Wicked star Cynthia Erivo will play Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. The musical is already offensive to many Christians as it suggests a romantic relationship between Christ and Mary Magdalene and puts Judas in a more sympathetic light than Scripture portrays.

Now our Savior will be played by a woman who came out as “queer” a few years ago. One fan called the decision for a female to play Christ “downright disrespectful,” adding that her opinion “has nothing to do with color, [it] has to do with the fact that the Son of God is a man.” The fan also stated, “If this was another religion, you would not do it out of respect.”

In news closer to home for me, the United Church of Christ Cathedral of Hope in Dallas hosted a service last Sunday dedicated to celebrating drag performers and transgender individuals. A “drag king”—a woman wearing a bedazzled beard and religious garments—was among the performers.

A “drag queen”—a man dressed to appear as a woman—performed at a fundraiser following the service. He proceeded to criticize Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a paraplegic, for approving conservative laws and recommended stopping him by taking away wheelchair ramps.

If Dallas is “the Buckle of the Bible belt,” the belt seems to be in disrepair.

People want hope from their leaders

One reason such stories are discouraging is that we’re not sure what, if anything, we can do in response. And we instinctually want answers to our questions and solutions for our problems.

This is because our culture rewards those who try harder and work longer, “refusing to take no for an answer” and striving for perfection. There’s even a name for this: the “Nirvana fallacy” assumes that all problems can be solved perfectly.

As a result, when we read frightening stories about a potential bird flu pandemic or asteroid strike, we keep reading to see if authorities have prepared vaccines or taken steps to keep the asteroid from killing us. When we learn that psychological distress among youth globally accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not surprised but we want to know what is being done in response.

It is basic human nature to seek hope in hard times. When Gallup asked people what they wanted from their leaders, they ranked “hope” far above all other responses.

So, where do we find the hope our hearts need today? The answer is not where many in our self-reliant culture are looking.

How to build an unshakable house

Jesus said, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). Let’s consider each Greek word in turn:

• Disciple means “pupil, apprentice.”
• Not above means “not superior to.”
• His teacher refers to the master of his school, the instructor guiding the student.
• Everyone allows for no exceptions.
• When he is fully trained could be translated, “when he is thoroughly taught and qualified.”
• Will be like his teacher could be rendered, “will think, act, and live in the same manner as his teacher.”

As a result, our lives produce words and works that glorify God and bless others. Jesus promised: “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good . . . for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (v. 45).

In addition, our obedience prepares us to triumph amid the storms of life. Jesus stated that everyone who “hears my words and does them” is “like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against the house and could not shake it, because it had been well built” (vv. 47–48).

Conversely, “The one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (v. 49).

“You are much stronger than you think you are”

It only makes sense that people who emulate and are empowered by the perfect Son of an omnipotent Father would have the resources necessary to withstand the storms of life.

Paul Powell writes that after Martin Niemöller was imprisoned by the Nazis for three years in solitary confinement in Dachau, an interviewer asked him, “How could you stand it without losing your sanity?” Niemöller answered: “You can stand far more than you think you can. You are much stronger than you think you are . . . if God is dwelling in your life.”

This, in fact, is how we were designed by our Creator.

In Mere Christianity, CS Lewis explained:

God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human engine to run on himself. He himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended—civilizations are built up—excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.

What “fuel” will your spirit “burn” today?

Quote for the day:

“Those who understand God’s sovereignty have joy even in the midst of suffering, a joy reflected on their very faces, for they see that their suffering is not without purpose.” —R. C. Sproul

Our latest website articles:

• “Israel agrees to negotiations to end war in Gaza: Why doesn’t Israel take Palestinian hostages?”
• “Healthy sodas, home air pollution, and the pope’s future: Two ways to experience God’s providential best”
• “Is your Jesus too American? A conversation with pastor and author Steve Bezner”
• “A flying beer can and the Lombardi Trophy: Joining God in redeeming all we experience”
• “The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point: How one of the world’s longest-running conflicts has roots beyond its borders”

Denison Forum

Why changing our intentions can change the world

“We were upside down hanging like bats.” This is how one passenger described what happened when a Delta flight made a hard landing Monday afternoon in Toronto, lost a wing, burst into flames, and flipped onto its roof. Delta said twenty-one injured people were taken to local hospitals; nineteen were released by the next morning. Three had critical but non-life-threatening injuries, one of whom was a child. However, there were no fatalities.

If you’re like me, the last sentence changes how you read the rest of the paragraph.

In other news, a supercomputer simulation has predicted when humanity will go extinct. It foresees a day when rising temperatures, volcanic chaos, and an unrecognizable climate will make most of our planet uninhabitable for mammals. However, this cataclysmic apocalypse will not occur for another two hundred and fifty million years.

