Dear Reader,
Here are two reader responses to one of my Hot Takes in last week’s newsletter. My dual critique was of the Biden Administration’s lack of action on the immigration situation south of the border, as well as the mainstream media’s lack of coverage of said situation. The first letter comes from a loyal Biden/Harris fan:
“Believe it or not, I am also starting to hope for more from the Biden/Harris administration regarding the immigrant camps. My reaction so far when people have been getting on their case was to say, you mean they haven't been able to solve a decades-long problem in a few short months while having begun their administration in the midst of a global pandemic and millions dealing with unemployment and threats of foreclosure/eviction as a result? But yes, as we've begun to slowly get Covid under control with half of all U.S. adults having been fully-vaccinated (sadly, I don't believe enough people will do it to ever reach herd immunity and truly snuff it out like smallpox or polio, but every bit helps), I do hope that we will see that become more of a priority in the months to come.”
Though I personally wouldn’t give Biden/Harris as many excuses to hide behind, I appreciate my reader’s shot at objectivity and share his hope that we’ll see improvement in the situation.
Responding to the same commentary, my next reader quoted its closing line and shared his perspective, offering much to chew on for both political parties:
“‘If you're going to be angry, be consistent in being so; otherwise, go back to playing politics.’
This is a troubling trend I have observed in recent years, specifically among those of us within broader ‘evangelicalism’ (whatever that means anymore).
Around the time Trump was elected my various social media feeds were inundated with heretofore ‘conservatives’ suddenly discovering national politics...seemingly after the halcyon era of ‘peace’ and ‘civility’ that we all enjoyed under his predecessor(s). Pastors, seminarians, and the laity alike suddenly found their prophetic voices in standing against the vulgarian who dared to occupy our sacred White House. So stunning and brave.
Look, I have my own issues with Donald Trump, the Republican Party, Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and, quite frankly, the Founding Fathers. And don't get me started on Thomas Jefferson's problematic theology.
But I cannot help but wonder how much of this political grandstanding amounts to little more than theological virtue signaling from an increasingly marginalized Church trying to stay relevant in a zeitgeist that has all but relegated us to the dustbin of history. The same brothers and sisters who would castigate how broader Christendom was co-opted by the ‘Reagan Revolution’ in the 1980s, seem to also have a collective blindness to the corruption of the Obama Administration. Republicans were upbraided for their hypocrisy towards Trump's immorality compared to Clinton's, and yet I see nothing in my social media feeds from those same Christian brothers and sisters about the Biden Administration's nascent failures to act in any way other than purely partisan.
Nevertheless, I am not offended or surprised. For there is one consistency I can always rely on: Throughout history, God's people remain utterly devout to our idols.
We always choose to eat the fruit. We always want Saul as our King. We always choose the popular Barrabas over the shameful Christ.
We always serve the god of our own pride, vanity, and lust above the great I AM.
Always.”
I can’t fault his critique of the Church “trying to stay relevant” (though I hope he’s at least partially wrong about living in “a zeitgeist that has all but relegated us to the dustbin of history”), but I appreciate his effort in helping both parties avoid being blinded by the truth.
Thanks for the comments, gentlemen. And, for everyone else as always, thanks for reading.
Craig
P.S.: As a reminder, you’re welcome and encouraged to email me directly with feedback, ideas, links, etc. at cmdunham [at] gmail [dot] com. Just know that, unless you specifically tell me not to, I may quote you here (though it will always be anonymously).
Hot Takes
“Texas Teen Attacks New Law in High School Graduation Speech” - Anyone want to bet how fast a speech in favor of life would have been shut down on the spot instead of applauded?
“When Paxton Smith got up to deliver her high school graduation speech, it was supposed to be about TV and the media. But the teenager ditched the script that had been approved by her school, and spoke about abortions instead.
In her home state of Texas, a law banning abortion from as early as six weeks has recently been signed. ‘I cannot give up this platform to promote complacency and peace when there is a war on my body,’ Paxton said in the speech that’s since gone viral.”
