Breakpoint

Nearly a year after COVID shutdowns began in the United States, the ABC affiliate in San Francisco ran this headline: “Private schools opening in-person where public schools aren’t.” In February 2021, while the majority of private schools in California were back in-person, most public schools were still “distance learning.”  Around the same time, the public health department in Toledo, Ohio, had ordered all schools back to distance learning for the winter. Local gyms, offices, and casinos were allowed to stay open. In response, a small private Christian school sued. The 6th Circuit decided in their favor, and the school stayed open while every public school in the area remained closed.  Stories like this repeated all over the country from the fall of 2020 through the end of the pandemic. Public schools, under the direction of teachers’ unions and, at times, overzealous public officials, stayed closed for weeks, months, and, in some cases, years longer than private schools. Now, the results are in from these experiments, and the data show a devastating effect on kids.   Last month, The New York Times editorial board wrote that “The Startling Evidence on Learning Loss Is In.” According to the piece, school closures set math and reading scores among 9-year-old students back by at least 20 years. “The challenges have been compounded by an epidemic of absenteeism,” the editors wrote, “as students who grew accustomed to missing school during the pandemic continue to do so after the resumption of in-person classes.” Tragically, too many public officials were taken in by the narrative that to contract COVID, even for kids at low risk for serious infection, was more dangerous than two decades’ worth of learning loss. Unfortunately, kids are now paying the price. And as this generation of kids gets older, society will pay the price, too.  The fact that so-called “distance learning” was mostly “no learning” says a lot about the kind of creatures human beings are. Kids, like all humans, are embodied beings, which makes being physically together with others a categorically different thing than only seeing faces on a screen.   God made us for relationships. As helpful as computers and phones are, they are not substitutes for real people. In short, technology can enhance learning, but even the most sophisticated technologies should not shape learning.   The data on COVID-era learning loss reveals something else about children. The terrible numbers were not nearly as terrible for kids with heavily engaged parents. This played out in multiple ways. In the cases of schools that reopened much earlier than others, it was often parents pushing local officials. For kids forced into prolonged distance learning, those with parents who made sure they showed up to Zoom class and helped with homework did best overall.   Of course, the importance of parental engagement in education was another condition that pre-existed COVID. Still, data from before, during, and after the pandemic show that parents are the single most important factor in the education of a child and a healthy home the most important ingredient for a successful life. This is a remarkable opportunity for Christians. The Church has always cared about kids, and the Church has always cared about education. The state-centric way of trying to prepare a new generation of citizens is not fulfilling its promise. Thankfully, there are many Christians dedicated to serving kids as best they can in and out of public schools. Others are innovating new ways to do school, including starting Christian schools inside church buildings in struggling communities. Others are advocating for school choice so that every family can afford to send their kids to schools that will serve them best. And others are working to provide resources and opportunities for those kids who remain within the public system.  This is why the Colson Center has doubled down on our investment in Christians who are called to the realm of education. To this end, we have developed resources to form teachers in a Christian worldview and help them apply it to their work. Find out more and access the free training resources at educators.colsoncenter.org.  To support this work and resource more educators with a Christian worldview, give at colsoncenter.org/december.  For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

The Supreme Court has decided to hear a case about chemical abortion. The case will consider whether certain regulations for the so-called “abortion pill” (which is really a two-pill regimen) should have been jettisoned in 2021 when, using COVID as cover, the FDA removed the requirement of an in-person consultation before issuing a prescription. Chemical abortions are now accessed by mail and telemedicine across state lines.   Unfortunately, the case won’t consider the FDA’s original approval of chemical abortion, which was rushed through two decades ago without adequate consideration of the risk to women. Now, without the supervision of a medical professional, the risk to women is even greater. In fact, chemical abortions carry a complication rate four times higher than surgical abortion.   Of course, there are no safe abortions anyway. Every “successful” abortion always results in the loss of life. Abortion by mail only makes both the vulnerable and the guilty less accountable for a terrible decision. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

