Names of God We learn a lot about God from the names given to him in scripture. The first name given to God is Elohim in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Elohim is a plural noun, but the verb created is singular. God is plural in personhood, but singular in being. The creator God is the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Friel. Huh? Oh, look at that. right on time if you don't have a watch this is wretched radio the whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa careful jimmy be careful in there honestly man if somebody gets close to you you could cut them with those sharp lines on that beard you're sporting today wow you like that who did you dude I don't know his name, but he was rather expensive. And he could wield a razor blade. Was he doing the sharp edge on your beard? He was. And his line after I paid him 50 bucks for this haircut was, welcome to Georgia. I'll say, wow. I was thinking, welcome to the sting, baby. 50 bucks for a haircut and a beard trim? Yeah, I got in trouble. Dude, I got to hook you up with a mod. My Lebanese barber, I'm telling you, you ain't going to walk out with your pockets empty. And it shows. But I'm telling you, when he does that razor thing on the side, those things, I'm telling you, they could kill you right there. So be nice to your barber if you get that deal. And I guess by giving him 50 bucks, you were being nice to your barber. Mrs. Hicks couldn't have been happy with what you came home with. Not at all. The article that I was looking for, $50? Oh, ouch, that hurt me. This was an article by Larry Ball about the Apostle Paul. Question. Was Paul racist? Huh? What do you mean, was Paul racist? Of course he wasn't. Could he ever think racist thoughts? Of course he could. Would he ever write a racist thought in the Bible, codify it as an example for us to sin? And the answer is no, he wouldn't. Nevertheless, the Apostle Paul said this about a particular people group, the Cretans, or the Cretans, if you prefer, had a propensity as a people to lie, to prey on others, and to be lazy. They would rather eat than work. That is what Paul said. They are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons, Titus 112. Paul sounds racist. But is he, in this instance, talking like a racist Jew? I don't think he is. I think that he's making an accurate observation. We used to call this something, and, well, it's almost a word that we dare not speak these days, and that is the word stereotype. Whoa, whoa, whoa, there can't be stereotypes. What Paul tells us is, well, actually there are stereotypes. There are particular characteristics about a particular people group, not every person in the group, but in general, that are observational, and it is okay to identify that. Today, you would be called racist. that moniker that nobody wants to sport, because that is about the worst sin you can commit in our culture today, and yet the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, says, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. John Gill, Commentary on the book of Titus written in the 18th century, quote, it was a sin they were addicted to. Some countries are distinguished by their vices. Some countries for pride, some for levity, vanity, and inconstancy, some for boasting and bragging, some for covetousness, some for idleness, some for effeminacy, some for hypocrisy and deceit, and others, as the Cretans, it seems, for lying. This was their, quote, national sin. Now, does that mean every Cretan was a liar and a lazy glutton? No. In general, you can identify a particular people group and say, they're kind of like that. There was a comedian years ago, years ago, who set up this bit on stereotypes. And it was intended to be just immersed in irony. You might call it sarcasm. And I always drink that heartily. Jewish people, they're not good at business. No. They are. Every single one? No, but in general, you would say they really do exceed, excel in that realm. Come on, we've identified this and this is even verifiable. In our country today, in America, who tend to be the best students who receive the highest GPAs? Asian people, is it wrong to point that out? And you say, well, maybe not when it's a good thing, but you're wrong to point it out when it's a bad thing and our culture calls it racist. The Bible does not. The Bible actually gives us permission, I believe, a la the Apostle Paul, to identify a people group, and not with a wrong attitude, not with a haughty spirit, not with a pride-filled heart, and certainly not with animosity, but to recognize basically those folks are like that. And that is not being racist. The Cretans had a propensity to lie. over all. And Paul identified it and tagged them on it. This from the article from Larry Ball. To identify a body of people who are dominated by a particular sin surely seems sinful itself. To most Christians and many clergymen in the modern church it smacks of racism. unable to think outside the paradigm of individualism, and thus are unable to recognize national traits. Unless, of course, it is the guilt of being a white man. Then we can use that stereotype, can't we? Now, we need to ask ourselves a question, because a lot of people are making that accusation. Is it true? Is it true? Is there an air of white superiority? And I'm willing to look at myself. I can't look at you. There are people who are saying that that is so. And we should be willing to say, fair enough, you're making that accusation. Let's talk about it and actually have a difficult conversation, which doesn't mean a one way dialogue. It means an actual conversation. We should be willing to do that. back to the article nations or races can develop certain dominant and sinful traits which become easily identifiable with that particular nation that can be true for families too can it you know that family oh they're