Of course, Miss Smith is put forward as a hero by everyone from Hillary Clinton, who tweeted, “This took guts. Thank you for not staying silent, Paxton,” to local Democratic politician Beto O'Rourke, who thanked Paxton for “inspiring Texas with your refusal to accept injustice as the price of participation in civic life.”
What’s interesting is that instead of the usual appeal-to-pity story about a single minority woman being burdened with having to care for another child she doesn’t want, here we have the young white woman who simply wants the freedom to sleep around without the possibility of motherhood ruining her life.
“‘I have dreams, hopes and ambitions," Paxton said. ‘Every girl here does. We have spent our whole lives working towards our futures, and without our consent or input, our control over our futures has been stripped away from us. I am terrified that if my contraceptives fail me, that if I'm raped, then my hopes and aspirations, efforts and dreams for myself will no longer matter,’ she added.”
Despite switching her pre-approved speech for the one she gave, she’s getting plenty of points for her “honesty” in speaking out, but I would not want this “brave” young woman as a role model for my daughters…nor anyone else’s. A sad and pitiable commencement speech if there ever was one.
Paxton Smith changed the speech approved by her school to talk about abortion rights. “China Allows Three Children in Major Policy Shift” - In a sad and ironic juxtaposition, here’s a story to consider with regard to the future of the U.S.
“China has announced that it will allow couples to have up to three children, after census data showed a steep decline in birth rates. China scrapped its decades-old one-child policy in 2016, replacing it with a two-child limit which has failed to lead to a sustained upsurge in births.”
It’s not the numerical impact of past policies that are impacting China’s birth rate; they are culturally reaping what they have sown after decades (since the late 1970s/early 1980s) of couples being told they can only have one child.
“It is hard to find those who want bigger families these days. Generations of Chinese people have lived without siblings and are used to small families - affluence has meant less need for multiple children to become family-supporting workers, and young professionals say they'd rather give one child more advantages than spread their income among several kids.”
When a nation negates the worth and value of its children (either through forced or free abortion), birth rates fall (the provisional number of births for the United States in 2020 was 3,605,201, down 4% from 2019 - the sharpest decline in nearly 50 years). Some postulate falling birth rates would be good for the American economy, but if economics are the only measure of merit, our abortion-crazed world has done more damage to our view and valuing of life than I thought.
China’s new three-child policy comes after a once-in-a-decade census showed that China's population grew at its slowest pace in decades. “Detransition: a Real and Growing Phenomenon” - There’s a really interesting study from the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine, “an international group of over 100 clinicians and researchers concerned about the lack of quality evidence for the use of hormonal and surgical interventions as first-line treatment for young people with gender dysphoria,” that recently looked at detransition-related needs and support. Here’s what they found:
“Among the total of 237 survey participants, 92% were birth-registered females. Approximately 2/3 had transitioned both socially and medically, while just under 1/3 transitioned only socially (the option of ‘only medical’ transition was not provided in the survey responses). Among those who medically transitioned, 46% underwent ‘gender-affirming’ surgeries (vs. only undergoing hormonal interventions).
The average age of transition was 18 for social transition (17 for females, 24 for males), and 20.7 for medical transition (20 for females, 26 for males). A quarter of the respondents began medical transition before 18. The average age of detransition was 23 (22 for females, 30 for males). On average, detransition occurred roughly 5 years after transition was initiated (with males taking somewhat longer to detransition).”
Reasons for Detransitioning (n=237). Vandenbussche E (2021). Now here’s the really interesting part:
The participants' decision to detransition was most often tied to the realization that their gender dysphoria was related to other issues (70%), health concerns (62%), and the fact that transition did not alleviate their dysphoria (50%). Interestingly, over 4 in 10 (43%) participants endorsed a change in political views as a reason for detransition.”