In the beloved movie The Princess Bride the character Vizzini frequently cries, “inconceivable!” about things that keep happening. Finally, another character observes, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” That scene comes to mind annually, when Merriam-Webster Dictionary announces its “word of the year.”   The announcement is intended to recognize words that have defined our cultural moment. In recent years, it has recognized words our cultural moment has redefined. For example, last year’s word “gaslighting” describes unhealthy behavior in which someone tries to manipulate you into questioning your sanity. However, like the word “toxic” before it, “gaslighting” is now a catch-all term used by some to shut down pretty much anyone who disagrees with them. “They” was the 2019 word of the year, which, in ordinary English, is a third-person plural pronoun. In today’s Newspeak, it’s a mandatory way of referring to someone who claims to be “nonbinary,” also a redefined word.  This year’s word is “authentic,” which the dictionary defines as “not false or imitation: real, actual,” or “worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact.” However, the context in which this word is most frequently and passionately used is the debate over gender identity, as in “be your authentic self.” So, it now refers to anything but reality or conformity to fact. To be “authentic” in 2023 often means stubbornly ignoring fact, hormonally masking or surgically reconstructing fact, and demanding that others also ignore fact, even in classrooms, competitions, locker rooms, and in print. In short, “authenticity” now means conformity with subjective internal feelings that are widely assumed to be the defining feature of individuals and the highest value in society.  Theologian Carl Trueman documented how we got to this place—how the self became psychologized, how psychology became sexualized, and how sex became politicized—in his book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. This new definition of “authenticity” is part of that story—that living a fulfilling life consists primarily in looking within, discovering who you “truly are,” and then projecting that identity into the world. These are all central to his account.   Trueman explains:   "Expressive individualism particularly refers to the idea that in order to be fulfilled, in order to be an authentic person, in order to be genuinely me, I need to be able to express outwardly or perform publicly that which I feel I am inside. … In a society where the expressive individual is increasingly the norm and increasingly presented as that which we should all be, then the idea of society itself forcing us to play a role that we don’t feel comfortable with inside makes us inauthentic." This new definition of “authentic,” that what I feel inside is the highest truth, would have baffled people in centuries past and still baffles many non-Westerners today. However, the real problem is that this new definition of “authentic” is utter nonsense. Truth is not primarily subjective but objective. Reality is not decided by individuals but given by a Creator. One of the things our Creator both demands of us and enables us to do through redemption is conform our inner selves to His will and design, which He reveals, objectively, in both creation and Scripture.   To be authentically me is to be who God says I am. Our identity is established by, guaranteed by, and secured in Jesus Christ. Even more important than getting words right is pointing to the reality to which words refer and are permanently tethered. Words become nonsense otherwise, and that should make this practice of redefining words truly “inconceivable.”  Before I sign off today, I wanted to say thank you for making Breakpoint a part of your Christian worldview diet. Everywhere I travel, I meet listeners who share how these daily doses of clarity help them think biblically, have hard conversations, and disciple their kids and grandkids. If Breakpoint has been a help to you and your family, please consider making a year-end gift of support at colsoncenter.org/give.   This Breakpoint was co-authored by Shane Morris.  For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

A listener recently asked how to respond to the accusation that Christians are not free thinkers. One way is to go over the list of novelists, artists, scientists, and philosophers from the last two millennia and see how many of them were Christians or worked from a broadly Christian framework.   Consider also how much art over the past 20 centuries can be called “sacred.” Read Augustine of Hippo or Jonathan Edwards and see if they qualify as free thinkers. Learn about the lives of scientists like Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, Galileo and others. And then look up how much science advanced before Christian civilization.  Christians believe the world is knowable and that, made in God’s image, we are knowers. There is no thinking without that basis. And then you need to be clear about the word “free.” Historically, that meant the freedom to do whatever he or she wanted to do. Those people rarely made the world better.  For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Many Christians are familiar with the beautiful and tender words of the medieval theologian Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) in the hymns “O Sacred Head Now Wounded,” “Jesus the Very Thought of Thee,” and “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts.” Like other Church Fathers, he also preached on the topics of Advent and Christmas and had rich words to share.  