Happy first week of December! How’s everyone doing? It seems like these weeks are flying by, and yet in my brain, there is still a hangup where it feels like 2020. I know I am not alone in this. It doesn’t really help that it’s supposed to be 76 degrees here by the end of the week. What is time? Where am I?
The Part Where There’s an Essay:
Thought Trends in 2021
Recently I’ve been trying to put into words the thought trends that I see influencing the evangelical Christian church in 2021. There are more, not fewer, than this. As a writing exercise and to encourage dialogue, I’ve attempted to keep the definitions brief.
To be clear, I’ve seen each of these in my conversations with my various communities. They are not pulled from internet interactions with strangers. They are in play in the minds of my friends, family, and myself.
The Influence of Dispensational Premillennialism
When I was coming of age, the Left Behind book series was just beginning. By the time I was a young mother, it had blossomed into multiple volumes as well as a film series of questionable quality. These stories explored a fictional recounting of the end times from a premillennial, pretribulational perspective. Passengers were raptured from airplanes, leaving their clothes behind. The world in general was thrown into chaos. A man with a bad haircut was revealed to be the antichrist. And only Kirk Cameron -- and I guess Jesus -- could save us.
While these books and movies aren’t in regular circulation anymore, their influence, as well as the general trend in the ’80s with being end-times-obsessed, lives on. We Christians still see an antichrist under every rock and lurking around every corner. The Mark of the Beast has been UPC codes, ATM cards, and yes, the COVID vaccine — just in my own lifetime. What a run!
In my understanding, this trend goes a little bit further back: to the release of the film “The Late, Great Planet Earth.” This movie seems to have planted a seed of a 50-year run of end-times-obsession, and the fruit is still being reaped. (sidenote: here’s a really interesting interview with someone related to that film. Start at 52:20)
While I don’t want to discourage the studying of eschatology (“the study of the last things”), even a few cursory readings through the pertinent passages in Scripture will demonstrate to you that some things are meant to remain blurry. Add to that — the number of theologians who’ve devoted their lives to the Bible who haven’t figured it all out. It’s great to explore the topic. It’s not great to land in a place where you’ve circled a date on a calendar.
To do so is the opposite of being sober-minded and living a consistent, holy life for God, supported by robust theology and an open-handed view towards the things that remain hidden in Scripture. Christians, let us not become irrational alarmists.
(editor’s note: I wanted to include a picture here of a book that forecast the end of the world. In the end, I felt too embarrassed to do so. You should see how many there are on Amazon.)
For the Anglophiles
We’re coming up on the busiest time of the year for Premiere League soccer: “the holiday fixtures.” I was wearing my Manchester City hoodie the other day and someone asked me if it was a Ted Lasso hoodie. I humbly replied no, although Man City does play a role in the series. But I believe strongly that if Ted Lasso needs to be the gate through which your journey into futbol begins, that is perfectly acceptable. The TV series makes much of how confusing the offside rule is, but I assure you that baseball has weirder rules (the infield fly rule, anyone?). Boxing Day, December 26th, is the perfect day to jump in. Eat your leftovers, play with your new stuff, and watch soccer all day. By the way, Brendan Hunt, writer for Ted Lasso, was the one who explained to me why it’s called soccer (language warning right at the end!):
Reads & Listens of the Week
I’ve read and listened to fellow Massachusettsian Bill Simmons for most of his career. (He is not family-listening-friendly) This week, his podcast The Rewachables covered one of the greatest sports movies of all time: Hoosiers. David and I happened to be in the car together when it dropped, so we listened together for the first half-hour. David, Indiana boy through and through, stopped it no less than four times to interject his own commentary. Bill should have called him.
Has anyone watched the Peter Jackson Beatles doc on Disney+ yet? I’m planning to get to it sometime soon.
Chris Martin tells us No One Can Solve the “Facebook Problem.” (You should sign up for his excellent newsletter Terms of Service if you want to learn more about the social internet and its relationship to humans.)
I think there are just certain things you ought to do every December. One is read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. If you like audiobooks, you should try this one from Ralph Cosham (Hoopla is free with many public library accounts!). You also ought to read “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, and this is my very favorite version, illustrated by Lisbeth Zwerger. The picture where Della takes her hair down is worthy of framing.
My advent reading stack this year includes Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, edited by Nancy Guthrie; The Advent of the Lamb of God by Russ Ramsey; and the tried and true readings suggested by The Book of Common Prayer.
Closer to Home
A few years ago I wrote about how Linus’ belief in The Great Pumpkin relates to his ability to understand the true meaning of Christmas.
Maybe you want to plan for some read-alouds for your family to enjoy during Christmas?
For the Christmas spirit is the spirit of those who, like their Master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor–spending and being spent–to enrich their fellow humans, giving time, trouble, care and concern, to do good to others–and not just their own friends–in whatever way there seems need. JI Packer, in Knowing God