One Reason It Feels Like Our Nation is Unraveling

Mike Leake

photo-1591035897819-f4bdf739f446It was the first SNL after the 9/11 attacks. It started on a somber tone. How would a show, which was live from New York and built on satire on humor—respond in the midst of a national tragedy.

Lorne Michaels asked the million dollar question to Mayor Giuliani. “Can we be funny?”

And Giuliani’s humorous response, “why start now”, seemed to give the nation permission to laugh again. We understood the powerful role that laughter has in our healing. I don’t know if President Bush watched SNL but if he did I wonder if he let out a huge sigh of relief when in October of 2001, Will Ferrell revived his Bush impersonation with a good ol’ Texas message to Osama bin Laden.

It was still satire. It was still poking fun at President Bush. But it was lovable. It was tasteful. And it was healing.

Fast forward to 2021 and we aren’t laughing any more. I’ve not seen an episode of SNL in years. But I’ll occasionally watch a late show or delve into other avenues of comedy. And from my view of things, we’ve lost our ability to laugh. There are many buttons we now refuse to push. Our comedy is just as polarized as our nation. Satire has become one-sided. And it’s killing us.

I’m not advocating for a return to cynical laughter. That’s the type of laughter that the Preacher of Ecclesiastes called madness. Scoffing and mocking isn’t going to help us return to anything remotely beneficial to us or pleasing to God. But there is a hopeful laughter that is only borne out of the gospel that I believe has been lost.

I think Edwin Friedman is insightful here. Speaking of “chronically anxious families” he says “lacking the capacity to be playful, their perspective is narrow.” That could easily describe us as a nation. We aren’t able to play anymore and because of this our perspective has narrowed. Friedman continues:

Indeed, in any family or organization, seriousness is so commonly an attribute of the most anxious (read ‘difficult’) members that they can quite appropriately be considered to be functioning out of a reptilian regression. Broadening the perspective, the relationship between anxiety and seriousness is so predictable that the absence of playfulness in any institution is almost always a clue to the degree of its emotional regression. (Friedman, 71)

I would contend that the church—with our resurrection hope—is in a unique position to provide this playfulness. Yes, there is a need for blood-earnestness when it comes to the gospel. There is certainly a type of joviality in the face of anguish which is not only unhelpful but actively harmful. However, there is a corresponding consequence to always being serious. It can mute the realities of the gospel.

I believe Jay Stringer is correct in his observation that “someone who knows vulnerability is someone not afraid to dance.” (Stringer, 198) The gospel should inspire dancing. Because it calls us into a vulnerability that is met with eternal acceptance. This is part of our resurrection hope. We will see Him as He is. And we’ll dance.

We need that glimpse of heaven in the here and now. For the sake of our communities we must not mistake seriousness of attitude with actual change. There is a way in which we can pursue real change with a playfulness that would cause the dour among us to accuse us of being a “glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors”. You don’t get that reputation by being hopelessly serious.

Maybe we should Make America Joke Again. Is it possible that such a playfulness met with a blood-earnest gospel could actually create real lasting change? Could we somehow tackle the atrocities in our nation with a cheerfulness birthed from gospel hope? I think we can. I believe we must.

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Herod’s Will Build You Temples, But Here Is What They Cannot Endure…

Mike Leake

02-herods-templeHerod’s temple was glorious. Built from quarried stones and spanning some 1600 feet the Western wall of Herod’s temple is still standing to this day. It was his crowning achievement.

In the time of Jesus, Jewish people from all over would have traveled to this holy site to worship, offer sacrifices, and celebrate Yahweh. With Herod’s massive renovations they had a splendid temple with which to worship God.

Herod built the Jews a beautiful temple.

Let that sink in for just a moment.

Herod was a tyrant. This is the same guy who slaughtered babies when he heard the Christ was born. This temple wasn’t out of dedication to YHWH, it was a political strategy. Some historians even believe that Herod pretended to convert to Judaism to gain even further advantage from the Jewish people. His actions were motivated by politics…but the Jews had a beautiful temple because of it.

