Slideshow image
This post is available as a blog post or as a podcast. You can choose which format you prefer to receive it in!
If you subscribe to the podcast through Google podcasts, it should show up in your feed so you won't need to go find it. Our social media sites will link to our podcast page, which also offers a PDF of the text.
Click here if you would prefer to listen to the podcast audio of this message!

We are in a day and age where some of the most mind-boggling and oxymoronic terms have become commonplace. Most of us have probably heard about the idea of “fake news.” Or you’ve gotten used to people claiming “alternative facts.” It feels increasingly difficult to discern what is accurate and what is made up for the sake of discrediting or attacking others. What are we to do in such a confusing and contradictory world? We’re going to talk about that today.

Last week Fox News reached a settlement with Dominion Voting Systems with Fox agreeing to pay Dominion over 798 million dollars because of the lies they knowingly spread. In a rather ironic statement, Fox claimed in a statement, “This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.” I am baffled by the idea that they could a) intentionally lie on what claims to be a news broadcast; b) pay over ¾ of a billion dollars to avoid a trial and have more information come out; and c) follow it up by claiming to have “the highest journalistic standards.” I’m not naive enough to think that they are the only broadcaster that lacks true journalistic standards, but I shake my head at the scope and scale of the corruption in this case and the outsized influence it has had on the political and social landscape – in both Canada and the U.S.

This is one example of how things like lying, intentional deception, and denial of evidence, along with cynicism and skepticism have become standard fare in our culture. This isn’t just true in the media. It has become a normal way of operation for many in our world.

A question I’ve been wrestling with is, how can we – how can I – live well in a world like this? In a world that highlights and promotes deceit on one side and cynicism on the other – where honesty, integrity, intellectual openness, interpersonal curiosity, and Christlike spirituality are rare and not celebrated – how can we offer something different? Let me suggest four pieces of wisdom – three from Jesus’ sermon on the mount and one from Paul – that may guide us well.

  • Let your “yes be yes and your no be no."

Jesus says this when addressing a culture where people used religious oaths to defend the truthfulness of their statements. Of course, the implication was that if they didn’t swear an oath, they could lie or deceive as much as possible. Jesus calls for a different ethic among his followers…one in which oaths aren’t necessary because truthfulness and integrity is the basic standard. In a world full of deceit and deception, being a people who are honest and trustworthy is a first step to not only living differently but also presenting an alternative way of being to the world around us.

  • “Seek first the Kingdom of God."

In Matthew 6, still in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses people who are completely preoccupied with worrying about their economic state, their attire, and what they are going to eat. Jesus doesn’t say those things are unimportant, but he invites those who are a part of the kingdom of God to make that their most important priority.

When we’re preoccupied with having stuff, it is often rooted in a scarcity mindset – a view of the world that presumes there is not enough to go around so we need to grab after and hold on to whatever we can. This view can be held by both those with a lot and those with very little. An alternative reason for a preoccupation with having stuff is that we seek to form our sense of identity and value based on what we have relative to those around us. For the Jesus follower, both of these motivators stand in contrast to a worldview that says a) our God cares about you and will provide what you need, and b) your value stems from being created in the image of God and loved by the God of the universe, not because of anything you know, have, or accomplish.

Seeking God’s kingdom first – a kingdom marked by love and generosity and caring for others – helps to both bolster that kingdom worldview within us and counter the scarcity mindset and the sense that our value is in what we gain. If we’re going after God’s kingdom first, we aren’t trying to build up our own.

  • "Love your enemy."

A third thing Jesus calls us to in the Sermon on the Mount is enemy love. In our world, it seems that not only do we struggle to love our enemy, but we are also very quick to set others up as our enemy. Whether it be those across a political aisle or those with theological differences, we struggle to disagree as colleagues or as fellow citizens. People on all sides of issues turn disagreements into conflict and disagreers as enemies who are out to destroy our nation, our lives, or our children's lives.