I think of what Dr. Carl Trueman said about how history may judge the transgender movement:
“One hundred years from now, people will look back with a ‘what were we thinking?’ perspective, much like we do considering lobotomies today. Transgender advocacy is taking on too many enemies - nature, feminism, athletics - all at once, and I wouldn’t be surprised in 20 or 30 years to hear of kids suing their parents, doctors, and insurance companies for the irreparable physical damage done to them in the name of being transgender.”
Pray for health, grace, and truth for those detransitioning, regardless of reasons.
Addressing the Commencement: Turning the Graduation Speech on Its Head
My daughter, Katie, graduates from high school this evening - our third of four (Millie’s on deck for 2022). We’re looking forward to celebrating with her and her classmates tonight and this weekend before she flies to Colorado Springs on Sunday to work the summer at The Navigators Eagle Lake Camps, where Megan and I met and served on staff for 10 years.
Upon her return in August, Katie will study art history and psychology at Montana State University here in Bozeman, living at home her first year as her two older sisters did.
Commencement ceremonies and their accompanying addresses are interesting animals. Don’t get me wrong - I like them, but not all of them. Most speeches are forgettable, and the ones that are memorable are usually so for the wrong reasons (see the first Hot Take above).
It may surprise some that, having been a headmaster for eight years, I only gave one commencement address during my career, and that at the end of my first year to a graduating class of two. In the three years that followed, I encouraged other faculty to speak, and my final four years were at a school where the tradition was that the seniors chose the faculty member to address them (alas, I never made the cut).
Thankfully, though, I have a newsletter.
In thinking about Katie’s upcoming commencement, I gave thought to what I might say if I were addressing the Class of 2021; the result is this week’s feature article that I hope you’ll share with any graduates you might know (I’m sure their ultimate success will depend on it).
Congratulations to all those “commencing” this year; may it be the best of starts for you. Enjoy.
Parents and Siblings, Grandparents and Relatives, Friends and Significant Others, Board Members, Faculty, and Graduands,
The story is told of a billionaire who decided that, with regard to marrying off his remarkably beautiful daughter, there was only one way to determine her future husband: a competition. Word was sent out that all interested suitors be at the man’s spacious home at 1 p.m. that coming Saturday. To the winner would go his choice of money, land, or the hand of his remarkably beautiful daughter in marriage.
When Saturday rolled around, the young men began showing up in droves and were promptly escorted around back to the largest in-ground swimming pool they’d ever seen. There was only one problem: it was filled with large, ferocious alligators. As they considered this unusual sight, the billionaire, pleased by the response to his invitation for this competition, stepped out of his mansion, looked over the contestants, and began to lay the ground rules for this one-of-a-kind contest.
“Gentlemen,” he rumbled, “thank you for coming today.” Motioning to his daughter who was standing in the doorway, the man continued. “As you can see, my daughter is remarkably beautiful, and I as her father have determined that the man she weds must be worthy of her beauty. So, I have concocted this challenge by which the best man may prove himself. Once proven, he may take his choice of money, land, or her hand in marriage.” Aware of the men eyeing the pool, he continued.
“The challenge you must face and overcome is this: you must swim across the length of this pool of ferocious alligators and emerge on the opposite end in one piece.”
Dumbfounded by the impossibility of this test, the men began talking among themselves, investigating as best they could as to whether someone was really going to try this fiendish exercise in courage. As the men continued in their hushed discussion, the billionaire and his daughter made their way to the opposite end of the pool.
Suddenly, there was a splash! There in the water, one young man had apparently accepted the challenge and was now struggling to swim past the powerful snapping jaws of the alligators. All eyes were on this noble lad as he, still intact, made his way halfway across the pool.
The alligators, in response to the prospect of a late lunch, thrashed violently in the pool as they desperately tried to chomp this courageous challenger. Yet the determined young man avoided their powerful jaws and continued his race for the opposite end of the pool, having crossed a good three-fourths of its length, to the amazement of those watching.
