and his family to go into the ark Noah built, and when they did, “the Lᴏʀᴅ shut him in” (Genesis 7:1, 16).
- God called the Jewish priests to step into the flooded Jordan river, and when they did, the waters “were completely cut off” (Joshua 3:13, 16).
- He instructed the Jewish people to march seven times around Jericho, and when they did, the city’s fortified walls came down (Joshua 6:15–16, 20).
- Jesus told a man with a “withered hand” to “stretch out your hand,” and when he did, he was healed (Mark 3:5).
- He told Peter and his fellow fishermen to “let down your nets for a catch,” and when they did, “they enclosed a large number of fish” (Luke 5:4, 6).
Do you see the pattern?
Do you want to be healed?
“Covered in the dust of your rabbi”
When we choose to live by biblical truth, rejecting the consumerism and immorality of our broken society and staking our lives on God’s word and will, we position ourselves to experience what he can give only to those who trust him for his best. Like a patient who trusts her surgeon or a client his lawyer, we place ourselves unconditionally in his hands and at his disposal.
Then, as we do what we can do in prayer, Bible study, worship, and biblical obedience, God does what only he can do.
The key is to follow the living Lord Jesus so closely that, as the Jews said, we are “covered in the dust of your rabbi.” As John Mark Comer explains, this meant to sit at his feet or to walk closely by him on the path. Either way, the dust produced by his feet covers us.
I’ll ask again: Do you want to be healed?
The author Chris Cruz summarizes our theme:
“If we’re not intentionally choosing to be discipled by Jesus, we’re being unintentionally discipled by the world.”
Which will be true for you today?
Quote for the day:
“Let your house be a meeting place for the rabbis, and cover yourself in the dust of their feet, and drink in their words thirstily.” —attributed to Yose ben Yoezer, second century BC, quoted by John Mark Comer in Practicing the Way
Our latest website resources:
Denison Forum
DAILY DEVOTIONS, NEWS AND INFORMATION 