As well as a theologian, Bernard was a Church reformer, mystic, and abbot of the Cistercian monastery at Clairvaux. He played important roles in both ecclesiastical and secular politics, particularly as a preacher of the Second Crusade. Because of his eloquence and his emphasis on divine love, Dante made him his final guide of Paradise in his Divine Comedy. He was also cited by major Protestant Reformers such as Luther and Calvin as supporting justification by faith.  Although Bernard is known for holding a very high view of Mary, the overall focus of his Sermon 9 on the Nativity remains squarely on Jesus. It was built around a repeated refrain: “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born in Bethlehem of Judah.” In the first part of the sermon, Bernard emphasized the absolute wonder of this proclamation:  A voice of gladness has resounded in our land. In the dwellings of sinners a voice of joy and salvation has been heard. The good news has been announced, news of comfort, news of rejoicing, worthy of all acceptance. Rejoice and give praise, O you mountains. All you trees of the forest applaud before the face of the Lord, for now he is coming. Hear, you heavens; and you, earth, give ear. Let the whole of creation be astounded and give praise; but you, O humans, above all others. For “Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is born in Bethlehem of Judah.”  Bernard described this news as the sweetest, the most delightful, and the best to ever come to Earth. Words were inadequate, he said, to express the love that wells up in his heart at the beauty of the message. He then explained that every word in the sentence is full of meaning. The name “Jesus” points to Him as the source of salvation. The title “Christ” points to His anointing and the healing unction He provides. The title “Son of God” points to His greatness and the gifts He gives.   Bernard continued:  Take courage, you who are lost, for to seek and save that which was lost Jesus now comes. Return to health, you who are sick, for with the ointment of mercy Christ comes to heal the contrite of heart.  Rejoice all you who are ambitious for great things, for the Son of God descends on you to make you co-heirs of his own kingdom. … Why has the Son of God become Man but in order to make all men sons of God? Who, then, will resist his will? Jesus forgives us: who then will condemn us? Christ heals us: who will hurt us? The Son of God raises us up: who will put us down?  Jesus is born: let the person whose sinful conscience deserves eternal damnation rejoice, for Jesus’ pity exceeds all crimes, no matter how great their number or enormity. Christ is born: therefore, let the person who is tormented by deeply rooted vices rejoice. For no spiritual illness, no matter how chronic, can stand its ground before Christ’s healing ointment. The Son of God is born: let him whose habit is to desire great things rejoice, for the giver of great things is at hand.  Then Bernard explained “in Bethlehem of Judah.” Bethlehem means “house of bread,” and so we need to receive the food that comes from heaven in Scripture and in Christ, the Bread of Life. He noted that Jesus could have been born in a palace, but instead chose a small, poor village, because the only commodity absent in heaven and abundant on Earth is poverty. Citing Genesis 49, Bernard defined “Judah” as “confession,” concluding that we need to become like Bethlehem in Judah, receiving Jesus by faith and confessing Him with our mouth so that we may be saved.  Bernard’s sermon reminds us how easy it is to miss the astonishing wonder of all that the Incarnation means. So, to celebrate Christ’s birth, we must intentionally take the time to ponder the wonder of it, rejoice in it, and respond in faith to all that God has done for us.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine.  For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

John Stonestreet and Maria Baer discuss prenatal genetic testing and Trisomy 18 after a Texas woman’s request for an abortion was denied by the Texas Supreme Court. Also, Rob Reiner is releasing a negative documentary on Christian Nationalism, and SCOTUS will hear a challenge on access to the abortion pill mifepristone.    Recommendations Colson Center National Conference Segment 1: Prenatal Genetic Testing and the Texas Abortion Case  "TX Supreme Court Rules Woman Can’t Get In-State Abortion" "5 Things to know about the latest abortion case in Texas" Segment 2: New Documentary on "Christian Nationalism" "Rob Reiner Takes on Christian Nationalism Threat in “God and Country” Trailer" "Rob Reiner is deluded about ‘Christian Nationalism’" Segment 3: Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case on Abortion Drug Access  "Supreme Court Agrees to Take Up Case on abortion drug access"  "Appeals Court Rules FDA Must Restore Safeguards for Chemical Abortion Drugs" For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