Finally, with one last kick, the young man, gasping for breath and looking over his shoulder, hastily pulled himself up out of the pool and went sprawling across the deck. Coming to a dripping stop at the feet of the billionaire and his remarkably beautiful daughter, he stood up quickly, checked to see that nothing was missing, and was pleased to discover that indeed nothing was. Relieved, the young man sat down in a nearby deck chair, took one last look at the churning waters, closed his eyes, and exhaled deeply. He had survived.
A cheer went up from the far end of the pool as the rest of the men, applauding the profound valor and courage of their comrade, came running to the finish line side of the pool. The remarkably beautiful daughter, overcome with the emotion of her future husband’s sacrifice for her, gently touched his head and bathed in the strength that seemed to exude from him.
Never one to be upstaged by celebration or romance, the billionaire stepped in between his remarkably beautiful daughter and the young man. As the crowd quieted, the billionaire turned to the young man and promptly began his presenting speech.
“Young man, as you know, I am as much a man of my word as I am a man of my wealth and am therefore delighted to award you one of three prizes: money, land, or the hand of my remarkably beautiful daughter in marriage. Which would you like?”
Silence fell across the crowd as all eyes turned to the young man, still dripping wet and eyes still closed. Whispers of “money” and “land” were heard among the crowd, but these men - as do all men - knew that nothing compares to the love of a woman. Surely she would be the young man’s choice.
The billionaire grew impatient. “What is your choice? Will it be money?”
“I do not want your money,” the young man replied, still dripping wet, eyes still closed.
“Will it be land, then?” asked the billionaire.
“I do not want your land,” the young man responded, in much the same fashion.
“Then it will be the hand of my remarkably beautiful daughter in marriage!” exclaimed the billionaire, to which she beamed with joy and the men shouted, “Hooray!,” clapping and elbowing one another at the prospect of one of them marrying so well. Suddenly, the young man opened his eyes, leapt to his feet, and spoke.
“I do not want the hand of your daughter, no matter how remarkably beautiful she may be!” he said, still dripping wet but now with eyes blazing.
Gasps went through the crowd. The remarkably beautiful daughter began to cry. The billionaire was, for the first time in his life, speechless. The young man, still dripping, walked over to him and continued.
“Sir, I do not want your money. I do not want your land, either. And, as much as it pains me to say this, I do not even want the hand of your remarkably beautiful daughter in marriage.” She was really starting to cry now.
The billionaire, taken aback by the fact that the young man was now standing with his back to the rest of the men and looking only at him, found his voice.
“Young man, I understand that you want neither money, nor land, nor even the hand of my remarkably beautiful daughter in marriage. My question then, sir, is this: what do you want?”
“What do I want?” the young man replied. “I’ll tell you what I want!” he said, spinning away from the billionaire and his money, land, and remarkably beautiful daughter to face the group who had stood with him minutes ago on the other side of the pool.
“I want the name of the man who pushed me into the pool!”
On Ambition
Tonight, dear graduands, we gather together to push you into the pool - one filled with its own allegorical alligators and most dangerous of dangers. Unlike in the story, however, let me take the opportunity to offer some direction (and not just information) along with the shove, for to do otherwise would be crude at best, cruel at worst.
Undoubtedly, you are an ambitious bunch to have arrived here tonight. You are to be commended for your perseverance, just as your parents and teachers are for their patience (remember: this is at least their second time through). To be sure, they (and everyone else) are celebrating many things this evening, your ambition to graduate being just one of them.
