Why “Americans haven’t found a satisfying alternative to religion”

“Credentialed experts, especially those in the fields of epidemiology and public health . . . tied themselves to badly flawed theories, closed their minds to new evidence, and [threw] the mantle of ‘science’ over value judgments for which they had no special competence.” This is how a recent Wall Street Journal article describes the official response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The article reviews two new books on the subject. An Abundance of Caution by journalist David Zweig reports that evidence in March 2020 showed the virus did not pose a serious threat to children, but American public health professionals “remained largely impervious to this fact,” leading to widespread school closures and disastrous consequences.

The other book, In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, by two Princeton political scientists, adds that “elite institutions failed us” by giving in to panic. According to the Journal, they report a “willful suppression of reasonable debate, including the unfortunate tendency to paint critics of lockdowns and mask mandates as racists, quacks, and conspiracy theorists.”

When our water heater stopped working

It’s often necessary for us to trust people whose expertise surpasses our own in the hope they will do what we cannot.

When the water heater in our house stopped working over the weekend, I tried to fix it myself but soon gave up and called the plumber. The days when we could repair our cars and homes are long gone for most of us. We need experts who know what we do not know.

But what is true of mechanical technology is not true of biblical Christianity. Tragically, many people do not know this.

This New York Times article caught my eye: “Americans Haven’t Found a Satisfying Alternative to Religion.” The journalist Lauren Jackson attributes the escalation of secularism in recent years largely to Richard Dawkins and other champions of “new atheism,” so-called “experts” who assured us that Christianity is outdated, irrelevant, and even dangerous to society.

According to Jackson, “an immense social transformation” followed. And the results?

She reports that “people are unhappier than they’ve ever been and the country is in an epidemic of loneliness.” She adds that “those without religious affiliation in particular rank lower on key metrics of well-being. They feel less connected to others, less spiritually at peace, and they experience less awe and gratitude regularly.”

What explains this?

Religion provides the “three B’s”

Jackson cites sociologists who say religion provides the “three B’s”: belief, belonging, and behaviors. Its beliefs supply answers to the hard questions of life; it gives people a place to belong; and it tells us how to behave. All three speak to deep needs in human experience.

As a result, Jackson notes Pew findings that actively religious people tend to say they are happier than irreligious people. We are healthier and significantly less likely to be depressed or to die by suicide, alcoholism, cancer, cardiovascular illness, or other causes.

A long-term Harvard study found that women who attended religious services once a week were 33 percent less likely to die prematurely than women who never attended. An author of the study explained: “They had higher levels of social support, better health behaviors, and greater optimism about the future.”

In addition, religiously affiliated Americans are more likely than irreligious people to feel gratitude (by 23 percentage points), spiritual peace (by 27 points), and “a deep sense of connection with humanity” (by 15 points). Since positive relationships have been proven to be the single most important predictor of well-being, these differences are especially significant.

Jackson’s reporting is obviously good news, showing that the “experts” who rejected religion as irrelevant and dangerous were wrong on the merits. But there is an even more important fact her article omits.

When “your faith is in vain”

Paul testified, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). However, “in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (v. 20). As a result, God “gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 57) and we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

The living Lord Jesus now prays for us (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25), forgives every sin we confess to him (Romans 8:1; 1 John 1:9), heals us (cf. Acts 3:6), meets us in our most difficult places (cf. Revelation 1:9–20), and gives us eternal life in this world and the next (John 3:16; 14:3).

The benefits of religion cited in the Times article—belief, belonging, behaviors, gratitude, peace, and a “deep sense of connection with humanity”—are most fully experienced as the consequences of a daily, intimate relationship with him.

The good news is that all of this is as available to you and me on this Tuesday after Easter as it was on the first Easter twenty centuries ago.

“We are people of the spring”

The Vatican announced today that the coffin carrying the body of Pope Francis will be carried to St. Peter’s Basilica tomorrow. His funeral Mass will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square. (For more on the pope’s passing, see my Daily Article and website article from yesterday.)

