Breakpoint

Last week the LA Times reported that, facing soaring rates of D's and F's, more schools are simply doing away with grades entirely. Instead, teachers are encouraged to give students little to no homework, move deadlines, and have fewer outcome-driven measurements of achievement.

What's the rationale behind the move?

"By continuing to use century-old grading practices," wrote L.A. Unified's chief academic administrator, "we inadvertently perpetuate achievement and opportunity gaps, rewarding our most privileged students and punishing those who are not." In other words, standardized grades are racist.

But isn't suggesting that poor or minority kids can't get good grades itself a racist belief?

A major reason for merit-based grading is that if we don't evaluate students based on their achievements, we'll evaluate them on something else; in this case, an administrator's preconceived ideas about their ability to succeed, based entirely on ethnicity and socioeconomic status.

Even more, by doing away with grades, educators keep students from the potential to succeed, no matter how hard they work. It's a different kind of tyranny, but no less destructive: the tyranny of low expectations.

Recently in the Atlantic, Peter Wehner argued that the evangelical church is breaking apart. He references the politicization of Covid, the challenge of two contentious elections, and the fact that America is in a bitter partisan divide. Additionally, in June, Mere Orthodoxy columnist Michael Graham suggested that evangelicalism in America is undergoing a "Six-way fracturing."

Graham doesn't express the same pessimism about the future as Wehner; Graham is descriptive, while Wehner's is predictive. All the same, evangelicals predicting their own demise is a pretty consistent feature of that branch of the Christian church. The most commonly blamed culprit is politics.

Of course, things inside the evangelical camp are divisive. According to one study, 29% of pastors considered quitting in the last year, and Wehner suggests why: "the aggressive, disruptive, and unforgiving mindset that characterizes so much of our politics has found a home in many American churches."

At the same time, there are reasons to doubt predictions of evangelicalism's impending demise. For one thing, evangelicals have long divided over politics; articles similar to Wehner's date back to at least the Reagan administration. It's essentially the same analysis blaming the same culprits.

Part of the challenge in any analysis is defining "evangelicalism." After all, the identity of most denominations, even those historically formed over theological, geographical, or ethnic distinctions, seem up for grabs these days. Evangelicals are a cross-denominational bunch without a clear hierarchy.

The best attempt to define evangelicalism, in theory, is what's known as David Bebbington's "quadrilateral." This four-part definition includes a commitment to conversion, Biblical authority, the centrality of the cross, and social activism. However, the label of evangelical is now claimed by many who define Bebbington's four parts in ways foreign to the Christian movements from the 19th century in England and America. Today, the term "evangelical" is claimed and applied to pastors, politicos, activists, bloggers, artists, commentators, congregations, and conferences with widely (and, at times, wildly) different views about Scripture, conversion, Jesus, and social issues.

Each side of the label accuses the other of abandoning or compromising evangelical identity. The long-standing and dominant media narrative, for example, insists that conservative Christians are guilty of "politicized the faith." However, sociologists George Yancey and Ashlee Quosigk offer a different take in their new book One Faith No Longer.

Their surprising conclusions, wrote Trevin Wax at The Gospel Coalition, "upends conventional wisdom that conservative Christians are uniquely prone to falling captive to unbiblical political ideologies, or that conservative Christians are filled with rage toward their theological opponents."

Countering the dominant narrative, writes Wax, "progressive Christians are more likely to establish their identity in politics, while conservative Christians find their identity in theology." Second, conservative Christians are more likely than their progressive counterparts to defy their side's "political orthodoxy." Third, progressive Christians tend to think that conservative Christians are the ones in need of conversion, not non-Christians.

To be clear, as we've argued repeatedly on Breakpoint, many conservative Christians are guilty of doing politics poorly. Often, in fact. Many on the Christian right suffer just as deeply from the "political illusion," looking for political messiahs or for political solutions to problems that are not political.

Politics, in and of itself, makes for a lousy worldview. The real crisis simmering beneath evangelical division is a theological one. A recent survey conducted by George Barna found that 62% of American Christians don't believe that the Holy Spirit is a real person. 61% say all religious faiths are of equal value. The survey concluded, noting core beliefs, like the inerrancy of Scripture, that just 6% of American Christians consistently hold recognizably Christian beliefs. One might say evangelicals have forgotten the Evangel.