also And then there's maybe one or two inside of that little tribe that isn't that way. And yet we identify, you know, overall they've kind of got that characteristic. It's not bad to do so. It's not racist. It's a biblical view. So that raises a question. What then is racism? This is an issue that I think we would do well to focus on a lot. I would drive this nail into the wood over and over again. What is racism? Everybody is accusing, particularly me, and when I say me, I mean a white European heterosexual male as being racist. That's the accusation. So what are you talking about when you say that, when you call me racist, when you call all white people, and by the way, it's not just the boys, the girls are all racist too, if you're just white. To despise or hate a man simply because he is of a different race or nation is racism. To treat persons unfairly because of their race is sinful. Now having said that, to distinguish various qualities, whether good or bad, among the various races or nations is not racism. So we want to make sure that as we go about the business of perhaps identifying certain traits of certain people groups, that's okay. as long as it doesn't have a tude about it that is condescending, or angry, or superior, or is willing to act on it to hurt somebody financially, physically. Racism is being wildly redefined these days. If you simply say anything about a particular people group, you're racist. It gets even worse. If you are just a particular skin color, you're automatically racist. That's like saying every single male is automatically sexist. Every single person over six feet tall is arrogant about their height. Well, you can't make that slander. You can't make that accusation. We can't generalize that way. Is it racist to distinguish certain characteristics among races and nations? The answer is, according to the Bible and Titus and Paul, no. There are real differences between the nations. And acknowledging those differences can be profitable for us all. God created a really diverse world, and that's a good thing. And that's why I think America is so amazing, because there are particular people groups who do certain things better. Italians, we cook better. I don't care, my German friend. OK, you can organize the world better. Grant you that. Your trains run on time. Italian trains don't. But see, that's precisely the point. And we accept that as Christians and we go, that's really cool. Now, let's take everybody's best trait and put it to work in this great big melting pot. We're going to have ourselves a better place, which I think overall we do. Our current attitude says, no, you can't identify any of those things because that's automatically racist. What do we do with all of this? We don't let the world bully us. And when the world goes about the business of utilizing their right to identify particular stereotypes, I've got to be willing to look at myself if I'm lumped in that group. Doesn't mean I need to accept the stereotype, but it sure does mean that I would do well to at least examine myself. That would be fair, and that would be a two-way street, unlike the world. This is Wretched Radio. Just when you think that this organization can't be any more fine, the Masters Academy International. This is a ministry worthy of your consideration and support. Training indigenous pastors now in 17 nations around the globe. to efficiently equip men who speak the language, know their communities, know the culture, to rightly divide the word of truth and fill empty pulpits. It is brilliant, it is wise, and it is efficient. Please consider supporting the Masters Academy International, www.wretched.org slash pastor. But if that doesn't persuade you, they're dedicating a week of prayer and they're inviting you to join them in praying for indigenous pastors who are under a great deal of pressure and even threats. Please give your consideration to the Master's Academy International at www.wretched.org slash pastor. Every single day, millions of male men and male women all over the world have to deal with serious issues. Issues like sweatiness and being chased by angry chihuahuas. And this summer, we're going to stand in solidarity with our postal worker friends, and you can too, by saying no to hard copies delivered by mail. That's right, August 14th through the 16th, head on over to wretched.org slash digital to take part in our digital download sale. This sale is perfect for our international brothers and sisters or anyone who doesn't like to pay an arm and a leg for shipping. You'll find tons of Wretched resources marked down to ridiculous prices. And best of all, all orders $40 or more will receive a free digital copy of Drive-By False Teachings. So head on over to the Wretched store August 14th through the 16th for our annual digital download sale and show our postal worker friends just how much we care. That's wretched.org slash digital, wretched.org slash digital. And now a message from. are brothers and sisters in China. If I have one minute for American brothers and sisters, I just beg them to pray for the supply of the Bibles and God will open the door for the Chinese people to hear the love of Christ. The government of China, tightening the screws, doing everything that they can to eradicate Christianity from their communist regime. Our brothers and sisters, they have a prayer. It is not that the persecution would stop. It is that they would receive the Word of God. There are a paucity of Bibles in China, and we can change that and provide the Word of God for our brothers and sisters who are being persecuted, not just in China, but around the globe. Bible League International, $5 per Bible. Will you answer their prayer? Retcha.org slash Bible. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence that God is working in us. Every believer will evidence this fruit, but it is important to remember that bearing fruit is a consequence of salvation, not a requirement for salvation. God is working in us and through us, and He is a source of this fruit, not us. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Thiel. You're not going to believe this. Unbelievable. This is wretched radio. I just heard from a friend. Spend 50 bucks on a haircut and a beard trim. Why didn't he look at the sign on the wall? How much is this going to set me back there? Barber a flight. What's your charge in these days? No, not this guy. He just gets dinged for 50 bucks. Can you believe that guy, Jimmy? Oh, I'm sorry. The moment of clarity that was, that was actually you. Yeah. I'm not going to live this one down. Hey, speaking of living in unity and harmony, how's about you and your church? Any racial tensions going on there? I suspect there are. And I suspect that there is somebody inside of your church that is probably espousing a different view than you. They're seeing it differently. We shouldn't be surprised at that. The full court press is on for social justice. Please note, justice is a gospel issue. To be sure, social justice is not social justice. We need to define that term to boot. Social justice and justice, two different things biblically. Social justice is actually calling for equality. It's not calling to make sure that everybody is behaving rightly and treating each other fairly. It's different than that. This happens to be from Wade Trimmer. Social justice was originally a Roman Catholic term. Did you know that, my Gospel Coalition friends? Its first known use was around 1840. Hmm, that's weird, I thought the word social justice was in the Bible. Nevertheless, 1840, where it was used to describe a new kind of virtue or habit necessary for post-agrarian societies. We needed to have social justice. We were moving outside of the farm. We were becoming more and more integrated, doing long-distance business increasingly. And so social justice was invented by the Roman Catholic Church. The United Nations 2006 document, Social Justice in an Open World, the role of the United Nations. I was about nothing. Nevertheless, said this, social justice may be broadly understood as the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth. And that is why when you see one of these university symposiums, inevitably a student will approach the speaker's microphone and say, hey, the worker should get as much as the owner. Why? because they contributed to the manufacturing of pencils. And if the owner of the pencil factory didn't have workers, he wouldn't make a profit. Therefore, all things should be split equitably. That is social justice. If it smells a little bit like Marxism, Your nose isn't working correctly because that is a lot of Marxism right there. The United Nations says social justice is the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth. In other words, haves, have-nots, bourgeoisie, proletariat, oppressor, oppressed, all those distinctions need to go. From Wade Trimmer, social justice is not a biblical term. It is profoundly anti-biblical. On the one hand, the word justice, that's biblical, being found 130 times in the Bible. As to social, it isn't used in connection with justice once. Why? Because with God, there's either justice determined by his word or injustice, which is the transgressing of his word. Justice is a biblical issue. Social justice is not. And I know that even evangelicals hear that and go, well, we don't want people treated unfairly. Right, that's called justice. Social justice is equalizing everything, not just opportunities, not just treatment in a court of law, outcome. That's social justice. So if you happen to be an evangelical who has been espousing social justice and saying, yeah, go social justice, go, no, stop social justice, stop, and bring on biblical justice, which will encompass people treating others unfairly, Social justice doesn't mean that. Social justice means we need to tear down every single structure that currently exists and replace it with an equitable one so that we all have the same amount of things. That is what social justice is. And as an evangelical, I don't think you believe that. So help the effort to be distinctly Christian and simply stop using the term social justice. It just isn't biblical. And now you're feeling that angst. Whoa, wait a second, though. I do see people getting treated poorly. No doubt about it. That's why we have police and courts of law, by the way, that we fund. Happily. We want justice to take place. We don't want any people group or person to be oppressed. Has this nation done that perfectly? Not perfectly, but wow, it's way better than it was. We want to keep doing those things. We don't want racism enshrined. People not able to drink from a bubbler or fountain, depending on whether you live in Wisconsin or not. We want people to be able to ride wherever they want in a bus. I was at the Transportation Museum in Atlanta not too long ago. Okay, actually it was last summer. Time flies. Nevertheless, they had buses and trains there. We did some shooting for road trip to truth. And we went onto a bus, one of those old buses, kind of the rounded nose thing. And we walked into it and about two thirds of the way back, there was a sign that you could read. It said whites only on the other side of the sign. It said blacks only. It's kind of chilling, honestly. You hear about these stories and you go, well, that's wrong, but you see it. And Christians would go, what is that about? Put a certain people group because of their skin color in the back of the bus like chattel because they can't be integrated or knock knees with white people? I mean, come on. But justice covers that. Social justice does not. Why are we clinging to it? People in your church might be Kevin DeYoung offering some helps for us to just plain get along as we