Jesus said “streetwise people are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. I want you to be smart in the same way.” Are we? Shrewd begin with understanding the times. If Christians are exiles in a land of exile, the first implication is that a lot of us are guilty of whittling rotten wood.
I often wonder if we’re very shrewd. Or if I am very shrewd.
By shrewd I don’t mean slick. I mean being discerning, as Jesus said he wants us to be. After 36 years of working as a church planter, pastor, and consultant, I’m not so sure we’re very shrewd. I know I haven’t been at times. The next five weeks are going to be a mea culpa as a way to consider what a shrewd faith looks like.
Forty years ago Roe v. Wade was decided. Today, an average of 1,225 abortions are performed everyday in the U.S. Millions of Americans grieve over this atrocity. They pray Roe v. Wade will be overturned as thousands gather today in Washington to protest. The comfort is that God is writing the final chapter in this story.
Nearly every big firm claims to be building a caring and ethical culture. Ori Hadomi, CEO of Mazor Robotics, is skeptical. He should be. Surveys indicate bosses are eight times more likely than the average worker to believe the company has a healthy culture. Hadomi’s solution is a Devil’s Advocate. That’s interesting. The idea of a Devil’s Advocate comes from scripture as well as church history.
This past Thanksgiving, hundreds of churches across the nation distributed “Boxes of Love” to needy families. Delivering food boxes is a good thing – a worthwhile project. However, research indicates Big Box stores help the poor even more.
This has been a tough two weeks for American churches. With Christmas and New Years Day falling on successive Sundays, attendance was way off. Some even cancelled Sunday services. Churches may be happy that Christmas only falls on Sunday every few years, but cancelling or scaling back services might be reinforcing a troubling tendency.
Political parties will pay attention to one lagging economic indicator in 2012—the rate of unemployment. Lagging indicators confirm patterns that are occurring, such as whether or not the economy is improving. Cultures operate in ways similar to economies, with cultural indicators. Pay particular attention to one lagging indicator in 2012.
The magi bringing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh is a familiar part of the Christmas story. What happens next is less familiar. Warning signs start popping up. They are a part of the story that is often overlooked.
In the 19th century, American settlers attempted to guard against grass fires—or snuff out an uncontrolled blaze—by deliberately setting small controllable fires. It was called “fighting fire with fire.” Some say one of today’s uncontrolled blazes is crony capitalism. If so, the Sisters of St. Francis are well suited to fight fire with fire.
Watching reruns isn’t necessarily a waste of time.
For a while it appeared NBATV would be stuck with reruns. But then the NBA struck a deal. The season gets underway December 25th. Until then, NBATV will show reruns. That’s not necessarily a waste of time. You can catch John Stockton, the all-time NBA assist leader. His body of work pictures a role the church once performed very well.