Again, if you’re like me, the last sentence changes how you read the rest of the paragraph.

One more example: US shoppers are dumping favorite brands over their political stances. According to a new poll, four in ten Americans have shifted their spending in recent months to align with their moral views. Unsurprisingly, boycotts usually come from the consumer base whose party is not in power in Washington.

Customers are therefore evaluating products through the lens of personal ideology rather than the product itself. For example, the backlash against Bud Light when it partnered with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney cost the parent company $395 million but had nothing to do with the taste of its beer.

“This is the hope of our calling”

It is human nature to focus on those parts of nature that affect us as humans. Evolutionary psychology would explain this as a manifestation of our instinct for survival. Pragmatists would encourage our focus on the parts of the world that work for us personally. Postmodern existentialists would say that the only dimension of the universe we can experience is that which directly affects us, so we naturally experience it on a more visceral level.

However, I think there’s another way to see the way we organize and manage our engagement with the larger world.

Jesus told his disciples, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” (John 15:16). God intends us to be “a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21, my emphasis).

We know that our salvation is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8) and “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (v. 9). However, the next verse states, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (v. 10, my emphasis).

“For good works” could be translated as, “for the purpose of accomplishing the works for which we are intended.” One scholar comments, “God marks out for each in his purposes beforehand the particular good works and the time which he sees best. God both makes ready by his providence the opportunities for the works, and makes us ready for their performance.”

In addition, “that we should walk in them” could be rendered, “that we should continue to accomplish them until they are completely fulfilled.” John Chrysostom (died AD 407) noted:

We need a virtue which shall last throughout and be extended on to our dying day. If we had to travel a road leading to a royal city, and then when we had passed over the greater part of it, were to flag and sit down near the very close, it were of no use to us. This is the hope of our calling . . . Otherwise it would profit us nothing.

All actions derive from a prior intention

God created you and me for “good works” specific to our personal lives and our place and time in the world. It is therefore only logical that we would focus more specifically on those events and circumstances which not only affect us but which we can affect.

Jesus was always present in the moment, wherever he went. The One who came to save the world ministered to one broken body and sinful soul at a time.

Here’s the problem: You and I are inundated every day with news from literally around the world. And fear-based programming is proven to attract attention and generate profits, in large part because our “negativity bias” instinctually looks for risks so we can avoid them. All of this in a time when we see more news in a day than our ancestors confronted in a lifetime.

Here’s why this matters.

John Locke, the famed British philosopher, argued that all actions derive from a prior intention. Unless external obstacles prevent us, he observed, “What follows after that follows in a chain of circumstances, linked one to another, all depending on the last determination of the will” (his emphasis).

However, when our intention is to better the world, the actions that are required feel as overwhelming as the task itself.

If the devil can’t make you bad

This is one way Satan uses our faith-driven compassion for the world against us. As the saying goes, if the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy. If he can use the cacophony of bad news that swirls around us to distract us from the “good works” our Lord intends for us today, he’ll keep us from impacting our culture for Christ.

And, over time, he may convince us to abandon the effort of cultural transformation altogether.

When the entire universe feels dark, your light may seem inconsequential. If you then “put it under a basket,” everyone in your “house” loses (Matthew 5:15). Including you.

So, to employ Locke’s assertion, let’s begin the day by reframing our “intention.” Leo Tolstoy observed:

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

If our intention is to be more like Jesus today, and if we then ask God’s Spirit to transform us into the character of his Son, we can never be the same. Over time, the actions that derive from our intentions will impact the people we influence. And they will touch the people we cannot until a movement of culture-changing Christians multiplies around the world.

If you’re thinking God could never use your life in such a transformative way, that you’re too busy and the world is too broken to make a difference that matters, guess where that thought is coming from.

Quote for the day:

“Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News.” —Billy Graham

Our latest website articles:

• “A flying beer can and the Lombardi Trophy: Joining God in redeeming all we experience”
• “The surprising reason young adults are more pro-marriage: A St. Valentine’s Day meditation on truth and transformation”
• “The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point: How one of the world’s longest-running conflicts has roots beyond its borders”
• “A long, joyful obedience”
• “A review of ‘Dominion’ by Tom Holland: A secular humanist’s guide to how morality comes from Christianity”

Denison Forum

The power of a worldview to shape the world

High-level delegations from the US and Russia have begun meeting in what the Wall Street Journal calls the “highest-profile Russia talks since [the] Ukraine invasion.” Today’s discussions in Saudi Arabia could lead to an eventual summit between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The State Department described the talks as an opportunity to explore Russia’s intentions on the Ukraine conflict and other central issues rather than the start of a detailed negotiation over Kyiv’s future.

