“The weakness of the Church lies not in the lack of Christian arguments but in the lack of Christian lives.” (William Barclay)

The story of Scripture is the story of God’s power at work through God’s people. Seldom have we been a majority in any nation or culture. Whether it was kings or prophets, fishermen or tax collectors, former Pharisees or imprisoned apostles, God’s Spirit has used his people as salt and light in ways that changed the course of history.

Jesus taught his disciples this parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches” (Matthew 13:31–32).

The mustard seed is the “smallest of all seeds” used in Jesus’ day (about the size of a period at the end of a sentence today). Would anyone believe that a tree some ten feet tall could grow from it? But the farmer has faith. He plants it, waters it, and waits for it. It takes time, several years, in fact.

Eventually, that tiny seed becomes a tree so large that birds come from all over to settle on its branches. They eat some of the seeds it produces. And that tree multiplies itself until it makes more and more trees—all from one seed so small you must strain even to see it in your hand.

That, says Jesus, is how God builds his kingdom on earth. Here we have the mustard-seed movement: God uses anything we entrust to him to do more than we ever imagined he would. If only we believe he can.

The mustard-seed movement in Scripture

Let’s examine the mustard-seed movement in Scripture:

• Noah worked for one hundred years by himself to build an Ark to save the human race when it had never rained before.
• Moses stood before Pharaoh with nothing more than a rod in his hand and God’s call in his heart.
• David fought the mighty Goliath with a slingshot.
• Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel spoke divine revelation with effect all out of proportion to their social status.

One of the most remarkable Old Testament examples of the mustard-seed movement is the story of Gideon at the Spring of Harod. I have led more than thirty study tour groups to this spot, one of my favorite sites in all of Israel.

The Midianites were the enemy of the Jewish people and an indestructible army: “They would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in” (Judges 6:5). Yet God called Gideon to march against them, his thirty-two thousand foot soldiers against their vast army (Judges 7:3).

Then God said, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’ Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained” (vv. 2–3).

Then he told Gideon:

“The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lᴏʀᴅ said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water” (vv. 4–6).

Now “the Lᴏʀᴅ said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.’ So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley” (vv. 7–8).

With these three hundred, each bearing a trumpet and a torch, they went to battle. And this was the result:

Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lᴏʀᴅ and for Gideon!” Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lᴏʀᴅ set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath (vv. 19–22).

The New Testament demonstrates the same pattern. Jesus told us that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13–16). It doesn’t take much salt to change the flavor of food or much light to shine in the dark. You can think of examples immediately:

• Peter, the fisherman who failed his Lord before preaching the Pentecost sermon
• Paul, the Pharisee who persecuted Christians before taking the gospel across the Empire
• John, exiled on Patmos where he received the Revelation for the world

The first-century church had no strategy for political power or cultural engagement. They simply went where they went as the people of God, and, by Acts 17:6, they had “turned the world upside down.”

And the same model has worked throughout Christian history:

• Martin Luther was an unknown German monk when he nailed his 95 Theses on the community bulletin board and sparked the Protestant Reformation.
• William Wilberforce read a relatively unknown book by Thomas Clarkson about the horrors of the slave trade and then worked to abolish it.
• And each of the Great Awakenings of the last three hundred years, even when led by well-known preachers, was fueled by the prayers and support of countless anonymous Christians who chose to embrace God’s call for their lives.

In short, God has always chosen to rely on the faithfulness of his people to advance his kingdom and help people to know him. And now it’s our turn.

So what would that look like in our culture today?

Denison Forum

President Trump’s meeting today with Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to dominate headlines. By the end of the day, we should have a better grasp on whether the talks will prove to be a helpful step on the path toward peace, a waste of time, or somewhere in between. However, as of this morning, any attempt to say what that outcome will be is, at best, an educated guess.

Over the course of this week, Dr. Jim Denison has written extensively on the meeting, what each nation may want from the negotiations, and why Putin appears to be so obsessed with Ukraine. Honestly, until the talks conclude, there’s really not much I could add to this discussion. As such, I’d like to focus today on a subject that is far less important to the future of our world but, perhaps, of even greater significance to the state of our culture: KPop Demon Hunters.

Now, if that statement seems hyperbolic, I understand. However, the animated film has already become one of Netflix’s most-watched offerings with over 184 million views in less than two months. The soundtrack that fuels much of the movie’s plot currently has three songs in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, with “Golden” taking the top spot. That achievement marks the first time a female group has topped the chart since Destiny’s Child back in 2001. The movie has even earned a limited theatrical release later this month, which Netflix designed to be a “sing-along” event.