According to conservative commentator Ann Coulter, the pro-life movement “has gone from compassion for the child to cruelty to the mother (and child). Trisomy 18 is not a condition that is compatible with life.” She was referring to a Texas Supreme Court decision rejecting a woman’s request for an abortion on the basis of a health exception. Trisomy 18 is a genetic disorder of which 50% of babies die within their first week of life and 90-95% don’t survive after one year.   But this shows why phrases like “incompatible with life” are so problematic. Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum responded to Coulter with a photo of his daughter Bella, who has Trisomy 18, and is now 15 years old.   Trisomy 18 does not risk the life of the mom. And Trisomy 18 does not make a baby less human, and therefore no less valuable. But adopting language like “incompatible with life” will make doing the right thing far less likely.  For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Rob Reiner, known for his role as “Meathead” in the 1970s sitcom All in the Family and for producing movie classics like The Princess Bride, recently announced a new documentary he helped produce about the dangers of Christian Nationalism. According to Reiner, opposing abortion and the LGBTQ agenda are central tenets of Christian Nationalism. Several evangelicals, current and former, are featured in the documentary.  It’s always strange when a non-Christian explains to Christians what is and what is not true Christianity. Even stranger is when professing Christians who have abandoned Christian moral teaching about creation, sex, and marriage—as is the case with a few of the experts interviewed—are asked to define Christian faithfulness. All of this means that believers need to have a better understanding of this contentious idea, which has gotten so much attention in recent years.   A helpful place to start is to understand the place of nations in the Christian concept of the world.  The first use of the Hebrew word for “nation” appears in Genesis 10 in a listing of nations that descended from the sons of Noah. It’s notable that this first reference comes before the Tower of Babel, when God created more nations by confusing the languages and scattering people across the Earth. Nations, it seems, were part of God’s plan for humanity even before the rebellion at Babel. And, in that story, the dividing into tongues and scattering of people is described more as an act of mercy than judgment, to prevent humans from doing all that was possible as one people.  In Genesis 12, God tells Abram that his descendants would become a great nation, and that, through them, all the nations of the world would be blessed. The Old Testament frequently refers to the Jewish people as a nation and uses the same word to describe the kingdoms and empires around them.  In the New Testament, ethne, the Greek word for “nation,” most famously appears in Jesus’ instructions to make disciples “of all nations,” which is a fulfillment of God’s original promise to Abraham. Also interesting is that in the New Testament, language about nations seems to exclude “empire.” Though ethne can be translated either as “people group” or “nation,” the two are related. Historically, the word “nation” referred to a relatively homogenous group, ethnically, culturally, and linguistically. Each kingdom of the ancient world mostly consisted of people of a single nation. Thus, ethne can refer to a people group within an empire, but not to empires themselves which contain multiple nations.  Nations are also present in biblical descriptions of the coming Kingdom. So, it seems that something of the nations will survive into eternity. For example, Micah 4:2 says:  Many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,     to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways     and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law,      and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  Also, Revelation 21:24 says that “by the light [of God and of the Lamb] will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it [the New Jerusalem].”   Of course, because human beings are fallen, everything humans build is susceptible to sin, including nations. Just as sins characterize our lives as individuals, certain sins dominate nations, corrupting their cultures. And, just as humans must be cleansed of sin to enter the Kingdom, so must nations be cleansed from sins to have any place in the New Heavens and New Earth.  The high views that J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis held of ancient northern European culture show up in their tales of Narnia and Middle Earth. They believed virtue could be found, but they also recognized the evils of Norse paganism. Thus, they argued for a recovery of a “northernness” cleansed of its paganism and Christianized by the Gospel.  All that the cleansing of nations entails isn’t clear, but the result is beautifully described in Revelation 7, where “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” join together in worshipping the Lamb. This confirms that, at least to some degree, our nationality will accompany us into eternity. Rather than homogenizing us, God’s Kingdom will be a glorious mosaic of people of different races, ethnicities, and nations. This makes sense given that God delighted in the diversity of His creation.   Of course, all good loves, including love of spouse, child, family, community, or culture, can be disordered and even idolatrous. Nationalism becomes idolatry whenever love of nation devolves into an excessive or uncritical devotion, is confused with the Kingdom of God, justifies evil, or engages in a partiality that treats citizens of other nations as less worthy of love or justice or charity. However, the idea that nations should be defined, self-governing, morally upright, and the immediate object of Christian stewardship is not idolatry.    Christians are called to steward the nations they are in. After all, our nations are the most obvious aspect of the time and place in which God has placed us. What all nations have in common is that Jesus rules over them all, and no one in heaven or earth will usurp His authority.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Drs. Glenn Sunshine and Timothy D. Padgett. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org Revised from a Breakpoint published on March 9, 2022 