But Francis would want us to look forward, not backward, demonstrating our faith in the God who wants only our best. In his latest book, published just two months before his death, the pontiff describes the hope at the heart of the Christian faith:

We believe that resting on the horizon of life is a sun that shines forever. We believe that our most beautiful days are yet to come. We are people of the spring, as opposed to autumn. . . .

A Christian knows that the kingdom of God, the dominion of Love, grows like a vast field of wheat, and that it may well have weeds in its midst. There are always problems: people gossip, there are wars, there is illness . . . But even so, the wheat ripens, and in the end, evil will be eliminated.

We know that the future does not belong to us. We know that Jesus Christ is life’s greatest grace. We know that God’s warm embrace not only awaits us at life’s end but also accompanies us on our journey every day.

The more we embrace the God who embraces us, the more we step past a religion about God into a vital relationship with the living Lord Jesus, and the more others are drawn to “life’s greatest grace.”

Do you believe that your “most beautiful days are yet to come”?

Quote for the day:

“We are all unique, free and alive, called on to live out a love story with God.” —Pope Francis

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Jeffrey LaFray, a student at Florida State University, told Good Morning America that he and his fellow students used chewing gum to stay safe during last week’s mass shooting on his campus. When gunshots were being fired nearby, his teacher wanted to cover the windows of their classroom with paper so the shooter couldn’t see inside, but they didn’t have tape to use. So the students started chewing gum and then used it to stick the paper to the windows.

The April 17 attack killed two men: Tiru Chabba, a forty-five-year-old father and executive for campus vendor Aramark, who is survived by his wife and two children; and Robert Morales, a beloved high school football coach who worked in the university’s dining services department. Six people, including students, were injured as well and sent to a local hospital.

After the mass shooting, there were many calls for prayer for the victims, their families, and first responders. Despite skeptics who ridicule such responses, the Bible clearly calls us to respond to crisis by seeking God’s help and hope (cf. Philippians 4:6–7; Jeremiah 29:12).

Reading about the tragedy over the weekend, I had this simple thought: Let’s also pray for help and hope before the crisis strikes.

One way I limit God

I must confess that while I have prayed often for victims of school attacks after they happen, I have not often prayed for God to protect our schools from such attacks.

When I was a pastor, I prayed for our members as they faced health challenges, grief over the death of loved ones, and other suffering endemic to life on this fallen planet. But I did not pray often enough for God to protect them from such challenges and suffering.

One of the manifold reasons to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, not just on Easter Sunday but every day, is the fact that our risen and living Lord is just as relevant to our needs today as when he walked our planet twenty centuries ago. As I noted last week, he is praying for us even as Scripture calls us to pray to him. He is still healing the sick (Acts 3:1–10; 9:32–35) and raising the dead (Acts 9:36–43). And he is still proactively holding the world together (Colossians 1:15–17).

However, if we limit his relevance to reacting to pain and problems, we miss much of what he wants to do in and through our lives. If we were to be more proactive, praying for him to protect us from such suffering and to advance his kingdom in our broken world, what would be the results?

“Seek the welfare of the city”

The Bible admonishes us, “Ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:2 KJV). Could it be that much of our suffering comes from not asking God to prevent it and to work proactively to make our world better?

I am not suggesting that such prayers are a magical panacea, of course. Human free will still permits us to sin against God, others, and ourselves. And God’s ways are far beyond our finite and fallen understanding (Isaiah 55:8–9).

But any good parent wants their children to flourish positively, not just recover from crisis and calamity when they strike. We want their best, not just their survival.

Scripture calls us to seek the same from our Lord, wherever we are and whatever our circumstances. Even Jewish exiles in Babylon were told to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lᴏʀᴅ on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Paul assured us that we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). It is not health-and-wealth heresy to seek God’s best as proactively as possible. As we pray for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), this means praying for far more than his help when we hurt.

