You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World
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We strive to independently define our identity, but we are always dependent upon others for the recognition of that identity.
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Even Christians, who ought to believe in an objective moral law revealed by God, tend to rely heavily on data and evidence-based arguments. It just feels natural in our society. And I think it feels natural because Christians, like everyone else, tend to think of themselves as autonomous. And among autonomous individuals, the language of numbers is the surest foundation for morality. Which brings us to another implication of our contemporary anthropology on morality: everything is in flux. Once you begin grounding morality on data, you must be ready to change moral norms and laws when the data ...more
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When they are asked to define freedom, contemporary people usually imagine the absence of constraints. In many ways, liberal democracy is premised on this conception of freedom. Humans cannot be truly human without freedom, and freedom means that no one can control me, coerce me, obligate me, or limit me. As we shall see in the following chapters, this understanding of freedom as limitlessness has shaped the way our society structures itself.
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Technology has effectively freed me from any need to belong to where my body is. I may have to sleep here, but I don’t have to be here.
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Historically, caring for your parents and grandparents was a basic part of life. Just as they belonged to you, caring and providing for you when you were a child, you belonged to them and were expected to care and provide for them in their old age. But we have gone so far from that norm that many elderly people feel guilt and shame at the prospect of having to rely on their children.
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Consumption is one way we cope with depression, anxiety, insecurity, and identity crises.
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Another way society fails to fulfill its promise is by introducing new problems to solve old ones as society progresses. New tools create new anxieties and new competitions. New spaces confine us in new ways.
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To be a modern parent is to live with the anxiety that you are not doing everything you possibly can to raise children who can compete in a global marketplace.
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There is nothing inherently wrong with moving for work. But if we belong to Christ, our default ought to be that we see ourselves committed to our families, friends, communities, places, and the church. This is where we belong, even when it is difficult.
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When you go against the grain of nature, you are bound to get splinters.
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While we wait for Christ to return, coping with sin, injustice, suffering, and a society that is not built for humans will be difficult. In my own life, I’ve seen the ways I use sitcoms as diversions from the stress of life and jokes on social media to deal with the anxieties of parenting in a culture where everyone has advice and a better system. I’ve seen how spending fifteen minutes each morning coordinating my shirt, tie, slacks, socks, shoes, sweater, and pocket square is a way of exercising some measure of order and beauty on my days that so often feel frantic and stale.
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We are literally empty-handed. All we can do is receive the gift of grace. We have nothing to offer in return. We cannot reach up and take it. All we can do is be still and receive God’s grace. But we do have the obligation to meet together as the church and to stretch out our hands. From the world’s perspective, this is supreme foolishness. The spirit of the world demands action and plans and agendas and movements and cannot abide stillness. But faithfully doing the good that lies before us while waiting dependent upon God for redemption is the most meaningful action you can take. And it’s ...more