That doesn't mean a vacuum is left where the Gospel should be, however. As Alan Jacobs with Baylor University's honors program observed, "Culture catechizes." In the absence of biblical teaching, Christians will learn "not from the churches, but from the media they consume, or rather the media that consume them."

Wholly avoiding politics, as some suggest, is not an option for Christians, especially in a world where abortions are legal, radical ideology is hoisted on elementary-age children, and China is committing genocide against the Uygurs. We should vote and advocate, to paraphrase Abraham Kuyper, in every square inch of human existence as if it belongs to Christ, who is Sovereign over all. Because it does.

Christ calls His people to love our neighbors and our enemies. Sometimes, we must love them by opposing them, but never by dehumanizing them. We can and must engage political issues, but never make them ultimate. As Paul wrote in his letter to the church leader Titus: "be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone."

A much-needed revival of Christian truth and love along those lines will be the work of the Holy Spirit, not politics.

John and Maria discuss the recent convictions of Travis, and Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan, in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery. They discuss how this case pairs with the Kyle Rittenhouse case and how worldview guides society to have strength to withstand horrendous acts as a civilization and to hold a worldview big enough for the brokenness in the world to protect image bearers.

Additionally, John and Maria revisit the Thanksgiving commentary from Chuck Colson where he explains the story behind Thanksgiving. They also discuss a commentary that dealt with the blurred lines in the sexual revolution, considering a recent book my Emily Ratajkowski who explains the sexual exploitation in the music and film industry, as she looked back at a scenario on the set of Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" music video.

Maria then brings up a new Biden administration move to use the Health and Human Services (HHS) to accomplish progressive ideals. To close, John and Maria discuss a situation playing out in China involving Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, who recently revealed how she was abused by a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official. Peng Shuai then disappeared and the World Tennis Association (WTA) called the CCP to reveal where Shuai was. In response, an outspoken NBA player, Enes Kanter, called on American-based sports organizations to stand with the WTA, going so far as to call for the boycotting of the winter olympics.

--Recommendations--

BreakPoint Advent Resources>>

GI Joe on Youtube>>

Peter Leithart on Gratitude | BreakPoint Podcast>>

Melanie Fitzpatrick on Thanksgiving | Strong Women Podcast

-- Stories Mentioned in Show --

Segment 1:

All 3 men charged in Arbery's death convicted of murder

All three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery were convicted of murder Wednesday in the fatal shooting that became part of a larger national reckoning on racial injustice.

The convictions for Greg McMichael, son Travis McMichael and neighbor William "Roddie" Bryan came after jurors deliberated for about 10 hours. The men face minimum sentences of life in prison. It is up to the judge to decide whether that comes with or without the possibility of parole.AP News>>

Segment 2:

Chuck on Thanksgiving

Most of us know the story of the first Thanksgiving; at least we know the Pilgrim version. But how many of us know the Indian viewpoint?BreakPoint>>

The Blurred Lines of the Sexual Revolution As our culture questions the consequences of the sexual revolution, it's also time to question the premise that as long as everyone consents, nobody gets hurt, and everybody has fun. It's clearly not true. As women continue to wrestle with the blurred lines of the sexual revolution and the industry that has long profited from them, Christianity has a lot to offer.BreakPoint>>

Segment 3:

An Even Worse HHS Mandate

It turns out these groups, including Planned Parenthood and the Southern Poverty Law Center, were part of a "task force" advising HHS on its new rule. According to The Catholic Benefits Association, if HHS follows these groups' recommendations, "it would effectively remove all religious considerations from issues around life, family, marriage, the very nature of men and women," forcing religious healthcare providers to choose between their convictions and their existence.

BreakPoint>>

HHS Power in Government

Biden's HHS Secretary is again using the power of his office to attack people of faith who disagree with him. Yesterday he revoked waivers for faith-based children's service programs—this is outrageous. His policy will reduce options for kids in foster care.James Lankford Tweet>>

Segment 4:

World Tennis Association Opposes China Seeking Tennis Great Peng Shuai "It's an unusual response and really to the credit of the WTA to be this vocal," said Sarah Cook, the research director for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at D.C.-based think tank Freedom House. "We do know from different people who have been detained in the past, international attention can really make a difference. These are not legal decisions; they are political decisions. Even if it doesn't get someone released, it can physically protect them. It's really important for her well-being that there is this type of international conversation...It could be a tipping point in how these kinds of organizations speak out," Cook said.

