Hopelessness abounds today over many issues.
- Post-pandemic sluggishness.
- Will Social Security survive?
- Inflation.
- Wars and conflicts.
- Social unrest.
Whatever frightful events occur, history contains repeated patterns.
- World Wars
- Great Depression
- Financial Crisis of 2008–2009
- Covid Pandemic
The lesson remains simple — life is hard, and at times, disappointing. Older people have experienced good times and bad. For younger people, it’s easy to become discouraged, throw up your hands, and say:
Why bother? What happens when those you’re supposed to turn to (i.e. “men of the cloth”) exhibit the same traits as society in general?
Despair (hopelessness) remains understandable, for the guy who wrote a large portion of the New Testament experienced those feelings as well.
For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. (2 Corinthians 1:8)
Despaired does not mean depression, but feelings of hopelessness.
Why Bother?
Sadly since the dawn of the pandemic age (circa 2019–2020) the church drove off into the ditch focusing on absurd political issues, and some even stooped to saying why are you troubled by the pandemic (or other issues), don’t you trust the Lord?
A stupid position to be sure, one even its proponents don’t believe — they likely wore their seat belt on the way to church and don’t leave potato salad out too long on the counter.
A portion of the church acted brainlessly during the pandemic and abandoned Biblical principles — choosing identity politics and ridiculous positions like if you take safety precautions you’re not a true Christian and don’t trust the Lord.
That leads to hypocrisy, slander, and the church destroying its witness (as well as exhibiting as much sense as the flat-earth crowd).
Our own personal troubles at the beginning of this decade included bankruptcy, earthquakes, and relocating from our family roots. But the most pain, which still endures from the traumas of those difficult years, came from the libel and slander that was promoted (or tolerated) by a few of our “Christian” friends.
Most of us can probably relate to similar experiences. It’s disturbing to note how many of us have been injured deeply by gossip and by those who accepted, without checking, negative or derogatory innuendos whispered behind our backs. KHouse - Chuck Missler
Gossip, libel, and slander in the church? By people claiming to follow Christ? It happens more often than you might think; it’s disillusioning to see the church and its leadership abandon their mission for politics.
Hatred, strife, divisions, anger (Galatians 5) appear in the church, all while smiling and saying “we’re here to spread the love of Christ” (as long as you mindlessly conform to our political beliefs having nothing to do with Biblical doctrine, and the single mortal sin is asking questions).
Why bother?
The church destroys its witness outside and inside. Much like the Pharisees — clean on the outside but full of corruption and hypocrisy on the inside. And those outside the church do notice.
In the beginning of the pandemic age, many pastors promoted unquestionably false ideas — covid isn’t real, it won’t affect us here, and why don’t you trust the Lord? You need help.
Oh, and you’re no longer welcome here.
Why Bother?
As data continues to poor in, it’s now proved those pastors were (and still are) 100 percent wrong — continuing to deny reality puts them in the class of flat-earthers. Deaths from covid were not “just the flu.”
We may never know how many people died directly of Covid-19, since different places had different reporting rules and wildly different amounts of testing. So the best we can do is to look at all deaths above and beyond what we would normally expect, a figure known as “excess mortality.”
By this measure, an estimated twenty-eight million additional people died worldwide from 2020 to 2023, according to The Economist’s excess-mortality tracker. Some died directly from Covid-19, and some indirectly (because of overwhelmed hospitals or the strain caused by the isolation and upheaval, among other reasons).
In the United States, by the same measure, an estimated 1.3 to 1.4 million additional people died beyond what we’d normally expect over those three years.
“The Unthinkable” (Revised and Updated), Amanda Ripley (ebook) Preface, paragraph 5-6
In the face of misinformation pushed during the pandemic age, the question remains:
Why bother?
Who can you trust if “men of the cloth” display such bizarre behavior exhibiting callous disregard for the very people they should minister to?
If you know college-age people, you’ve likely heard the age-old excuse of not attending church because of hypocrisy and stupidity in the church. Covid, sadly, proved their excuse true. You must wonder, how many people will end their lives un-saved directly due to the actions of Christians during the pandemic?
