Collaborative

This is the time of year that should be full of excitement and celebration. Sadly, for many of us the dread of spending extended time with family has already begun to settle into our bones. With the crushing weight of stress that many of us shoulder daily, the added strain of navigating family dynamics can be a tipping point, with a  result that is never pretty.

In the cattle show world there is a class called “Get of Sire.” This is a class where multiple offspring (usually 4) of one bull are judged against other groupings of offspring from other bulls and the standard is all about the idea of production. Is the gene pool strong enough from one bull to produce not just one outstanding calf, but to do it repeatedly? The idea is that outstanding breeding begets outstanding offspring.

This is not only how bovine genetics work, but it is also true for most things, whether it is sin begetting more sin or virtue producing more virtue. The question is, what are we begetting?

Bach lived in Germany in the first half of the eighteenth century, yet in his day, he was virtually unknown as a composer, and those who knew of his work hated it. He was an accomplished organist, yet the genius of his work as a composer would not be discovered until 80 years after his death. This humble man, who would become the baroque era’s greatest organist and composer, wrote most of his music never knowing if it would ever be played by anyone other than himself.

We inhabit different universes. We have no shared standards of conduct, especially sexual conduct. Our elites jettisoned all the old rules a long time ago, and we have to limp along on the thin reed of consent. There were odd twists in the latest spectacle. Some traditionalists excuse Kavanaugh for youthful indiscretions; for sexual progressives, his opposition to Roe is evidence he’s a creepy serial rapist. Our rudderless sexual ethics make no sense: The same people who defend pornographers and sex workers are in high dudgeon whenever someone acts out a pornographic fantasy.

Measurement of ministry effectiveness by way of clear, stated, and calculated metrics should have guided most church systems, but rarely have. Rather, fannies in seats and coins in offering plates have traditionally been the only indicators of church health.

Millennials are the canary in the mine telling us that our impersonal reliance upon technological shortcuts, in both work and personal interactions, has its drawbacks. They long for greater connection and purpose. A fundamental aspect to the imago Dei in each person is the inter-relatedness of the Trinity. The next generation has noticed what many of us have not seen creep up all around us as technological advances have claimed more and more of our attention.

In our culture we are abundantly blessed with opportunities for laziness. We don’t have to walk miles for clean water or hunt for food. At the press of a button, without leaving our homes, food and things appear on our doorsteps from all over the world. We can afford to be picky, to have a brand preference, to complain about calories. Even more so, we can afford to quit when things just are not working out the way we had wanted or planned. Everything is convenient.