There are days when I like my work more than others. Today is not one of those.

Pride Month comes around every June. Accordingly, Sesame Street is once again seeking to influence children with LGBTQ ideology. This year, their characters form a rainbow as they clasp each other’s hands beside the post, “On our street, everyone is welcome. Together let’s build a world where every person and family feels loved and respected for who they are. Happy #PrideMonth!”

As usual, their message is worded so as to make objections feel irrational or even hateful. And LGBTQ advocates are quick to disparage anyone who disagrees with it. There will be parades and rainbow flags across the month; corporate and sports logos will display rainbows as well.

We must breathe out to breathe in

We can try to ignore all of this. Those of us who believe in biblical sexual morality can shrug our shoulders and wait for the month to be over. I would certainly rather do that than respond to this subject again today. I have gay and lesbian friends and do not wish them harm. I believe heterosexual sexual immorality is just as sinful as homosexual sexual immorality.

But not to speak biblical truth to such a pervasive cultural issue feels wrong as well. All people, whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity, deserve to know what God says about the issues we face. We need to counter the secularizing influence of the broken culture with our children and grandchildren as well.

The more people reject God’s word, the more they need God’s word.

If we keep our salt in the saltshaker and our light under a basket, those who need biblical truth won’t hear it. Those who need the compassion of Christ will not feel it.

But there’s more to the story: You and I experience the abundant life of Jesus to the degree that we share that life with others (John 10:10). We must breathe out to breathe in. We cannot love our Father without loving our neighbor.

The reason is simple: In Christ, God was “manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). Now he manifests himself through us, the “body of Christ” for whom Jesus is the “head” (1 Corinthians 12:27; Colossians 1:18). As St. Augustine noted, “The body as a unity cannot be separated from the head.”

Just as Jesus met the needs of his day, so he meets the needs of our day through us (cf. Hebrews 1:2). If we will not share his love with our world, we will not fully experience his love.

As I noted yesterday, partial obedience is Satan’s way of keeping us from experiencing the victorious life available only to those who belong fully to Jesus. Loving and serving others as holistically as he loves and serves us is vital to biblical Christianity.

This fact was reinforced for me recently through a painful conversation I am still reflecting upon today.

“And where were you?”

I met an older man last Sunday morning as we walked into the church sanctuary together. I noticed that he was wearing a jacket with a US Army insignia. Pointing to it, I thanked him for his service and added that my father had fought in the Army in World War II and his father in World War I.

He nodded and asked, “And where were you?”

I was immediately taken back. I said something about the answer being complicated and that I have often wished I had served in our military. But his question stung and provoked emotions in me that I later sought to understand.

My first realization was that by pointing to the military service of my father and grandfather, I was subliminally trying to claim their service as my own and thus a status of equality with this veteran. He was right to respond as he did. No one forced me to bring up his service as we walked into the sanctuary, but once I did, I had no right to suggest any personal equivalence to the years he gave up and the sacrifices he made for our nation.

In his essay “Why I’m Not a Pacifist,” C. S. Lewis describes the consequences of choosing not to serve in the military: “A continuance of the life you know and love, among the people and in the surroundings you know and love. It offers you time to lay the foundations of a career; for whether you will or no, you can hardly help getting the jobs for which the discharged soldiers will one day look in vain.”

I have no idea where this man served or what his service cost him, but no matter the answer, he paid a price for his nation that I have not. To suggest vicarious equivalence on my part demeans his sacrifice.

A war we cannot evade

My second thought turned immediately from military warfare to spiritual warfare. This is a conflict in which every person is engaged, whether we know it or not: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

There is no evading this “draft” or refusing this service. We are all part of this spiritual war, either on the side of the Lord or the side of the enemy.

If I am to wage this war on the right side, I need to remember that every lost person I know deserves to hear the gospel. The hurting people I meet deserve to experience the compassion of Christ in mine. If Christians are the only salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13–16), its preservation from decay and darkness is my responsibility.

There is no vicarious equivalence here. It isn’t good enough to say that my wife teaches Bible studies or that my sons have served the Lord or that my church sends missionaries around the world. One day, I will be held to account by my Lord: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Said differently, my Lord will ask me, “And where were you?”

I want to have a better answer for him than I had for my fellow worshiper last Sunday.

How will you answer your Father’s question one day?

Quote for the day:

“Sympathy is no substitute for action.” —David Livingstone

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A man yelled “Free Palestine” and hurled an incendiary device into a group at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, yesterday. Demonstrators for an organization called Run for Their Lives had gathered to raise visibility for the hostages remaining in Gaza. Eight people were hospitalized with burns in what FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino called an “act of terror.” One victim was in critical condition, according to police.