How many pastors apologized and admitted wrong for their actions during covid? Admitted dividing the body over political issues was wrong? Admitted living on the fruits of flesh instead of the spirit? Admitted covid wasn’t “just the flu.” Admitted their stance of “trust the Lord” (and you won’t get sick) is inconsistent with returning potato salad to the fridge (a good idea by the way).
No doubt exists pastors were wildly out of order during covid — in spiritual, scientific, and moral areas.
No doubt we’ve heard few apologies for unquestionably incorrect actions. I’ve only heard one pastor accept responsibility and admit he was out of order.
Calvary Chapel San Antonio’s Pastor said he is heartbroken after a COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in dozens of positive cases.
“Immediately we shut down the church to get everyone through a quarantine period,” said Ron Arbaugh, Pastor of Calvary Chapel. Arbaugh said if he could go back to when they reopened he would do things a bit differently.
“I accept full responsibility. I’m the leader of the church,” said Pastor Arbaugh.
That’s called leadership, for those pastors unfamiliar with the concept.
How many pastors admitted they were in error? Or did they say “it’s not my fault?” Or perhaps they think they’re infallible and don’t make mistakes.
Chuck Missler said “Never underestimate a human’s ability to rationalize” and that might explain pastors justifying obviously incorrect actions during the pandemic age, allowing in their church gossip and slander, dividing the church, prioritizing politics over ministry, and more.
Why bother with the recent church as it reduces itself to the ethics and morals of society at large? What happened to the city on a hill and a light in the darkness?
Despair — why bother?
The Problem
Society slouches toward Gomorrah. The church has willfully (since the dawn of the pandemic era) and merrily abandoned its mission and destroyed its witness; many of its leaders don’t care as they’re more involved with politics than Christ.
Lou Holtz mentioned in the old days people talked of obligations and responsibilities. Today it’s rights and privileges. That poor attitude infested the church as leaders hold more concern for political ideas over the needs of membership.
Society (and recently the church) moved from duty, honor, integrity to what works for me as leaders (in politics or the church) abandon ethics, common sense, logic, and the scientific method.
The dawn of the pandemic age brought to the surface what lied buried for a long time — many political or church leaders lack the ethics and morals to hold their position.
We can’t do much about unethical, immoral, and unbiblical pastors. Or political leaders speaking out of both sides of their mouth.
Why bother?
Solution
Yet the solution to this malaise isn’t new. It’s as old (and simple) as the Boy Scout oath.
On my honor, I will do my best, to do my duty, to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. — Scout Oath
Who would not want those characteristics? Why do we not demand them of our pastors and leaders and allow them to be mentally asleep?
That oath leads to:
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. — Scout Law
Sounds similar to the works of the spirit, does it not? “Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance.” As people (and the church) abandon those principles, it’s inevitable they slouch towards Gomorrah, sinking with society into the quagmire instead of lighting a path the needful world needs.
Yet the issues and challenges we face are not new with solutions unknown.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history.
What is demanded, then, is a return to these truths… Obama’s inaugural Address
How often do you hear a Democrat espouse such principles today? How often does the church live up to theirs? The answer to both is “not very much” — a reminder the church since the dawn of the pandemic age can represent the worst of politics in place of the best of Christ.
We must return to good old-fashioned ethics — in our everyday lives, schools, politics, and doubly so in the church and its leadership. A crowd screeches “religion in school!” Not so. We’re speaking of ethics, not religion (or even morality, for the time being).
Ethics — The science of human duty; the body of rules of duty drawn from this science; a particular system of principles and rules concerting duty, whether true or false; rules of practice in respect to a single class of human actions; as, political or social ethics; medical ethics.
Morality — Relating to duty or obligation; pertaining to those intentions and actions of which right and wrong, virtue and vice, are predicated, or to the rules by which such intentions and actions ought to be directed; relating to the practice, manners, or conduct of men as social beings in relation to each other, as respects right and wrong, so far as they are properly subject to rules.
Webster’s 1913 dictionary (The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide])
Ethics might be summarized as my word is my bond. Duty. Honor. Integrity. Notice ethics may be a duty to something wrong, as the classic TV trope of mob ethics shows — murder is acceptable to mob ethics, as long as it’s performed a certain way.
