"DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH"

The internet has largely obliterated intelligent discussion of opposing viewpoints - even as it intentionally drives wedges to further divide opinions. 

People involved in online arguments are always urging each other to "do your own research". 

This cracks me up every time for at least three reasons.

First, are we really going to pretend that you can trust the information you read on the internet? Seems obvious to me that it's impossible for the layman to know which sources are credible and which are not. 

Second, every "fact" posted online has also been "debunked" somewhere online. The question then becomes "But has the debunk also been debunked?" 

Third, even if you found reliable sources, there's no guarantee that you know how to interpret the data. Two people can look at the same data set and come to very different conclusions.

(As a succinct example, there's the clever quip you might have seen online before: "99% of the things I worry about never come to pass. Undeniable proof that worrying works!") 

When I see someone urging others to "do their own research", I know that person exists in an intellectual bubble, smugly secure in the knowledge that he has it all figured out. 

In the age of the internet, how do we bring back critical thinking skills and a bit of epistemic humility? 

SICK DAYS

By the time I arrived home last Wednesday night after teaching English, my stomach had grown sour. 

It was the beginning of several days battling one of the ugliest stomach bugs I have ever encountered. I have spent my nights in the guest bedroom, hoping to spare Melissa and Sarah. (But I'm afraid I was not successful.) 

Thursday and Friday passed without a single accomplishment beyond binge-watching a critically acclaimed Apple TV show called Severance.  (Samuel was home sick on Thursday, too, and shared the recommendation along with his trial subscription to the platform. It's an engaging dystopian sci-fi tale of a corporation which severs its workers' memories between home life and work life.) 

By Saturday morning, I was feeling good enough to do some yard work - the fresh air helped revive me a bit after my 48 hours in the basement. 

Even today my appetite is not completely back on line and just about everything I have eaten has induced regret within 20 minutes, but the worst of my other symptoms have all passed. 

It wasn't the best weekend to "spring forward" and tonight I am exhausted, but hopeful for a better week ahead.

And it's going to be a busy one. Sarah's final show choir performance will be Tuesday night, concluding with special recognition of her and the other seniors. (Keeping tissues handy!) 

Beyond that special event, there will be plenty of work to get done in advance of taking a few days away - especially in light of my sick days this past week. On Friday night, God willing, Melissa and I will be flying to El Paso to spend an extended weekend with Caleb and check out his Texas living arrangements. 

I'm glad to have had the sickness last week rather than this week or the next!

TEACHER SATISFACTION

As a former high school teacher and a present ESL teacher, I was reflecting on what makes teaching such a rewarding experience. Here's what I have come up with so far:

Levels of Teacher Satisfaction

• Attention Captured - This is the first step. If the student is distracted or resistant, the entire enterprise of education is sidelined. As a teacher, it feels great to see a student's eyes focused on the subject at hand.

• Misconceptions Cleared - Finding misunderstandings and clearing them away can be an incredibly satisfying feeling for a teacher. But it's important to remember that old ideas do not die easily. 

• Lightbulb Moment - Teachers live for the moment that the light comes on and the student sees something clearly for the first time. This is an important milestone because ground has been gained which can never be lost again.

• Internal Motivation to Learn Beyond Class - How incredibly satisfying it is for a teacher to hear the student has taken up study of the subject outside of the classroom. And inward curiosity is now driving the student forward.

• Able to Teach Others - When a student returns a decade later to tell the teacher, "You inspired me to become a teacher myself", it is enough to carry that teacher through even the toughest school year.

• Life Dedicated to the Subject - Just as good or better than inspiring future teachers is the experience of seeing a student fall so in love with the subject that it ends up consuming his or her lifetime. This is the ultimate.

What all these have in common is the teacher's love for the subject and great desire to see others know, understand, and love the subject as well.

I think the local pastor should be striving to reach each of these levels of satisfaction with the congregation seated before the pulpit. 