ESPN>>

Enes Kanter Calls Out 'Fake' NBA, Says League Silent on Things that Could Affect Its Business

"Two years ago, when we were in the bubble, you know, NBA was standing with Black Lives Matter, and it gave me so much hope and motivation. I was like, 'Finally, an organization standing up for something bigger than basketball,' right? But to me, it was very fake when it comes to things like what's happening in China because NBA and also Adam Silver is the one telling us to speak out against all the injustices happening, not just in America, but all over the world," Kanter advised. "So, to me, it was very important."

Breitbart>>

Black Friday is less a day this year and more of a couple weeks, so we might not see the normal chaos from WalMart and Best Buy.

Folks not trampling each other over smartphones and flat screen televisions is an improvement, of course, but the idol of stuff still claims socially distanced hearts and minds too.

One way is through the artificial perfections of Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook. Pictures of perfectly decorated homes and Instagram-worthy holiday celebration videos with perfectly behaved children doing a lip-synch has become another distraction within a season meant for holy reflection.

Sunday begins the season of Advent, a time set aside in the history of the church for prayer, charity, and even fasting, to prepare us to celebrate the birth of Jesus and to point our hearts toward His return.

Over the years, we've compiled resources for Advent, to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate Christmas. Come to breakpoint.org.

Black Friday has been different the last few years. Shelves aren't as stocked as we're used to, especially after the supply chain debacle. Instead of a single day of sleep-deprived consumers trampling security guards for flatscreen TVs, we endure weeks and weeks of online over-marketing.

While the presumed decrease in physical violence in stores certainly is an improvement from what we're used to on Black Friday, the lack of material goods available to attempt to fill the voids in hearts and minds is another.

Historically, Christianity offers something better to occupy our hearts, minds, and conversations, over and above the experience of getting all of our shopping together before December 25. This Sunday begins the season of Advent, a time set aside in the Christian calendar to reflect on the coming of Jesus into the world.

The Latin word adventus, from which the word "Advent" is derived, literally means "coming." Advent places Christ's first coming into the world, in a manger in Bethlehem, within the larger historical context of redemptive history. It highlights the long promises of God to send His Messiah. At the same time, Adventus is the Latin translation of the Greek word parousia, which is used repeatedly in the New Testament to describe Jesus' second coming, when He will return in glory at the end of the age.

Before this usage by Paul and other New Testament authors, parousia referred to the emperor's arrival in a city or a province. When notified of his coming, citizens would scramble to properly greet this very important person, preparing great feasts and dressing in their finest clothes.

The original readers of the New Testament not only would have understood parousia in this context, but they would also have seen it as an explicit rejection of Caesar's claim to lordship. While Christians today think and talk of the lordship of Jesus Christ in personalized terms, such as "Have you made Jesus Lord of your life?" the earliest Christians understood it as a public, definitive, and risky proclamation. In other words, to say "Jesus is Lord" is to say "Caesar is not." By using parousia to refer to someone other than the emperor, Christians were saying something about who was really in charge.

This backdrop is essential to understand why so many early Christians became martyrs. Rome would tolerate various and eccentric religious beliefs and practices. At times, they'd even incorporate alternative religious celebrations and beliefs into their own. What would not be tolerated, however, were rival allegiances.

Nearly two millennia later, Christians must still clarify their allegiances. We, too, are tempted to give ourselves to would-be Caesars. Our false gods may be more subtle, but they exert power over our thoughts, imaginations, and loyalties. Unless we are intentional, we will worship them. While our would-be lords rarely demand, at least in overt terms, that we deny the lordship of Jesus, they are most effective in distracting us from thinking about what the lordship of Christ means and requires.

That's why honoring this season of Advent can be incredibly helpful. It invites us to prepare to greet the One who is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation," through whom "all things were created." We, too, are asked to prepare through prayer and generosity. We, too, are invited to array ourselves in our "finest," not garments but in our most refined expressions of truth, love, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

To prepare our hearts and minds this way, not only to remember Christ's first coming but to anticipate in hope His second coming, is every bit as culturally subversive today as it was two-thousand years ago. It's a way of living as if Jesus is Lord. Because He is.