According to Leo Terrell, head of the antisemitism task force at the Justice Department, “This antisemitic terrorist attack is part of a horrific and escalating wave of violence targeting Jews and their supporters simply for being Jewish or standing up for Jewish lives.”

If such violence is intended to deter the Jewish community, I predict it will have the opposite effect. After leading more than thirty study tours to Israel over many years, I can testify that the Jewish people I know, both in the US and in Israel, are deeply resolute, courageous, and determined. They know the power of fighting for a cause greater than themselves.

Therein lies my point today.

 “It brings into focus what’s important to you”

Climbing season at Mount Everest ended Saturday. Every year, between seven hundred and one thousand people attempt the climb; between 60 and 70 percent succeed. It takes about two months to make the climb; the experience costs between $35,000 and $100,000. Most mountaineers train specifically for Everest for at least a year. More than 340 climbers have died attempting to reach or return from the summit.

What draws people to sacrifice so much to do something that offers so little by way of practical return?

It’s not the height itself. If you’ve flown on a passenger jet, which typically cruises at 35,000 feet, you’ve likely exceeded the height of Mt. Everest. It’s not seeing the view; you can do the same by watching this video or others like it.

Alan Arnette, who summited Mt. Everest in 2011, explains its appeal: “It brings into focus what’s important to you. There are a thousand reasons to turn around and only one to keep going. You really have to focus on the one reason that’s most important and unique to you.”

Knowing and doing are not the same thing

Whether we’re planning to summit Mt. Everest or not, in a very real sense you and I are climbing mountains of our own. We are on a path to a destination, a goal, a reason for living. Unlike those who reject faith in a Creator who has a purpose for our lives, we believe that our Father loves us and has a design for us.

Fulfilling this purpose should be “the one reason” for living “that’s most important and unique to you.” We should each seek and follow God’s will for our lives, beginning each day by submitting to his Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and measuring success by our obedience to his purpose. People who read (and write) articles like this one know this already.

But if you’re like me, knowing that we should obey God’s will and actually doing so are not always the same thing. People who climb Mt. Everest are obviously convinced that this is a triumph worthy of all it costs. Some of us are less sure that the same is always true with regard to the will of God.

Even though we wouldn’t admit it to others, we sometimes harbor unstated questions as to whether complete obedience to his word is worth it. We know of missionaries martyred for their faith. We’re aware of the cultural animosity waiting for anyone who declares and defends biblical truth on sexual morality and other sensitive subjects.

And, quite frankly, we have goals and aspirations for our lives that we’re not sure God fully shares. If we choose to obey his word and will in every dimension of our lives, we’re not convinced that we would be as happy and successful as we want to be.

We’re content to trust in Christ as our Savior, so we’ll go to heaven when we die, and then obey him in all the ways that are obviously beneficial to us. We want him to bless us, so we read his word, pray, worship, and serve (at least to a degree). We’re grateful for his sacrificial love for us, so we seek to love him and others in return.

But if we have to stop doing something we really want to do, or start doing something we really don’t want to do, we discover whether we truly trust that his will is better for us than our own.

“God’s ultimate purpose” for your life

Optional obedience is one of Satan’s subtle strategies for people like you and me. He did not successfully persuade us to reject the gospel. The time you have given to reading this article shows that you want to think biblically and live redemptively in our culture. So he entices us to moderate our commitment to Christ, to “put it in its proper place,” to serve Jesus while serving ourselves.

This is because he knows what we need to remember: a victory far more glorious than climbing Earth’s tallest mountain awaits those who follow Jesus unconditionally today.

When we remember that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), how could it be otherwise? How could his will for us be anything but what is best for us?

His desire for us is that we become like Jesus (Romans 8:29). As Oswald Chambers noted, “God’s ultimate purpose is that his Son might be manifested in my mortal flesh.” How could any purpose be more perfect than becoming like the only perfect person who ever lived? Think of the impact of Jesus’ life on history and ask yourself: If even a few Christians truly manifested Christ in our world, how could our world remain the same?

If it’s still hard to make Christlikeness our highest purpose, we can ask the Spirit to help us. We can pray for the desire to desire this. We can ask for the strength to choose our Father’s will over our own. And we can take our next step into the character and joy of Jesus.

Timothy Keller observed,

“If God is not at the center of your life, something else is.”

Who or what is at the center of yours today?

Quote for the day:

“I was not born to be free—I was born to adore and obey.” —C. S. Lewis

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In recent days, President Trump has seemed to grow increasingly incensed with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump called Putin “crazy” and warned that he was “playing with fire” before Trump claimed that he was essentially the only person standing between Russia and a host of “really bad things.”

In response, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev—who stood in as surrogate for Putin during the four years the latter was technically unable to be president—responded by posting on X: “I only know of one REALLY BAD thing—WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!”