![Apostle Paul: "I'm not perfect" - Stephen M. Miller](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa91d2dad-2555-4b6c-a385-2e0cac8d12be_1000x1000.jpeg "Apostle Paul: "I'm not perfect" - Stephen M. Miller")
While it gets a bad rap, ambition is not evil in and of itself; the Apostle Paul, in fact, encouraged believers in Thessalonica to use - not jettison - their ambition to live life quietly, innocently, practically, humbly, consistently, honorably, and sufficiently. He wrote:
“…Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
The philosopher and theologian Augustine (among many others) wrestled with his ambition in pursuit of his own versions of land, money, and love. Through this, God led Augustine to Himself and then became Augustine’s sole ambition. He wrote:
“I aspired to honors, money, marriage, and you [God] laughed at me. In those ambitions I suffered the bitterest difficulties; that was by your mercy—so much the greater in that you gave me the less occasion to find sweet pleasure in what was not you. Look into my heart, Lord. In obedience to your will I recall this and confess to you. May my soul now adhere to you. You detached it from the birdlime [a sticky substance spread on to twigs to trap small birds] which held me fast in death. How unhappy it was! Your scalpel cut to the quick of the wound, so that I should leave all these ambitions and be converted to you, who are ‘above all things’ (Rom. 9: 5) and without whom all things are nothing, and that by conversion I should be healed.” The Confessions (Book VI)
Like Paul and Augustine, that you have aspirations is not the issue; it is the means of how and the ends to which your ambition aspires that matter.
Since you seem to have succeeded in this particular context, one may tend to assume that it’s onto greater and grander things. That’s certainly what I was told when I was in your shoes (this, of course, was long ago, back when the Dead Sea was just sick). I’m sure you’ve heard your own versions of the mantra; see if any of these sound familiar:
“The world is your oyster; go find your pearl.”
“Anything is possible if you set your mind to it and want it badly enough.”
“You can do all things through a Bible verse taken badly out of context.”
Honestly (and it’s taken me fifty years to be able to say this about my own life), it’s not; it isn’t; and you can’t. These trite expressions of good will - offered with the best of intentions, no question - have done as much or more harm as any words offered to young people finding themselves in this time of transition. Everyone becomes a theologian at funerals and graduations, but that doesn’t mean they become good ones.
While I’m sorry that’s the case, I’m not sorry for the chance to tell you that’s the case. I’m not saying you should give up hope of being one of God’s gifts to humanity; just don’t be surprised if you look around and discover you’re the only one impressed.
On Being Extruded
Unless, that is, you understand what being one of God’s gifts to humanity really entails. The late Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer, in his essay titled “No Little People, No Little Places,” wrote,
“If a Christian is consecrated, does this mean he will be in a big place instead of a little place? The answer, the next step, is very important: As there are no little people in God’s sight, so there are no little places. To be wholly committed to God in the place where God wants him—this is the creature glorified.”
Schaeffer went on to say that,
“Jesus commands Christians to seek consciously the lowest room. All of us — pastors, teachers, professional religious workers and non-professional included — are tempted to say, ‘I will take the larger place because it will give me more influence for Jesus Christ.’ Both individual Christians and Christian organizations fall prey to the temptation of rationalizing this way as we build bigger and bigger empires. But according to the Scripture this is backwards: We should consciously take the lowest place unless the Lord himself extrudes us into a greater one.
The word extrude is important here. To be extruded is to be forced out under pressure into a desired shape. Picture a huge press jamming soft metal at high pressure through a die so that the metal comes out in a certain shape. This is the way of the Christian: He should choose the lesser place until God extrudes him into a position of more responsibility and authority.”
Depending on the quality of your evangelical parents’ musical tastes in the mid-80s to mid-90s, you may or may not be familiar with musician Rich Mullins. Growing up around Indiana, Mullins was a popular singer/songwriter with a gift for both lyric and tune (he played piano, guitar, and most interestingly, hammer dulcimer). He wrote glorious yet earthy songs about God and developed a following in the music scene unfortunately named Contemporary Christian Music (CCM).
According to biographer James Bryan Smith,
“In 1995, Rich left to live and minister on a Navajo reservation in the Southwest…he had come to Wichita, Kansas, and was attending Friends University, a small, Christian, liberal arts college. Rich was finishing his degree in music education so he could teach music to children on a Native American reservation.”
Friend and fellow musician Mitch McVicker picks up the story:
“I have no memory of what happened that night. We had been recording music in Elgin, Illinois. Rich was producing my first album, and after four straight weeks in the studio we loaded up his 1995 Jeep Wrangler to drive through the night to Wichita, where we would perform the first concert of Rich’s fall tour the following day. The concert never took place.”