Join me in marking Advent this year. As a guide through this season, our writing team has created reflections on the various worldview themes created by Advent. To get a copy of these reflections in a beautifully orchestrated e-book, as well as other resources, visit www.breakpoint.org/advent.

Gratitude is on our minds as we celebrate Thanksgiving. Practicing thankfulness, we are looking back to an interview John conducted with Peter Leithart, president of the Theopolis Institute and author of "Gratitude: An Intellectual History."

How did Christianity change the West's understanding of gratitude? And how can we Christians in this age of profound ingratitude and entitlement reinvigorate the virtues of gratitude and thanksgiving in our own lives and in the culture around us?

We've all seen "A Charlie Brown Christmas," in which Charlie Brown messes up the Christmas play and Linus reminds everyone what Christmas is all about.

Another of my favorites is "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." Poor Chuck's friends show up expecting a feast, but he and Snoopy serve them jelly beans and popcorn.

Thankfully, Linus is there again to tell the true story of Thanksgiving.

But it's Marcie who reminds Charlie Brown that the Pilgrims at Plymouth didn't come to dinner expecting to receive something. They were there to commemorate what they'd already received—life, provision, and friendship with the Wampanoags.

We're better off today than they were, yet many of us will sit around the Thanksgiving table grumbling and fighting about politics. If Linus and Marcie were thankful for Charlie Brown's leftover Halloween candy, can't we take one day to thank God for our blessings?

Hopefully you won't have jelly beans and popcorn for dinner, but I do hope you enjoy some Peanuts this Thanksgiving.

A Christian worldview not only points us to what is true, but it also places us, historically, in the redemptive history of God's creation. In fact, there is no such thing as "secular" history. The history of the world is God's redemptive history - that is, history can only be understood within the larger creative and redemptive work of God in Christ.

That's a long way to introduce today, Thanksgiving, but it's an important framework for understanding how God has moved and worked in human history. Years ago, on Thanksgiving, Chuck Colson told one such story in a BreakPoint commentary. Here's Chuck Colson:

Most of us know the story of the first Thanksgiving; at least we know the Pilgrim version. But how many of us know the Indian viewpoint?

No, I'm not talking about some revisionist, politically correct version of history. I'm talking about the amazing story of how God used an Indian named Squanto as a special instrument of His providence.

Historical accounts of Squanto's life vary, but historians believe that around 1608, more than a decade before the Pilgrims arrived, a group of English traders sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, the traders took them, prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery. It was an unimaginable horror.

But God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians, a boy named Squanto.

Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto's desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America.

It wasn't until 1619, ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped, that a ship was found. Finally, after a decade of exile and heartbreak, Squanto was on his way home.

But when he arrived in Massachusetts, more heartbreak awaited him. An epidemic had wiped out Squanto's entire village.

We can only imagine what must have gone through Squanto's mind. Why had God allowed him to return home, against all odds, only to find his loved ones dead?

A year later, the answer came. A shipload of English families arrived and settled on the very land once occupied by Squanto's people. Squanto went to meet them, greeting the startled Pilgrims in English.

According to the diary of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, Squanto "became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died."

When Squanto lay dying of fever, Bradford wrote that their Indian friend "desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen's God in heaven." Squanto bequeathed his possessions to the Pilgrims "as remembrances of his love."

Who but God could so miraculously convert a lonely Indian and then use him to save a struggling band of Englishmen? It is reminiscent of the biblical story of Joseph, who was also sold into slavery, and whom God likewise used as a special instrument for good.

Squanto's life story is remarkable, and we ought to make sure our children learn about it. Sadly, most books about Squanto omit references to his Christian faith. But I'm delighted to say that my friend Eric Metaxas has written a wonderful children's book called "Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving." I highly recommend it because it will teach your kids about the "special instrument sent of God," who changed the course of American history.

Of course, the story of Chuck Colson is also a story of "a special instrument sent of God." One of the things that I and all of my colleagues at BreakPoint and the Colson Center are thankful for, is how God redeemed Chuck's heart and mind, re-aiming him to a life of humble service for prisoners and their families and teaching us to think and live like Christians.

And we are thankful for the encouragement and support, so many of you offer through prayer, notes, emails, social media comments, and gifts of support. Thank you for listening to BreakPoint. And from all of us at the Colson Center, have a blessed Thanksgiving.