And as we join him in answering our prayers by seeking the flourishing of our world, we partner with our Creator in redeeming his creation.

“You are more than your frustrations”

As I noted recently, “an abundance mentality that expects and focuses on the positive is demonstrably healthier for us than a scarcity mentality that does not.” This has been shown conclusively both in scientific and anecdotal ways.

Seeking and expecting the positive rather than the negative builds a positive focus that often becomes self-fulfilling. The bestselling author James Clear recently encouraged us:

Focus on the things you are for, not the things you are against.

Many people spend large chunks of their day thinking about what they hate. They are always telling you about something they dislike: this food, that subject, this political party, that coworker.

You are more than your frustrations. Build your identity around what you love.

When we proactively seek God’s best for ourselves and others, we can partner with our Father in answering our prayers. We become the change we wish to see, and the hands of Jesus continue his ministry in our broken world.

And just as the multitudes responded to his compassion in faith (cf. Matthew 4:23–25), so they will respond as our ministry draws them to its Source (Matthew 5:16).

Why I am not more proactive in my prayers

Why, then, am I not more proactive in responding through prayer to the world around and within me?

One reason is that I’m afraid God won’t do what I ask, and then I’ll have the problem and frustration of wondering and explaining why. If I pray for safety on school campuses and there’s another shooting, I’ll be disappointed. If my prayers are public, I’ll be embarrassed for myself and for my Lord.

Pessimists are never disappointed, as they say.

A second factor is that, despite my constant warnings over the years not to segregate religion from the “real world,” I sometimes succumb to cultural pressure to do so.

On my too-frequent bad days, my first impulse when things go wrong is to wonder why God allowed this and then to pray for him to correct his “mistake” and make things right. On my better days, I see obstacles as opportunities to pray and respond redemptively for his glory and our good.

On my best days, I pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) in communion and conversation with Jesus about everything in my world, good and bad. I thank him for the good and pray for his providence and protection to advance his kingdom. Then, when the bad does arise, I respond in faith.

Now I am resolving to have more of my “best days,” and invite you to join me.

In his 2009 song, “Closer to Love,” Mat Kearney sings, “I guess we’re all one phone call from our knees.”

When you get your next “phone call,” I hope you’ll turn to your Father.

But how will you pray today before that call comes?

Denison Forum

I woke up this morning to the news that Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, has died. His passing was announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo. Bells tolled in church towers across Rome after the announcement.

The pope survived a thirty-eight-day stay in Gemelli hospital for a respiratory crisis, emerging yesterday to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square for Easter Sunday. He then surprised them by riding in the popemobile through the piazza. Earlier in the day, he met briefly with US Vice President JD Vance.

The passing of a pope is a monumental event for a church numbering 1.4 billion across the world. Francis’ pontificate was especially historic and often controversial. Journalists and historians will be discussing and debating his leadership for many days. His statements and actions with regard to women, LGBTQ people, clergy sexual abuse, migrants, Vatican reform, and the priesthood were applauded by many and opposed by many others.

Of all that could be said about Pope Francis this morning, however, I want to focus on his humility.

His first act as pope

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Argentina on December 17, 1936. A rising star in the Catholic church, he was appointed head of all Jesuits in Argentina and Uruguay at the age of thirty-six, but what he later called “my authoritarian and quick manner of making decisions” led to deep divisions in the Jesuit community. As a result, he was exiled for two years in Argentina, a period Bergoglio later called “a time of great interior crisis.”

The priest who emerged was more humble, servant-hearted, and people-centered. He learned that caring for hurting souls is the Church’s primary responsibility, and leaders must lead with humility and compassion. He began concluding every conversation by asking the other person to pray for him (a practice he continued as pope). Even when he became archbishop of Argentina, he chose to live in simple quarters, ride public transportation, and cook his own meals.

When Cardinal Bergoglio was chosen as pope in 2013, his first act was to receive his fellow cardinals as their peer, standing on their level. For his first public appearance, he wore a white cassock, the ordinary papal dress, rather than the more formal red, ermine-trimmed mozzetta used by previous popes.