Right to Life News recently shared stories of couples in the U.K. who were pressured to abort their children after learning they may have Down syndrome. In fact, one of the mothers was reminded multiple times that she could legally abort her baby up until birth: “I was told that until my baby had started travelling down the birth canal, I could still terminate.”  In just the last two years, Scotland has seen an 84% increase in abortions where the baby had been diagnosed with Down syndrome. In the U.S., babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted 85% of the time. In some European nations, as many as 98% of children with the condition are aborted.  Many believe that ending the life of a child with Down syndrome is mercy. Yet an overwhelming number of people with Down syndrome and their siblings report high levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Even if they didn’t, every life is a gift and should be protected.  For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a famous twentieth century Christian, was a dynamic and occasionally controversial theologian who became a household name because of his character and courage. When it mattered the most, in a time when many of his fellow Germans—including pastors and priests—embraced Hitler and the Nationalist ideas of the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer stood with conviction.   After the Nazi rise to power in 1933, the bulk of German Protestant groups submitted to the oversight of pro-Nazi leaders. These so-called “German Christians” compromised the eternal truths of God to a racist, statist, and eugenicist totalitarian regime. Because of their compromise, they were left free to practice their faith, as long they did not transgress Nazi doctrine.  Bonhoeffer, with others such as Martin Niemöller and Karl Barth, did transgress. They also stood against compromising churchmen. Bonhoeffer helped found the dissident Confessing Church and underground seminaries and was among those who published the defiant Barmen Declaration. Rejecting his earlier pacifism, he took on an active role in resistance to Hitler’s tyranny, eventually joining the plot to assassinate the madman.  Though Bonhoeffer has been rightly praised for his faithfulness and courage in each of these activities, his most courageous act may have been simply going home. In the early years of the Nazi terror, Bonhoeffer went first to the United Kingdom and then the United States, taking up teaching positions in a free, safe part of the world.   His conscience, however, did not let him remain in safety while his nation was facing and committing such evil. In 1939, just weeks before the war began, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany. Writing to the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, he explained, “I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.”  Despite his courage, Bonhoeffer wasn’t perfect. His theology, at times, strays and is puzzling. In fact, one of his most important co-laborers, Karl Barth, had his own theological complications and moral failings. This is a theme that frequently emerges in Christian history. Figures as prominent as Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr., though used by God in incredible ways, were flawed in behavior and belief.   This fits well with the heroes described in Holy Scripture. The author of Hebrews, in chapter 11, offers a list of champions for God that is rightly described as the Bible’s Hall of Faith. Even the best of the list, men like Abraham and Moses, are as famous for their flaws as their victories. In the cases of some who are included, like Samson, Gideon, and Jephthah, it’s difficult to understand how they are even heroes. Yet there they are included among the others.  The danger in refusing to honor the imperfect isn’t just the temptation to whitewash others’ sins while excusing our own. It’s also the temptation to wait for an imaginary tomorrow when everything is just right rather than working today to oppose what’s wrong. And it is here that we can learn another lesson from Bonhoeffer. In his book Ethics, he called on Christians to be faithful in the here and now, writing,  Do and dare what is right, not swayed by the whim of the moment. Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be. Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom. Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of living.  For Bonhoeffer, the Christian faith must be lived in the time and place in which God places us. In that sense, courage and faith are inseparable. We must do the right thing, even if the cost is great and even if we feel inadequate for the task.  God has called you and me into this tempest of the living. As James instructs, Christianity is not merely believing the right things but doing them, empowered by the Spirit given to us in Christ Jesus. This will mean risk. It may mean failure. But it’s through the imperfect faith of His people that God is at work renewing His world.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Timothy Padgett.  For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, visit Colsoncenter.org