As the parent of children who will inevitably ask to attend said sing-along, this is not good news. However, the reason may be different from what you would expect.

Is “KPop Demon Hunters” worth seeing?

When my family first saw the film advertised, our initial response was to scroll by without giving it a second thought. After all, a kids’ movie about demon hunters was not high on my list of ways to spend our time together. But when some friends from church told us a bit more about the film, we decided to give it a shot.

The story revolves around a group of three girls who use magical powers to slay demons while maintaining a barrier between their world and the underworld by inspiring people with their singing. Everything is going well until the demon overlord sends a demonic boy band to steal their fans and destroy the barrier. It’s a strange premise, to be sure, and I don’t blame you if you read that and have zero interest in seeing the film.

However, we all really enjoyed it. The central themes of owning your flaws and finding strength in community were solid and biblical, even if the makers of the film did not intend to highlight Christian concepts. While there were some conversations we had to have with our kids once it was done—more on that in a minute—overall, it felt like a solid use of our time, and I can understand why it has grown so popular.

Unfortunately, not every reason the film resonates with people is a cause for celebration. And its popularity reveals an important truth about the state of our culture and a threat we cannot afford to overlook.

A discussion about demons

As Isabel Ong writes for Christianity Today, “I am intrigued by our modern-day penchant for making monsters and demons safe—or cute or attractive or morally ambiguous—and how this might be creating a sense of spiritual ambivalence.”

Ong goes on to describe how our culture has largely lost its taste for battles between clearly defined good and evil. Instead, we often prefer a nebulous middle ground where characters have the potential for both and are free to decide on their own course.

She concludes that such moral ambiguity places us “at the center of every battle between good and evil. The narrative du jour is how a human, demon, or half-demon can successfully overcome the darkness within by their own strength. . . Mastery of the self is the pinnacle of achievement.”

This desire to see good in everyone while recognizing our own capacity for evil is not wrong. Every day presents us with the chance to choose God or to choose sin, and we are ultimately the ones responsible for that decision.

The problem arises when we forget that true good and evil exist, and the threat posed by the latter should not be underestimated.

Satan often prefers to stay in the background of our culture, feeding our fallen natures in ways that accomplish his purposes in a more subtle manner. As such, there aren’t a lot of chances to bring up the reality of Satan and his demons in a way that doesn’t feel forced.

That distinction between the fictional demons in the film and the real demons that Scripture describes is one of the conversations I alluded to before, and I was genuinely grateful for the way the film provided an organic opportunity to discuss that topic with my kids. However, the story’s central theme brings up a much more difficult discussion as well; one that is relevant to every one of us today.

How does your past define you?

As I mentioned before, one of the main themes in KPop Demon Hunters is the need to own our flaws if we’re going to find the strength to move past them. As with many things in our culture, that notion gets you most of the way to the truth before stopping just before the most essential part.

You see, a core characteristic of the gospel message is that we will never know God’s peace and joy if we are haunted by our sin. Trying to hide our past or act as though we can move past our mistakes without bringing them into the light is both unbiblical and ineffective. Insofar as the film points to that truth, it echoes God’s truth.

However, the gospel calls us to take the additional step of presenting our past to the Lord, repenting of our sins, and ultimately placing our trust in him rather than in ourselves to save us. That last part is often the hardest, even for Christians.

All of us have things we wish were different about ourselves; points of weakness or insecurity that Satan is adept at using to create cracks in our relationship with God. In such moments, the answer is not to simply embrace them as part of who we are but, rather, to remember that they pale in comparison to the identity available to us in Christ.

There is a freedom and joy in our relationship with God that is available nowhere else. We can find traces of it through friends and family or seek substitutes through work and performance, but true peace is and always will be found in Jesus alone.

Have you found that peace today?

Quote of the day:

“The true wonder of human beings is not that we are sinners, but that even in our sin we are haunted by goodness, that even in the mud we can never wholly forget the stars.” —William Barclay

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Denison Forum

President Trump said yesterday that he will try to get back some territory for Ukraine when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. He also stated that there would be “some swapping, changes in land” between Russia and Ukraine.

Whether the world could or should trust a “peace” to which Mr. Putin agrees on these terms is another matter, an issue I explored in my new website article, “Vladimir Putin and the problem of autocratic power.” But why would Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agree to such an arrangement?

In recent days, he stated repeatedly that he would not concede Ukrainian land to Russia. Mr. Zelensky said last Saturday that his country could not violate its constitution on territorial issues, adding that “Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupiers.”

