The Friday Update - The Opposite of Love Isn't Hate

—September 27, 2024—

Happy Friday,

Perfect love casts out all fear.

John, I John 4

It’s directionally correct to note that the opposite of love isn't hate but indifference. But I think this stops short of John’s point. He states that perfect love casts out fear, which suggests that the opposite of love isn’t indifference but self-protection.

WOTW: Honorable mention goes to gatexiety (the fear that you’ll miss your flight because you miss the fact that the airline has changed the gate), meatfluencers (a derisive term directed at outspoken carnivores by vegans), celeritously (a term Chuck Schumer used this week, causing hundreds to act with celerity to figure out what celerity means [FYI: it means quickly]), and clapter (the applause sought by comedians when they make a political point). Full honors go to grievance identitarianism, a term used by Dr. Robert George in this NYT opinion piece. I hope many––especially collegians––adopt his advice. BTW, George will speak at our next Lakelight Talk on Wednesday, October 30^th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Lake Forest campus of Christ Church.

WOTW Adjacent: I ran across the phrases “momentum of encouragement” and “non-panicked love” in my reading this week. Neither qualify as WOTW entries, but both are too good to ignore, especially given how much they are needed. May you foster the first and embody the second.

Speaking of Lakelight: Before Dr. George shows up on Oct 30, Lakelight is hosting its second Good Work Summit on Oct. 5. This year’s gathering features several thoughtful speakers, including Phil Yancey. Click here for more info or to register. 

Without Comment: 1) Per this study, men rate women’s attractiveness on a standard bell curve. Women rate men more harshly, granting only 7% “above average” status and confining 81% to the “below average” category; 2) Americans are expected to bet $35B on NFL games this season; 3) This WSJ article notes that gun ownership is climbing among US liberals; 4) Most people over-estimate the changing influence of one sermon and under-estimate the impact of one hundred; 5) This Syracuse study found that only 3.4% of US journalists identify as Republicans; and 6) After reminding you that correlation does not equal causation, I want to point to yet another study showing that those active in a worship community live longer than those who are not. (In this study, 12 years.)

Yes, But: While it’s true that many have left the church in recent years: 1) It’s not just the church they are leaving. Many institutions are in decline; 2) As this study notes, the exodus from churches has slowed; 3) As this report notes, the number of Z-ers returning to faith is climbing; and 4) As this report explains, most of those who’ve stopped attending church plan to return. Indeed, most report that they would return this Sunday if invited.

Three Scenarios: Tom Holland––not the actor but the Oxford historian, author, and popular podcaster (The Rest is History) who appears to be talking himself into faith in Jesus––sees three scenarios for the future: 1) His belief that some commitment to Jesus is required for a society to celebrate humility, kindness, human rights, the rule of law, and personal freedom will be proven wrong as the West continues to secularize, but moral order holds; 2) His thesis is correct, and as the West secularizes, moral order gives way to power plays and chaos; or 3) We have another Christian revival.

Overheard: 1) Not all culture wars turn into shooting wars, but most shooting wars start as culture wars; 2) The middle of the political spectrum lacks a mailing list; consequently, it’s the extremes that are mobilized and whose voices are amplified; 3) Those who cannot believe in the virgin birth of a baby often believe in the virgin birth of the cosmos—and this without a virgin!; 4) Humans are hope-shaped creatures. The way we live today is based on what we think is coming tomorrow; 5) Politics attract extremely ambitious people, and what extremely ambitious people have in common is a willingness to trade character for access to power; and 6) Half of all US marriages do not end in divorce. Per this report, 72% of married people are still married to their first spouse. 

Finitum est: I will not be encouraging Latinophiles every week, but I did appreciate yet another Latin phrase that was sent my way: Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret, which means, “You may drive out nature with a pitchfork, but she still will hurry back.” It suggests that while the basic nature of things can be suspended for a while, it eventually pops back up. Yes. As I have noted before, “reality wins.”

Resources: Here is last weekend’s sermon on heaven.

Closing Prayer: O Lord of the vineyard, I beg Thy blessing upon all who truly desire to serve Thee by being diligent and faithful in their several callings, bearing their due share of the world’s burden, and going about their daily tasks in all simplicity and uprightness of heart. For all who tend flocks or till the soil. For all who work in factories or in mines. For all who buy and sell in the marketplace. For all who labor with their brains. For all who labor with their pens. For all who tend the hearth, dear Lord, I pray. Amen (John Baillie, 1886–1960)

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