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9But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of his marriage to Herodias, his brother’s wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison. –Luke 3:19-20

This is a different Herod than the one who had built the temple. This is one of the sons of Herod the Great, this is Herod Antipas. But the guy is cut from the same cloth. Powerful. Politically expedient. Great at building stuff. But even though a little more tolerant he was just as murderous. John the Baptist would end up beheaded by this Herod.

This is why I say that Herod’s will build you temples but they cannot endure the authority of the word of God. John was prophetically speaking into Herod’s life and rather than change he labored to shut John up. This same Herod would do the same thing to Jesus. And the Herod’s of our day will do the same.

There are several lessons for us in this. One is to note that the murderous Herod’s didn’t see a temple as a threat. Religious systems are never a threat. You’ll never have to fight demons to become more religious. All the forces of hell won’t come against your Christian values, they might even pave the way for them. They’ll certainly co-opt our religious talk to serve their political ends.

What they’ll never tolerate is the prophetic. They will not endure a gospel declaration which claims authority over lives. You want to see the forces of hell stirring then proclaim a gospel which cannot be hijacked but a gospel which bids us to come and die. The biblical gospel will always make Herod’s uncomfortable. If it doesn’t then it’s either not the biblical gospel or your Herod’s dragon scales are starting to peel.

We can labor for temples. We can posture to get friendly Herod’s to buy into our religious system. Or we can be prophetic. I doubt we can do both. There is an unshakeable kingdom which might put our necks within the range of Herod’s sword but it’s the only kingdom without end. It’s the kingdom that causes devils to tremble.

Herod can endure a religious system full of solemn assembly, new moon celebrations, and Sabbath keeping, offerings, and incense to a God he doesn’t worship. But he cannot endure a gospel which lays claim to his marriage bed, his ethics, or called him to a different standard of justice.

Meanwhile, the Lord calls us to follow him with our marriages, our ethics, and our standards of justice. All the while he turns over tables in Herod’s temple because like His Father he cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.

It’d be a shame if we tremble at the wrong kingdom…

Learning How To Achieve a Prophetic Reasonableness

Mike Leake

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“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.” –Philippians 4:5

I cannot get this verse out of my mind. Reasonableness could easily be translated gentleness or meekness. It’s the same word used in 2 Corinthians 10:1 in reference to the meekness of Christ. The word is often connected to response in the midst of persecution. Rather than retaliating we respond with gentleness. It’s not weakness but rather actual power which is under control.

But the part of that verse which is giving me such a stir is the phrase “let…be known”. It seems to me that it’s not only a call to consistently respond to persecution in this fashion, but it also has a “don’t hide it under a bushel” quality. Here I think of that Edmund Burke* quote, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” It’s a quote that’s been hijacked by the militant. It’s a great flaming arrow to pick up if you want to torch somebody. But I think it belongs better in the hands of someone like myself who shies away from conflict—often to a fault.

If I’m being honest I’ve been silenced. I tell myself that I’ve gone local and I hope to combat error on a personal face-to-face level rather than writing hot-takes. That’s true. I still believe this and this is still a good part of my strategy. But I believe there has been a cost to my public silence. I believe God has called me to a ministry of prophetic reasonableness. It’s a painful ministry in a season when we are so divided. More times than not I’ve chosen personal comfort over truth speaking. I’m still learning the balance here. I’m still healing from my own trauma’s and knowing when and how to speak. But there has been far too much resignation on my part, and the Lord has convicted me of this.

Consider this illustration from Debra Hirsch:

“No one would blink an eye at a woman bringing a Women’s Day into church, yet there would be an uproar if a man arrive with a Playboy under his arm! Aren’t both types of magazines pornographic? I put women’s magazines into the category of “social porn,” because they can be just as damaging for women as “soft porn” can be for men. Think of all the faulty notions of beauty it breeds, the covetousness it generates, not to mention the gossip that ensues…Porn is porn, no matter what form it comes in.” (Hirsch, 77)

In the same way I think of all those who bring outrage porn into the church. And we don’t bat an eye. In fact, in some circles we produce the porn.

Philippians 4:5 is set within a context. On one end it’s part of how “true companion” is called to “help these women”. And 4:5 also leads us into the beautiful garden of Philippians 4:8. Letting your reasonableness be known to all is connected with unity and beauty. So how does one who is called to prophetic reasonableness respond to the ugliness of outrage porn? Is it as simple as telling a better story? Or would you respond with the same vigor as the meek Christ who flipped over tables and crafted a whip to run people out of the temple?