It never took place because, on September 19, 1997, Mullins and McVicker were traveling southbound on I-39 north of Bloomington, Illinois (about three hours from where I grew up), when they lost control of their Jeep. They were not wearing seat belts and were both ejected from the vehicle. When a semi-trailer truck traveling in the same direction swerved to miss the overturned Jeep, Mullins, who was too injured to move out of the path of the oncoming truck, was hit by the rig and died instantly. McVicker was seriously injured but survived.
A tragic story, to be sure - one that some may point to as a “waste” of talent, not only in terms of his shortened life (Mullins died at 41), but also the increasingly lower, smaller choices he made with regard to his music and ministry leading up to his death.
But maybe we’re the ones confused as to what’s lower and smaller to God.
As Americans - we’ve never been good at not being first, highest, biggest, or best. It’s not just an American condition, however; it’s the human one (Jesus, after all, was teaching about choosing the lower place 2,000 years ago). But as Schaeffer reminds us, our need - your need, even at this pinnacle of life so far - is less of a larger or higher place and more of a smaller and lower one in which you can be faithful. He writes,
“Let me suggest two reasons why we ought not grasp the larger place. First, we should seek the lowest place because there it is easier to be quiet before the face of the Lord. I did not say easy; in no place, no matter how small or humble, is it easy to be quiet before God. But it is certainly easier in some places than in others. And the little places, where I can more easily be close to God, should be my preference. I am not saying that it is impossible to be quiet before God in a greater place, but God must be allowed to choose when a Christian is ready to be extruded into such a place, for only he knows when a person will be able to have some quietness before him in the midst of increased pressure and responsibility.
The second reason why we should not seek the larger place is that if we deliberately and egotistically lay hold on leadership, wanting the drums to beat and the trumpets to blow, then we are not qualified for Christian leadership. Why? Because we have forgotten that we are brothers and sisters in Christ with other Christians. I have said on occasion that there is only one good kind of fighter for Jesus Christ—the man who does not like to fight. The belligerent man is never the one to be belligerent for Jesus. And it is exactly the same with leadership. The Christian leader should be a quiet man of God who is extruded by God’s grace into some place of leadership.”
Will It Be Enough?
What would it look like to make this kind of quiet, innocent, practical, humble, consistent, honorable, and sufficient pursuit your ambition? What if you made life decisions based less on big chances to succeed and more on small opportunities to be faithful? What if there are “no little people, no little places,” and, as Schaeffer wrote,
“When Jesus said, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11), he was not speaking in hyperbole or uttering a romantic idiom. Jesus Christ is the realist of all realists, and when he says this to us, he is telling us something specific we are to do.”
Something specific to do; something to make our ambition. Will it be enough?
It was for Paul…and for Augustine. It was for Schaeffer…and for Mullins.
I pray it will be for me (it has so far)…and I pray tonight it will be for you.
Now forgive me for the push, but the alligators and danger are waiting…
Post(erity): “Musical Comfort Food”
Each week, I choose a post from the past that seems apropos of something (of course, you’re always welcome to search the archives yourself whenever you like).
This week’s post, “Musical Comfort Food,” is from June 15, 2007, and features one of my favorite (there are many) Rich Mullins songs, “Hard to Get.” An excerpt:
“On the heels of a paper on predestination and a long week of way too much theological reading (yes, there is such a thing), I put on an old CD late this afternoon and remembered how much I miss the melody and meaning of one Rich Mullins.”
Read the whole post (which is mostly the lyrics to go with the link to the song).
Fresh & Random Linkage
Continuing on the theme of commencement speeches, here are a couple recommendations you shouldn’t miss:
Chances are you may have forgotten Baz Luhrmann’s “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen)” from 1999, but as a commencement “address,” it’s worth a listen.
And here’s my all-time favorite commencement address, “This Is Water,” from the late David Foster Wallace.
Until next week…
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