To this point, Trump has primarily attempted to coax Putin to the negotiating table and end his invasion of Ukraine by offering a series of rewards—a place back with the G8, resource deals, and lifting sanctions, to name a few. As Conner and Micah discussed on this week’s Culture Brief, it hasn’t worked.

The truth is that Putin currently has little reason to pursue peace. He is winning the war, cares relatively little about the loss of life, and stands to gain by continuing to drag the conflict out. And there is little Ukraine can do, even with additional armaments, to change that reality.

If Putin is going to seriously entertain peace, then additional pressure will have to come from Europe and the United States.

Europe took a step in that direction with additional sanctions last week, though few think they will be sufficient to force Russia to the table. For that to happen, most agree that President Trump will need to apply pressure of his own as well. Congress appears ready to pass a bill that could help him do just that.

Will Trump sign off on sanctions?

A bipartisan bill in the Senate with more than 80 cosponsors would impose new sanctions on Russia by targeting its ability to sell energy to other nations. While such sanctions are hardly a novel concept, the difference with the proposed legislation is that America would also impose a 500 percent tariff on any country that buys Russian energy.

As Marc A. Thiessen describes, the bill would “create incentive for China, India, and other countries that would be subject to secondary tariffs to press Putin to agree to peace.” Given the way Russia has resisted threats and pressure from the West, pressure from its allies could be what tips the scales.

However, Trump has appeared hesitant to take that step thus far, despite declaring in March that he would support sanctions and even additional military aid for Ukraine if it became clear that Putin was responsible for the war’s continuation.

Most of the world agrees that we reached that point a long time ago. But even if Trump is not willing to impose the sanctions at the moment, Congress could still pass the bill and hold it until he is. Doing so would allow the President to apply additional pressure on Russia without actually having to cut off trade with its allies.

The delay of those additional tariffs could weigh more heavily in the President’s thinking than you might expect given the degree to which tariffs have become a staple of his foreign policy.

Why reality is often more complex than it appears

While China and India are among the most prominent purchasers of Russian energy, they are hardly alone. In fact, as many as twelve countries in the European Union—including prominent members like France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands—would be subject to the 500 percent tariffs should the law go into effect. In total, the EU spent an estimated €23 billion on Russian fossil fuels last year, which is more than it spent on military support for Ukraine.

Moreover, five additional countries rely on Russian-made nuclear reactors, which require Russian-made fuels to operate. While the EU is attempting to phase out Russian energy by the end of 2027, those efforts still have a long way to go. As such, many in Europe find themselves in a bit of a quandary: excited by the prospect of renewed American support but fearful of what the tariffs would do to their economies.

Add in the President’s ongoing efforts to negotiate a trade deal with the EU—one that comes with a July 9 deadline—and the situation grows even more complicated. Trump would have the ability to potentially pause the 500 percent tariffs for “national security interests,” but only for 180 days, and the EU will need far longer than that to wean itself from Russian energy.

So while the proposed bill would seem like a fairly straightforward path to increasing pressure on Russia, the reality is more complex. And therein lies an important reminder for each of us today.

Our way or God’s way?

One of the most tragic characters in Scripture is King Saul. For most of his reign, or at least up to the point when he was driven to insanity by a dark spirit (1 Samuel 16:14), Saul legitimately tried his best to do what was right for his people and to follow God’s will. However, the difference between him and David (at least most of the time) was that you never really see Saul ask God how to do that.

Whether it was burning an offering to keep his soldiers from fleeing (1 Samuel 13), vowing that none of his men would eat until the Philistines were destroyed (1 Samuel 14), or a host of other examples, Saul epitomized Solomon’s warning that “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Israel’s first king stands as a reminder to us all that even when we have the best intentions and make decisions that seem right to us, they can still go wrong when we rely on our wisdom alone.

The reason is that it is difficult, if not impossible, for us to fully discern every consequence of our choices. We can and should try to see each angle and make the most informed decision possible, but in the end, we will never have more than partial information when relying on ourselves.

When I first read about the potential sanctions on Russia, it seemed like a prudent path forward. It wasn’t until I was reminded of the degree to which our allies in that fight would be harmed as well that the potential problems became clear. And the truth is that there are countless other ways the sanctions could help or hurt efforts to bring an end to the war. In the end, we just can’t know.

Fortunately, we serve a God who does. His “understanding is beyond measure” (Psalm 147:5), and he sees “everything under the heavens” (Job 28:24). There is no limit to his knowledge, and his omniscient Spirit dwells within every Christian.

So while we should not trust the way that seems right to us, God stands ready to help us understand the way that seems right to him. The only question is if we will take the time to humbly seek his understanding rather than rely on our own.

Both Scripture and experience point to the problems inherent to the latter approach, and that is just as true for presidents as it is for each of us.

Whose way will you trust today?

Quote of the day:

“Faith is a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.” —John Stott

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Denison Forum