While we wait for a verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan, another courthouse story has been making headlines: charges against world no. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler were dropped yesterday in Louisville after his arrest earlier this month. The prosecutor stated, “Mr. Scheffler’s characterization that this was a ‘big misunderstanding’ is corroborated by the evidence.”
I don’t know anyone who was hoping Mr. Scheffler would be convicted. His character as a devout Christian is exemplary and one key to his popularity. By contrast, 56 percent of Americans believe Mr. Trump is guilty of a crime in the New York City case.
However, I wonder how many on either side formed their opinion based on the available data. Have you read in detail the facts surrounding Mr. Trump’s case? Or do you assume that anything you read would be tainted by the political beliefs and agendas of those who wrote it?
Even after a verdict in Mr. Trump’s case is announced, partisan divisions will persist: 93 percent of Democrats believe he is guilty, while 78 percent of Republicans believe he is not.
“How we’ve lost our moorings as a society”
In yesterday’s Daily Article, we discussed the growing belief that America was founded as a colonizing oppressor for the purpose of advancing the founders’ personal and financial interests. In his latest New York Times column titled “How We’ve Lost Our Moorings as a Society,” Thomas Friedman writes:
Many universities today seem to be in the grip of a progressive ideological framework that divides the world into hierarchies of colonizers and the colonized, oppressed and the oppressors, racists and anti-racists—and now pro-Zionists and anti-Zionists. As a result, those who fall on the wrong side of those binaries feel the need to stay silent or risk being ostracized. The first impulse in too many cases these days is to seek cancellation, not conversation.
Friedman cites a recent survey of college students in which 59 percent said they hesitate to speak up about controversial subjects such as sexual orientation and gender, religion, politics, or race for fear of negative backlash from their classmates.
He then points to an often-overlooked cause of our moral chaos: the decline of local newspapers. Friedman reports that such a platform is “less likely to go too far to one extreme or another, because its owners and editors live in the community and they know that for their local ecosystem to thrive, they need to preserve and nurture healthy interdependencies—to keep the schools decent, the streets clean, and to sustain local businesses and job creators.”
However, with the advance of social media and national digital news platforms, more than half of all US counties now have limited access to reliable local news and information. Friedman notes that national, often highly partisan influencers “go straight from their national studios direct to small-town America, unbuffered by a local paper’s or radio station’s impulse to maintain a community where people feel some degree of connection and mutual respect.”
Let’s respond by highlighting two urgent opportunities.
One: Speak the truth in love with courage
A young missionary couple doing humanitarian work in Haiti was recently murdered there by gangs. Davy and Natalie Lloyd joined the five thousand Christians a year—more than thirteen a day—who are killed for their faith. Each year, nearly three hundred thousand believers are forced from their homes; more than forty-two thousand are physically or mentally abused.
The darker the room, the more necessary the light. Evangelical Christians are more likely to be canceled than ever before in American history, which means our message is more needed than ever before in American history.
Jesus warned, “People loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19). As a result, we should expect to face opposition from the very people we seek to serve with biblical truth and morality.
Paul said regarding his ministry in Ephesus, “A wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:9). When we face similar opposition, we must “be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (v. 13) but remember: “Let all that you do be done in love” (v. 14).
Two: Serve as a missionary where you live, as you are
Local newspapers are vital to the flourishing of local communities. So are local Christians. You know your neighbors better than I could; you understand the culture of your community better than anyone living outside it.
Accordingly, “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) begins where you live. Jesus used Levi to reach the tax collectors of Capernaum where Levi lived (Luke 5:27–32). He sent the Gadarene demoniac back to Gadara: “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19). He then became the first Christian missionary: “He went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him” (v. 20).
When the Holy Spirit “filled” the first Christians, they began declaring “the mighty works of God” in the languages of the people gathered with them in Jerusalem (Acts 2:4, 6–11). From then to today, speaking in the cultural “language” of those who need biblical truth is vital to their eternal flourishing.
The good news is that the Spirit will use any who will be used. As Henri Nouwen noted:
“Without the Spirit of Jesus we can do nothing, but in and through his Spirit we can live free, joyful, and courageous lives.”
He explained:
We cannot create peace and joy, but the Spirit of Christ can fill us with a peace and joy that is not of this world. We cannot break through the many barriers that divide races, sexes, and nations, but the Spirit of Christ unites all people in the all-embracing love of God. The Spirit of Christ burns away our many fears and anxieties and sets us free to move wherever we are sent. That is the great liberation of Pentecost.
With whom will you share this “great liberation” today?
Thursday news to know:
- Alito tells congressional Democrats he won’t recuse over flags
- Israel says Gaza war likely to last another seven months as tanks probe Rafah
- Blinken hints US may accept Ukrainian strikes in Russia with American arms
- Is China stockpiling resources to prepare for war?
- On this day in 1922: Former President Taft dedicates Lincoln Memorial
Quote for the day:
“It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, God’s job to judge, and my job to love.” —Billy Graham
Photo Credit: Mediamodifier/Pixabay
Publish Date: May 30, 2024
Jim Denison, PhD, is a cultural theologian and the founder and CEO of Denison Ministries. Denison Ministries includes DenisonForum.org, First15.org, ChristianParenting.org, and FoundationsWithJanet.org. Jim speaks biblically into significant cultural issues at Denison Forum. He is the chief author of The Daily Article and has written more than 30 books, including The Coming Tsunami, the Biblical Insight to Tough Questions series, and The Fifth Great Awakening.
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.
For more from the Denison Forum, please visit www.denisonforum.org.
The Daily Article Podcast is Here!