While I think this enemy-making is extremely dangerous, the fact is that Jesus calls us to love even those who are actually our enemies. We are to see them as people - not as objects or ideological representatives. And we are to see them as people who are created as fellow image bearers of God. If we are loving others, our focus will be on helping the image of God to be seen in them, not demeaning, attacking or dehumanizing them. In a world where dehumanization of those we disagree with is expected, this is a strongly countercultural posture.

  • “Everything belongs to you.”

A final thing on this topic comes from Paul as he sought to work out Jesus’ way in the world. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing people who are fighting and taking sides. While this is happening in the church, it sounds a lot like what we hear in the political world these days. People are aligning with specific leaders. In Corinth, it was Peter, Paul, and Apollos. Some were “Peter” people and would defend him and all he said. For others it was Paul. Still, others held up Apollos as the one they should really be gathering around. We’re often guilty of doing this – forming our identity around who we support and follow – in both the church world and the political world.

Paul comes along and reminds them that it is Christ that they belong to and identify with, not these other human voices. But then he goes beyond that. Here says, “For everything belongs to you— 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Peter, or the world, or life and death, or the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”

This is a remarkably powerful idea that everything belongs to you. Too often and too easily we dismiss ideas or thoughts because they come from “the world” or someone who is in another humanly created camp. Conversely, we easily accept ideas or thoughts because they come from those within our humanly created camp.

Paul’s idea here is that we can claim and hold onto anything that reflects Christ, no matter where it comes from. By listening to and holding on to that which aligns with Jesus we get out of the camp mentality. We can celebrate when someone we mostly disagree with, aligns with Jesus. And we can critique the thoughts, ideas, or actions of those we are close to. And we can listen to those critiques about us, too.

In a world where lying and deceit have become expected, and on the converse side skepticism and cynicism are go-to postures, how do we respond? It seems that the ancient way of “letting our yes be yes and our no be no,” “seeking first the Kingdom of God,” loving our enemies, and embracing that “everything belongs to you” insomuch as it reflects Christ would put us on the right and very countercultural track. It might seem easier to just allow ourselves to be absorbed by the cultural milieu. It might get us ahead in the short term, but, as a wise man once asked rhetorically, “What does it benefit someone if they gain the whole world, but lose their own soul.” Just going with the flow today won’t get us closer to Jesus or to living his way in the world. So let’s follow Jesus in his way of integrity, humility, love, and truth and in so doing offer something radically different to our world.

A couple of upcoming things:

  • The first, we’ve mentioned several times recently. We have a Newcomers Dessert Night coming up on May 6. This is for those who are newer to Covenant, those who have never been to this kind of event, or those who just have some questions about Covenant that they’d like to ask or explore together. You can register to attend by signing up in the lobby of the church, or by going to the event page on www.covenantchurch.ca and clicking the registration link. [For those reading this, the registration link can be found directly at https://tithely-5ef0dfafa3efc-2064353.elvanto.eu/form/762669b4-984c-4791-9776-b5dc8cae664b.] If you would be able to provide desserts for this event, please email office@covenantchurch.ca to let us know that you can do so or sign up on that list in the church lobby.
  • The second thing to let us know about is that we are looking for a dozen or so people interested in keeping our community beautiful to participate in the Annual litter pick-up along Lafontaine Rd (outskirts of Penetang to the gas station at County Rd. 6). Covenant “adopted" this section of road some twenty odd years ago.  Teams of two are supplied with bags, vests, gloves and are assigned a section of road that can be covered within an hour or so. Teams choose a time that is convenient for them - between May 8 and 12.  It’s great exercise and a way to contribute to the community! For more information, or to sign-up, contact Elise - erobi@sympatico.ca. 705-533-3818.

I leave you today with one final exhortation from Jesus in the sermon on the mount. This is how he sees us as we relate to the world:

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

Peace to you as you shine the light of Christ in your world this week!

Comments for this post are now off.