Morality rides in to save us from this conundrum shouting murder is wrong!
Morality involves right and wrong and by definition must come from outside society (i.e. the Bible and God). Absent God and absolute standards it’s simply (as Richard Dawkins said) “Moral philosophic reasoning and a shifting zeitgeist” — which boils down to majority rules or might makes right, and varies over time.
Morals (right and wrong) come from the Bible and God.
Ethics from the Boy Scouts.
Of course you need both. Ethics forms your sense of duty, or as Obama said “honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism.” Morality (what is absolutely right and wrong) comes from the Bible.
If people lived by the boy scout law and oath — in the church and outside it — would not our politics be better, our churches not be filled with gossip, hypocrisy, and flat-earth level misinformation?
In biblical terms:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 16:9)
That’s in Jewish terms, but relates a timeless principle. Why can’t people admit their actions were wrong? Since politicians won’t, and the church willfully abandoned ethics since the pandemic age, the solution remains simple: It’s up to us — if people lead, church leaders will follow.
Stop gossip, stop slander, be trustworthy, kind. Don’t divide over Fluff (i.e. pre-trip, baptism, stupid political issues, healthcare during pandemics, etc). Honor your commitments, no weaseling.
Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord?
Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?
Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.
Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.
Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the Lord, and keep their promises even when it hurts.
Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent.
Such people will stand firm forever.
(Psalm 15 NLT)
How is the church doing on this lately? As Chuck Missler noted, not so good. Admit when you’re wrong. Use the scientific method and modify your position when you’re wrong — the scientific method comes from God (see Daniel 1), should we not avail ourselves of it?
- Make a guess
- Look at experimental data
- Modify your opinion if evidence dictates
Never weary doing the right thing. It may cost you to honor your word. It may cost you to admit you’re wrong. It may be humbling to change position. It may be difficult to walk away (in church no less) when people gossip or speak evil about others (sometimes about people they don’t even know), and never fall for “let me tell you about John Doe, so that you can pray for them.”
But it’s the right thing to do; staying on the fruit of the spirit is much harder than the fruit of the flesh.
What faces us as a nation and church isn’t impossible to solve.
- Live by the Boy Scout oath — ethics
- Don’t speak evil of people
- Honor your word (and commitments)
- Keep politics out of the church
- Learn from new information
- Admit when you’re wrong
As Paul continues:
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; (2 Corinthians 2:8–9)
Life is hard. Trials will come. People won’t always be kind and may speak evil or gossip about you, and the church is no exception as its leaders allow such behavior.
Dad worked through his life to help people — financially and though his architecture business. Many of those receiving help failed to honor their word to him; others after his passing forgot they even knew him.
Those are embarrassing positions for people who claim to follow Christ. Christians rationalize forgetting people or not honoring their commitment — we’re doing the Lord’s work, so we’re too busy to send a card after someone passes, or weaseling out of a deal because we need to be good stewards of the Lord’s money … or any of millions of other possibilities.
All are ethical lapses. All rationalize what the Bible forbids — gossip, slander, divineness, wrath, dishonesty. Those may be moral people knowing right from wrong, but their ethics (doing what is right, integrity, honor) is zero.
How dad continued doing the right thing I wish I knew. But he did.
Even when it hurt.
Even when others broke their word.
Even when people conveniently forgot they knew him when he needed help, and certainly he was forgotten after his passing.
I don’t know how he did it. But he always strove to do the right thing (even when it hurt), even to those treating him unfairly (and many of those were “Christians” at least in name).
Just because the church (a portion of it anyway) and its leadership lost its way during a pandemic and chose to live on the works of the flesh instead of works of the spirit does not provide us as individuals justification to do so. Politics and other stupid stuff are (and always will be) Fluff.
Doom and despair? Easy to fall into, yet how other people act must not influence how I act. Don’t repay evil for evil, gossip with gossip, dishonor with dishonor. The Lord calls you to be different, failure of those principles by others and leadership will never relieve your obligations to live by the fruit of the spirit.
Dad once told me when we were debating a doctrinal point and I asked why do “X?” He replied, “Because the Lord said to.” Debate concluded.
And that’s why bother.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…
For we are each responsible for our own conduct.
Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
Galatians 5–6 NLT