I’m not certain the answer, but I believe I’ve been a bit too silent. And that’s not okay. I feel a bit like that dog in the picture–fires all around me and hoping that my calm will somehow put out the fires. It won’t. I need to stop pretending like it will.

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*This probably isn’t from Edmund Burke: https://checkyourfact.com/2019/06/05/fact-check-edmund-burke-triumph-evil-good-men/

Why We Need to Break-Up With Our Angry Friend

Mike Leake

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“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” –Proverbs 22:24-25

Twitter can’t be my buddy. Neither can talk radio.

This Proverb is simple, really. Anger in others tends to be repulsive, but when it comes from within our own tribe it’s justified. If we makes friends with angry people we’re going to be trapped in their snare, and we’ll become angry people ourselves. Charles Bridges says it well:

Common intercourse with a furious man is like living in a house that is on fire. His unreasonable conduct stirs our own tempers. One fire kindles another. Occasional bursts of passion soon form the habit. The habit becomes our nature…We learn anger easier than meekness. We convey disease, not health. (Bridges, 420)

I try to read through a chapter of Proverbs every day. I read Proverbs 22 on a day when I had a steady diet of Twitter conversations. I was feeling deeply discouraged. It felt as if the world around me was burning (and indeed it might be). There was so much anger. So much injustice being exposed. So many tweets pointing out hypocrisy. Some I agreed with—others made me hot with the rage of disagreement.

Then I read this Proverb and thought about Twitter as an angry friend. If this “friend” is fueling this type of negativity in my life then it’s not a friend. An angry friend probably has a few redeeming qualities, but this proverb calls us to not befriend a person given to anger. Never. Ever. Period.

The Lord convicted me about 15 years ago concerning talk radio. I was working for a parts store, delivering parts, listening to angry talk radio during the day then being a youth pastor at night. This proverb was playing out in my life and I didn’t like it. I’m thankful the Lord deeply convicted me in this area. I turned them off and haven’t looked back.

I also looked back over some of my sermons during those years. It pained me to see how tainted they were by a bubbling rage. I didn’t view people with hope. I viewed them with suspicion. I was a cynic and it occasionally peaked through the pages of my sermons. I”m grateful for the Lord’s grace in tempering me.

I had to break up with my talk radio friend. And I’m beginning to wonder if I need to do the same with Twitter. It’s not apples to oranges though. You’re entirely passive when it comes to your talk-radio buddy. Social media is more given and take. So, I’m trying to figure out how to engage but to not be sucked into the negativity. If I find that I cannot, I suppose we’ll need to break up.

One thing I do know, we cannot tolerate angry friends. If we aren’t speaking into their lives then we’re being influenced by them and being sucked into their rage. We have to keep our pulse on this. We will not drift into holiness in this area. We are bent towards negativity. The gospel calls us to something higher.

I write this the day of angry protestors stormed the Capitol building. I also write it the day after God providentially had me teaching out of Philippians 4:4-8. Watching the news and having Philippians 4:4-8 encouraging my soul provided a sharp contrast. David Murray is correct when he says,

“we are what we think. If our minds constantly feed on all this negativity, our moods will inevitably darken, taking everything else—our words, actions, health, relationships, and so forth—down with them into the abyss.” (Murray, xv)

Philippians 4:8 is also true. When we challenge ourselves to cast our cares upon the Lord and think about His goodness and grace it transforms our thinking. It’ll cause you to be a bit more off-put by that angry friend. There is goodness and beauty in our world.

I believe this challenge from David Murray is fitting for our day. “Don’t look for what you can critique; look for what you can admire and invite others to enjoy it with you.” (33)

I realize the irony of this post being about the potential need to “break-up” with social media. But that’s actually what I’m attempting to say here. If I cannot find the goodness and beauty in social media, if it doesn’t lead to a greater enjoyment of God, then it’s not serving it’s purpose. It’s only an ensnaring friend.

Social media cannot be our friend. It’s too angry. The same goes for talk radio. Redeem them, speak truth to them, try to infuse beauty into them, but don’t befriend them.

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