However, the Telegraph headlined yesterday that Ukraine is now “prepared to cede territory held by Russia” as part of a peace plan. It reported that Mr. Zelensky “told European leaders that they must reject any settlement proposed by Donald Trump in which Ukraine gives up further territory—but that Russia could be allowed to retain some of the land it has taken. This would mean freezing the frontline where it is and handing Russia de facto control of territory it occupies in Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Crimea.”

Russia currently occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory as defined by Kyiv’s internationally recognized 1991 borders. Conceding these regions would require a nationwide referendum in Ukraine.

Why would their nation make such a move now?

What is the history of Ukraine?

Ukraine is the largest country in Europe after Russia, with a land area about 87 percent the size of Texas and a population of more than forty-two million. Different areas of the region were invaded and occupied by numerous groups over the centuries, but they are all now part of Ukraine.

Most of Ukraine fell to Russian rule in the eighteenth century, then became a republic of the Soviet Union after World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917. Parts of western Ukraine were divided between Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. By the end of World War II, the borders were redrawn to include these western Ukrainian territories.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine voted for independence on December 1, 1991, with 92 percent of Ukrainians in support. After a mass protest movement in 2014 toppled the pro-Russian government, Russian troops occupied the Ukrainian autonomous republic of Crimea. Russia later annexed the peninsula. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.

By some estimates, the current war has displaced a third of Ukraine’s population, with as many as 1.6 million Ukrainians forcibly transferred to Russian territories by Russian forces. Ukraine has suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties as a result of the war as well.

Why would the two sides trade land for peace now?

On the Ukrainian side:

• In Crimea, more than two-thirds of the population claims Russian as its native language.
• Nearly 30 percent of Ukrainians speak Russian as their first language; almost all are concentrated in the areas contested in the present war.
• Ethnic Russians are the largest nationality in some of these oblasts as well.
• The Ukrainian president has previously acknowledged that his armed forces lack the capabilities needed to reclaim land from Moscow.
• However, after any settlement, Kiev could still attempt diplomatic means to return the land to its control.

On the Russian side:

• Fortune reports that a “fiscal crunch” is about to hit Russia’s war machine. In June, the country’s economy minister warned that Russia was “on the brink” of a recession.
• Oil revenues are weakening while war spending continues to soar.
• Widening deficits may cause Russia to run out of financial reserves, forcing cuts to public expenditures. Such cuts could be highly unpopular with the Russian populace, threatening Mr. Putin’s standing with them.
• Over a thousand multinational businesses have exited from Russia.
• Inflation is skyrocketing, with basic food items becoming prohibitively expensive.

When zero-sum conflicts emerge

Obviously, no one knows what will transpire in Friday’s meeting, assuming it happens. But we do know that each side will do what it perceives to be best for its side. Henry Kissinger was right: nations have no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.

The problem comes in zero-sum scenarios by which one side must lose for the other side to win. With territorial disputes, this is often the case. Israel and the Palestinians both want Jerusalem for their capital. Taiwan claims independence from China, which claims the island as its own.

When zero-sum conflicts emerge, we discover another reason humanity needs the biblical worldview. Scripture consistently teaches that this world is not our home, that we are sojourners here and our “citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Accordingly, we can concede temporal means for eternal ends:

• We can “give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42), whatever the temporal cost of such compassion.
• We can forgive our enemies rather than seeking retribution or revenge (Matthew 5:43–48).
• We can give to the needy without recognition or temporal reward (Matthew 6:1–4).
• We can “lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:20) by serving those who cannot serve us (Matthew 25:31–40).

If nations and people did what was just rather than what serves their temporal interests, the short-term cost would accrue to transformational long-term benefits. What would become of war? Crime? Sexual immorality? Prejudice and discrimination?

“Jesus will have none of that”

Acting in this way requires dying to self and living for the good of others. Only one Person has perfectly done this. The good news is that the same Spirit who empowered Jesus stands ready to empower us. The more we are yielded to him, the more we manifest his unconditional and sacrificial love for those he loves—and he loves everyone (Galatians 5:22; 1 John 4:8).

The way to measure whether we are “filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18) is to see how we treat people we don’t have to treat well, those who cannot repay us or benefit us in a way commensurate with our service to them. Tim Keller observed:

We instinctively tend to limit for whom we exert ourselves. We do it for people like us, and for people whom we like. Jesus will have none of that. By depicting a Samaritan helping a Jew, Jesus could not have found a more forceful way to say that anyone at all in need—regardless of race, class, and religion—is your neighbor. Not everyone is your brother or sister in faith, but everyone is your neighbor, and you must love your neighbor.

How will you treat the next neighbor you meet today?

Quote for the day:

“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.” —legendary coach John Wooden

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Denison Forum