INC.com's Jeff Steen has a new technique for anxiety management: schedule time to worry. Setting aside time to consider what worries us, he writes, clarifies our fears. It reminds us of what's important, what we can do about it, and (most importantly) what we can't. It's something he's encouraged business leaders to do for years, and it's seen results.

There's a biblical term for Steen's technique: prayer. If that sounds cliché, it might be because we've lost one of the main things prayer is meant to be.

"Cast all your anxiety on him," writes the Apostle Peter, "because he cares for you."

The Psalmist also puts it beautifully:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

We aren't meant to muscle through our anxieties, but to bring them to God. That's important - because as good as Steen's advice is, it's still only self-help, a speaking into the void. Christians have something just as good and even better. We have Someone listening on the other end.

Z-ers Identify as LGBT." That was a significantly higher number than reported in previous years. Then, last month, a new survey released by Arizona Christian University reported that about 39 percent of 18-24-year-olds claim the label.

Even granting that polling data should always be taken with a grain of salt, that's a shockingly high number. And, in addition to challenging Christians about how much the culture around them has changed, these numbers also challenge the way people have been taught to think about sexuality and, specifically, cultural assumptions about sexuality.

For years, a main idea driving activism around sexual orientation was that gay and lesbian people were "born this way." Since, went the argument, no one is attracted to someone of the same gender through any fault of their own, we must let them be who they truly are and love who they want to love. And we must, the argument continued, erase any notion that heterosexuality is "normal" and homosexuality is not.

The idea proved persuasive, especially the more it was portrayed in song, film, and television. Millions went to research looking for the genetic causes of same-sex attraction. Though it was never found, professional activists did successfully conflate sexual decisions with the already protected classes of race, sex, and disability. Even as it has become increasingly common to claim that sexual orientation is fluid, the old idea that it was an innate, unchangeable component of identity already served its purpose, shifting the moral norms of society.

So, today, most Americans either believe that sexual orientation is something none of us get to choose or is something nobody should question. However, polls like this one should make us question what many in our culture now take for granted about sexual orientation. Otherwise, how can anyone account for the explosion in self-identified LGBTQ youth?

The obvious answer is: we can't. We either have to keep foolishly pretending that nearly 40 percent of young people have always been gay, lesbian, bisexual, or (especially now) transgender, or we must admit that our ideas about sexuality have consequences for others. After all, it didn't take long for the other letters in the ever-growing acronym to jump on board this remarkably successful strategy. So today, anyone who defies traditional "sexual norms" is given elevated moral status, considered to be "experts" on all kinds of things, and given a free pass. Is it any wonder young people want to join those ranks, at least on a subconscious level?

As one of my colleagues pointed out the other day, a teen who identifies as "bisexual" doesn't have to do anything different to gain a status boost. They can keep dating people of the opposite sex or not date at all. They can be sexually active or not. It's the label that does the magic. It's no accident that the B and the T in the acronym have seen the most growth.

Even if the social costs of these ideas are lower than ever, the consequences for young people who adopt them are severe. For one thing, young people are constantly being taught to see every relationship they have as potentially sexual. This robs them of platonic friendships, especially with members of the same sex. CS Lewis famously wrote that "few value (friendship) because few experience it." This has become even more true today, with the loneliest generation on record.

To be clear, people's sexual desires almost never feel "chosen." The research has not fully eliminated all biological or genetic factors in same-sex attraction, though there's no justification for treating it as immutable, much less treating gender dysphoria that way. However, given all of the cultural pressure to assume such, it's foolish to think that simply believing the right things about sexuality could eliminate someone's same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria. To put it differently, this generation has been thoroughly catechized into anthropological confusion, literally changing the definitions of normal and abnormal, of moral and immoral, of who we are and what we do.

In turn, the choices young people make create, reinforce, and amplify their sexual feelings. It's a vicious cycle that mirrors the Apostle Paul's words, "To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."

Though the Gospel doesn't promise instantly repaired sexual desires, it does tell us to "be transformed by the renewing of [our] minds." In a culture obsessed with sex, drowning in loneliness, and careening towards self-harm, it's good news that renewing our minds is even possible. We must point a generation of confused youth toward the compassion and clarity of this much better story as if their lives depend on it. Because they do.