Children, grow up

As a standup comic might say, “You can’t make this stuff up.”

  Begin with an NFL quarterback who claims that the colors in a Super Bowl promotion reveal the pre-ordained winners of the game, even before the playoffs have narrowed the choices of who will play.

  Move to some grousing about how the Kansas City Chiefs are becoming a football “dynasty” because they’ve played in the Super Bowl so often recently. Remember, this is a team that for years routinely won the “race to the cellar” award.

  Now pop music superstar Taylor Swift is linked romantically with football superstar Travis Kelce, and she starts attending Chiefs games. Because she is clearly (and maybe even deservedly) the most famous person on the planet, the TV cameras occasionally show her among other notables in the Chiefs viewing box.

  Now there’s grousing about how all this attention to her distracts from the purity of the game. Like the endless commercials, constant self-promotion and inane chatter from the broadcasters are not even remotely distracting.  

  Children, grow up.

  Now the political hacks get into it. Seems it’s all part of some huge conspiracy to swing voters to vote Democratic. Swift has jillions of fans who might do her slightest bidding. Kelce is known to drink Bud Lite, and he supports vaccinations. This all has cosmic implications.

  Children, grow up.

  It has been noted that real children are watching the behavior of the so-called adults in the room, and they are not likely to be impressed.

  The other day I noticed a long trail of beer cans along the side of an entrance ramp to a local highway. A very long line. This was no casual “aerial burial.” This was a deliberate act of vandalism.

  Children, grow up.

  Isn’t it past time for the cultural vandalism to stop?

  We who claim the name Christian say we are maturing in Christlikeness, growing into the image of Christ. Don’t we need to show the world this better way?

  I’m thinking beyond a snort and eye roll the next time you encounter a bizarre conspiracy theory being touted as truth.

  A simple, pointed, skeptical question might be enough. “How can you believe such a thing?”

  Arguing “facts” will only take you down the conspiracist rabbit hole. Don’t go there. Simply ask why the person believes such a thing can be true. This is about belief, not facts. It may be a superficial thing, or something far deeper and more personal. Push gently because you can’t know how much the person has invested in the lie.

  In the New Testament, we are told not to believe every spirit but to “test the spirits” to make sure they’re from God (1 John 4:1). In the context, John is arguing for the divinity of Jesus, against those who deny it. But there are many false spirits in the world, and there are many ways to be led astray.

  The best way to counteract any false path is to live faithfully and stay committed to the true Way without being distracted by the false spirits.

  Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will lead us to all truth (John 6:13). When you consider any assertion, ask what spirit might have led you to it. Can you be sure that you were led by the Spirit of Christ? Might some other agent have been at work?

  Here’s a basic litmus test. God is love, and the Spirit will always lead us to act in love. If the “truth” you proclaim is not loving, it cannot have come from God.

  Children, grow up.