US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced Operation Economic Outcast, which he called “an unprecedented campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran and its enablers.” The operation will introduce new sanctions across a variety of vital sectors. The impact on American consumers is yet to be known.
Closer to home, why should you care that 22 percent of the Canadian population speaks French? Because this fact may soon cost you money.
The United States and Canada are now in an escalating trade war. When talks broke down last Friday, President Trump enacted 50 percent tariffs the next day. On Monday, he added cars, automotive parts, and steel to the tariffs beginning January 1. The Canadian Ministry of Finance is set to announce retaliatory tariffs against the US today.
It seems the French language was part of the problem.
Canada considers both English and French to be its official languages and requires all federal services to be offered in both languages. However, the US views this requirement as a trade barrier that “harms the ability for businesses to freely sell their products.” Mr. Carney said US negotiators “made changes, including threats on the French language and Quebec culture and Canadian culture. That is not acceptable. That would never be acceptable.”
Paper products, alcoholic beverages, and dairy products may all cost more as a result.
A “melting pot” or a “salad bowl”?
What it means to be an American has long been a subject of contention. Are we a “melting pot” in which everyone assimilates into a single, cohesive culture with a single language? Or are we a “salad bowl” in which diverse cultures coexist within a shared social framework? Depending on who you ask and where you look, the answer seems to be “yes.”
The same can be said of the Christian community. After three thousand people came to faith at Pentecost, “all who believed were together and had all things in common” (Acts 2:44). Paul famously declared, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28), answering the prayer of Christ that his followers would “become perfectly one” (John 17:23).
At the same time, the body of Christ “does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Corinthians 12:14). Accordingly, “the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’” (v. 21).
We each have a constellation of spiritual gifts, abilities, education, experience, capacities, and challenges that are combined uniquely in us. I cannot do what you can do for Jesus today, nor can you do what I can do. My kingdom assignment is mine, just as yours is yours.
But the more we are united with Christ, the more we are united with each other. Our “body” functions holistically to the degree that Jesus is our “head” (Ephesians 1:22).
Spotting a beaver in a pond
My wife and I were walking around a lake in our neighborhood over the weekend when we spotted a beaver paddling through the water. I had seen the animal a few months ago and told her about it. She wanted to see it for herself, but it did not make another appearance until surfacing that morning.
Prior to that moment, I believed in the beaver’s existence by seeing it, while she did so by faith in me.
According to Carneades, an ancient Greek philosopher, there are four categories of such “faith”:
- Plausible: A claim seems right, though you’ve not checked on its validity. For example, news reports tell you there is flooding in the next city over.
- Convincing: You have strong reasons to believe something. It’s been raining torrentially for several days, so floods are likely.
- Coherent: The belief agrees with most or all of your other beliefs. The news channel is generally reliable, rain causes floods, and such floods are common in that city.
- Thoroughly explored: You’ve conducted an extensive investigation into the matter. You checked with local authorities and traveled to the city to see the flooding for yourself.
My wife’s belief in our neighborhood beaver was plausible, convincing, and coherent but not thoroughly explored until the day she saw it for herself.
“The Lord of me and the God of me”
Here’s my point: The more personally we experience a truth claim, the more practical and powerful it becomes for us.
A transformational daily encounter with the living Lord Jesus is the most urgent and relevant example I can cite. If I tell you that you can have such an experience with him today and you believe the biblical record to be true, my claim is plausible. If you’ve seen the difference Jesus makes in other lives, it becomes convincing. If you believe that such an experience would be consistent with your other beliefs about the Christian life, it becomes coherent.
But until you meet Jesus for yourself, your beliefs are only beliefs. Like Thomas, when we experience the risen Christ personally, we call him not “the Lord and the God” or “our Lord and our God,” but “my Lord and my God!” (John 20:28, my italics). Thomas’s words in the Greek New Testament are, “The Lord of me and the God of me.”
Accordingly, early tradition reports that Thomas took the gospel further from Judea than any other apostle. He traveled roughly three thousand miles to preach in India and lead multitudes to Christ before he was martyred and buried in a shrine that bears his name as a cathedral today.
Pastor Adrian Rogers was right: “The same Jesus who turned water into wine can transform your home, your life, your family, and your future. He is still in the miracle-working business, and his business is the business of transformation.” John R. W. Stott agreed:
“The new life is not a matter of mere moral reformation, but of spiritual transformation.”
Will you experience the “new life” with Jesus today?
Quote for the day:
“We take what we think are the tools of spiritual transformation into our own hands and try to sculpt ourselves into robust Christlike specimens. But spiritual transformation is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit. He is the Master Sculptor.” —Jerry Bridges
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