He chose to wear the same iron pectoral cross he had worn as archbishop of Buenos Aires, rather than the gold one used by his papal predecessors. In his first public act as pope, before he blessed the pilgrims standing en masse in St. Peter’s Square, he asked them to pray for his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, and for himself.

He then chose to remain in the Vatican guesthouse rather than moving to the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace. He was the first pope since Pius X (who died in 1914) not to live in the spacious papal apartments. He wore his old orthotic shoes rather than the red loafers of the papacy and rode in compact cars.

Washing the feet of juvenile offenders

On his first Holy Thursday following his election, Francis participated in the traditional Maundy Thursday foot-washing service, choosing twelve people (symbolizing the twelve disciples). However, the twelve he chose were not wealthy or notable people of significance in the church—they were juvenile offenders from Rome’s Casal del Marmo detention facility.

After he washed and kissed their feet, he said to them, “Washing your feet means I am at your service.” Two of the twelve were female, making Francis the first pope ever to wash the feet of a woman. In addition, two of the juvenile offenders were Muslim.

His first trip as pope was to the island of Lampedusa, then central to Europe’s migrant crisis. He consistently visited poor countries where Christians were persecuted minorities.

Camerlengo Farrell said of Pope Francis at his death this morning: “He taught us to live the values of the gospel with faithfulness, courage, and universal love, especially for the poorest and most marginalized.”

What Spurgeon, Moody, and Billy Graham had in common

Humility—the decision to place the Lord and others before ourselves—is not just an important principle for Christians who wish to be used by God: it is the foundation of all the others.

Jesus began his Sermon on the Mount with the proclamation, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). “Poor” translates ptochos, which means to be so impoverished as to beg for food from others. The beatitude can be rendered, “Blessed are those who know their desperate need of God, for they make him their king and advance his kingdom.” All that follows in Jesus’ sermon and the Christian life is based on this.

• The commission of the church to preach the gospel to “the end of the earth” can be fulfilled only in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), and that power can be given only to those who are yielded to the Lord (cf. Acts 1:14; 2:4).
• The courage of the church in fulfilling its commission is fueled by the Spirit when we are surrendered to him and “filled” by him (Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 13:9).
• The character of the church as exemplified by the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22–23) can be manifested by the Spirit only in those who are humbled and submitted before him (Ephesians 5:18).
• The compassion of the church for the least, the last, and the lost—a commitment so exemplified by Pope Francis—is fueled by the compassion of Christ (Matthew 9:36; 14:14; Luke 7:13) when we humble ourselves before his Spirit.

If you were to ask evangelicals to identify the three greatest preachers of recent generations, many would include Charles Spurgeon, Dwight Moody, and Billy Graham. What did they have in common?

Spurgeon said of himself: “Without the Spirit of God I feel I am utterly unable to speak to you. I have not those gifts and talents which qualify me to speak; I need an afflatus from on high; otherwise, I stand like other men, and have naught to say. May that be given to me, for without it I am dumb!” And God used him to preach to ten million people across his ministry.

1. L. Moody was the son of an alcoholic who died when Moody was four years old. He completed seven grades of school. He said of himself: “I know that other men can preach better than I can. All I can say is that when I preach, God uses me.” And God did—more than a million came to Christ through Moody’s ministry.

Billy Graham said of himself: “I have often said that the first thing I am going to do when I get to heaven is to ask, ‘Why me, Lord? Why did you choose a farm boy from North Carolina to preach to so many people, to have such a wonderful team of associates, and to have a part in what you were doing in the latter half of the twentieth century?’ I have thought about that question a great deal, but I know also that only God knows the answer.” And he preached to more people than anyone in Christian history.

Why did God use them? Because they submitted themselves to the Lord in humility.

Who will be next?

Quote for the day:

“It is the possession of a joyful and genuine humility that alone enables us to receive grace.” —Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153)

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