GOOD NEWS: WE ARE NOT REPAID

As I suspected, when I googled "The Shack" and "heresy", I found the sharpest criticism of the movie reserved for its rejection of Penal Substitutionary Atonement. 

PSA is the gospel as far as most believers are concerned.

So many are convinced that God simply cannot forgive sins without inflicting punishment on someone. They make a case for Jesus taking our punishment at the hand of the Father while on the cross, but they never consider this simple truth: sin which is punished has not been, by definition, forgiven. 

Any particular wrongdoing is either punished or forgiven. 

It's one or the other. 

The atonement sacrifices of the Old Testament involved the death of a lamb, yes, but the focus was on the blood of that lamb, not its death. And it was slaughtered as humanely as possible. Pain was minimized. 

The blood of that innocent lamb was used to cleanse the temple from sin (temporarily). 

Sin was washed away. Not punished. 

How is it that God was able to forgive in Old Testament times and then can't in the New Testament?

Take a moment to meditate on the beauty of Psalm 103:

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.

9 He will not always accuse us,

nor harbor His anger forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins

or repaid us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.

12 As far as the east is from the west,

so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,

so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

14 For He knows our frame;

He is mindful that we are dust.

REACTION TO THE SHACK

I watched The Shack on Netflix tonight, based on the recommendation of a young friend. It was not what I was expecting.

When the movie came out in 2017, I only recall hearing largely negative reviews from various Christians critical of its theology.

The word "heresy" was thrown at the movie from every direction. 

I never saw it. I never even investigated the story line or the theological positions of the movie's producers.

This was before I understood that cries of "heresy!" in theological circles are the equivalent of "racism!" in politics. 

In other words, sometimes based in reality but most often imagined or exaggerated. 

So when I sat down to watch it today, I braced myself to be "shocked!!" and "offended!!" on God's behalf.

I was neither.

It did make me cry, though. 

If you're not familiar with The Shack, the basic storyline involves a grieving father who finds healing over a weekend spent with God in a cabin in the woods. I thought the storyline was engaging, the acting was good, and the movie was relatively uncheesy (for a "religious" movie). 

I look forward to reading up on the criticisms of the movie - to find out if I missed some horrifying theological misstep or if I'm just heretically inclined myself! ;-)  

I look forward to sharing The Shack with Melissa and my kids and seeing what they think. 

BIBLICAL ADMONISHMENT

Colossians 1:28 - Him [Jesus] we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 

This word translated as "warning" or "admonishing" in most English versions is νουθετέω (noutheteō) in the Greek.   

According to Dr. David Pao, a professor of New Testament, this word "may imply that an error needs to be corrected" (p.132 in his commentary on Colossians).

N.T. Wright confirms: noutheteo, "though sometimes understood as meaning simply 'putting into the mind', most likely includes the idea of the setting of someone's mind into proper order, with the implication that it has been in some way out of joint." 

He continues: "Positive teaching may not be enough: there is no telling what muddles Christian minds will get into from time to time, and part of the task of one who proclaims Christ is to straighten out confusions, to search for and tie together correctly the loose ends of half-grasped ideas, so that the positive teaching may not be instantly distorted upon reception, but may be properly understood, appreciated and lived out" (p.97-98 in his commentary on Colossians).

This is one of the most basic principles of effective teaching: first, find out what your students know that isn't so. Misunderstandings must be brought to light and named. 

If your goal is maturity in Christ, you cannot skip this step! 

ALI SPOKE TRUTH

"The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." ― Muhammad Ali

I would venture to say the same thing is true of a person who views faith the same at 50. 

I have no doubt many believers would disagree. I think most implicitly take utter consistency over the long haul as the height of holiness and piety.

I suppose it could be - assuming you lucked out and grew up in the perfect church with the perfect doctrine and pitch-perfect balance in all things. And not a single false view of God or Scripture ever took root in your imagination.

But if that wasn't your experience, then holding to the same faith at 50 as you did at 20 isn't admirable. 

It means you've stagnated. A long time ago.