According to international relations scholar Michael C. Horowitz, Mr. Putin’s “intentions” center in his belief that an independent, democratic Ukraine is a threat to him and to Russia. Three years ago, he began the largest land invasion in Europe since World War II in response.

Mr. Putin alleges that NATO and the West broke promises in 1990 not to expand eastward beyond Germany, a claim Western leaders dispute. The flatlands to Russia’s west have enabled several invasions from Europe over the last five centuries; Putin therefore views NATO’s “encroachment” into Ukraine as threatening his nation’s security.

Ukraine and the West vehemently disagree, seeing Putin’s immoral and illegal invasion as a part of his metanarrative to elevate “Mother Russia”—and himself—on the world stage.

“Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger”

In other news, Israel yesterday eliminated Muhammad Shaheen, the head of Hamas’s Operations Department in Lebanon. According to Israeli security forces, Shaheen was planning attacks not only against Israeli citizens but also against Jewish targets outside of Israel.

As with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, once again we see the power of a worldview to shape the world. Hamas is not only convinced that Israeli citizens are complicit in a perceived theft of their land from its “rightful” Palestinian owners; they also view Jews themselves as “apes” and “pigs” (Qur’an 5:60; 2:65; 7:166) and claim that they control the world media. They blame Jews for “most of the revolutions we heard and hear about” and allege that they were behind World War I and World War II.

In short, Hamas is convinced that Jews are hostis humani generis, the enemies of humankind itself. Killing Jews anywhere in the world therefore advances their ideological agenda.

As a third example of the power of worldview, my wife and I recently watched the Netflix excellent limited series, All the Light We Cannot See. Based on Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller, it is set in Nazi-occupied France.

At one point, a young man is being groomed for Hitler’s SS through physical abuse and mental torture, all under the guise of Friedrich Nietzsche’s dictum, “Whatever does not kill you makes you stronger.” The Germans are portrayed as fanatically committed to Nietzsche’s Übermensch doctrine, by which our highest aspiration should be to become an “overcomer” who rules the passive nihilists that make up most of humanity.

This doctrine, coupled with Hitler’s fervent belief that the Jews were responsible for Germany’s defeat in World War I, motivated the rise of Naziism and the murder of six million Jews.

“A watchword, magnificent and mighty”

According to Scottish biblical scholar James Stewart,

Every new idea that has ever burst upon the world has had a watchword. Always there has been some word or phrase in which the very genius of the thing has been concentrated and focused, some word or phrase to blazon on its banners when it went marching out into the world. Islam had a watchword: “God is God, and Mohammed is his prophet.” The French Revolution had a watchword: “Liberty, equality, fraternity.” The democratic idea had a watchword: “Government of the people, by the people, for the people.”

Then he added:

The greatest idea that has ever been born upon the earth is the Christian idea. And Christianity came with a watchword, magnificent and mighty and imperial; and the watchword was, “the Kingdom of God.”

Stewart was right:

• Jesus announced, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).
• He taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10) and to “seek first the kingdom of God” (v. 33).
• The Lord said of himself, “I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10).

The psalmist declared, “God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne” (Psalm 47:8). Note the present tenses. No matter the circumstances or appearances, God is right now “the King of the ages, immortal, invisible” (1 Timothy 1:17).

What to do when we’re afraid

Jesus came to “preach the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43). Why is this kingdom “good news”? It tells us:

1. We have a king. Despite the tragedies and challenges of this broken world, there is purpose and order to the cosmos (cf. Colossians 1:16–17).
2. Unlike the autocrats and terrorists who seek to rule by force, this king knows and loves us (Psalm 139:13–16; Romans 5:8).
3. We can have a personal relationship with him that will save and transform us (John 1:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
4. He will bring this fallen world to an end one day when Jesus returns as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).

Accordingly, we can pray with David,

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3).

Of what are you “afraid” today?

Quote for the day:

“Christ liveth in me. And how great the difference—instead of bondage, liberty; instead of failure, quiet victories within; instead of fear and weakness, a restful sense of sufficiency in Another.” —Hudson Taylor

Our latest website articles:

• “The surprising reason young adults are more pro-marriage: A St. Valentine’s Day meditation on truth and transformation”
• “The civil war in Congo could soon reach a tipping point: How one of the world’s longest-running conflicts has roots beyond its borders”
• “A long, joyful obedience”
• “A review of ‘Dominion’ by Tom Holland: A secular humanist’s guide to how morality comes from Christianity”
• “What does the Bible say about love?”

Denison Forum