work through the issue of social justice. One, don't lose sight of the mission of the church. What's the mission of the church? Waiting. If you don't know, it means we've lost sight of it. And I'll be honest with you, until I read this, I was losing sight of it too. So you're not alone in this clambake we call social justice wars. It's the word. It's the sacraments. It's discipleship. It's evangelism. It's disciplining people. That is the site of the church. That's the mission of the church. And when we are using a lot of time to talk about these social justice issues, we have lost sight of the mission of the church. Let's get back to it. Let's get back to the simplicity that is in Christ. Let's get back to hearing the word and going, oh, it's like balm. It's like cool water. I love being with God's people in God's house. Have you felt like that lately? Let's get back to it. And if you share those things with somebody, please don't let social justice issues divide you and not on the face of it. Please don't. We have too much in common. Love one another. Aspire to live a quiet life. That's what he tells the Thessalonians. Paul says, aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs. Maybe you and I need to do that a little bit more. Be careful. You don't make good things for us requirements for everyone. In other words, don't make your thing somebody else's thing. I won't make my thing your thing. You don't make somebody else your thing their thing. You have convictions, hold them, share them, encourage people to join you, but don't make them and put somebody's arm behind their back and force them to get in line with your social justice ideas. No, let's get back to the mission of the church. Furthermore, let us model compassion toward others along with a dispassionate analysis of the facts. Can you hold that intention? That's not an easy deal, is it? That you love somebody, you hear them disagree with you, you hold on to your convictions and still love them while you think they're wrong in theirs. Do you arise to that challenge? I don't. I fail in that one. A lot. I shouldn't. Remember, the online world is not the primary world we should inhabit. Raising your kids, praying, at your church, those are the things that we need to be consumed by and know about what's going on in the world. Be consumed by God, by His Son Jesus Christ. Be consumed by His Word. Be consumed by fellowshipping with the saints. Be consumed by saying, yes, it's Sunday that we celebrate the Lord's Supper. I don't care that church goes longer and we're never going to get a table at the Cracker Barrel. We get to take the Lord's meal together. Are you there? Or is it possible that you, like I, need a wee little bit of an adjustment? Until tomorrow, go serve your king. Wretched Radio begins in 3, 2, 1. We've had 35 resurrections of the dead. The closer they are to freshly dead, the easier they are to resurrect. So I see this giant angel, and I ask him his name. It's a financial company, and I realize this angel's here for our finances. And that's a true, literal story, by the way. These people are charlatans, and it's about time we draw a line in the sand and stop fraternizing with the wolves. It's time for Wretched Radio with Todd Friel. You do not need to put on a thin paper hospital gown for this examination, but an examination you will take. This is Wretched Radio. How are you feeling, Christian? Not kidding. How do you feel? Let me apply the joy-mometer. That's right, the joy-mometer. Not many physicians know about this, but I do. We're going to attach this to you to see if you have as much joy today as you had last year. Because something tells me, if you're like me, and I'm sorry if that's the case, perhaps you just have a bit of Not depression or anxiety, but perhaps you feel a little bit like Pigpen. You just got this dark cloud following you. It's almost imperceptible until you stop and think it through. Are you joyful? I'm just talking about your emotional state. You're sitting around the dinner table. What are you chatting about? Chances are it's one of three subjects. It is about the racial issues, it is about the COVID issue, or it is about a political issue. None of these subjects are happy talk. They are all rather heavy and a wee bit on the ehhh side, and I just wonder if it is having more of an effect on us than we imagine. So could I challenge you for a moment to do something perhaps you're not inclined to do? I know I'm not. I don't like feely, squishy, what's your emotions? That's what afternoon TV is for. That's what those programs exist for, to just try to make you feel good because you've been told that if you perhaps are a stay-at-home mom Oh, you're wasting your life. You're taking care of the kids. And so these afternoon programs are created so that you can feel like, oh, life is better there. Oh, I just get to escape and be in a happy place where Ellen gives away stuff. Apparently to the audience, she gives something else apparently to her employees. But the point is, I would ask you about your emotional well-being at the moment, and the reason I'm doing that is because I was reading an article from Greg Kokel at Stand to Reason, str.org, and he asked something that I don't think would normally hit me. It kind of reminded me of a Billy Joel song, but nevertheless, the line was this, perhaps we should take better care of ourselves. I'm not inclined to do that, especially in the emotional realm, but I wonder if perhaps we need to. We are to be joyful people. God does not want us overburdened with carking cares that we can't control, that we can influence in virtually no way whatsoever. And because all of the ugh that is going on in our culture right now, and because of all of our access to all of that ugh, maybe we are just not enjoying God's provision for us as much as we should, not could, should. Isn't it interesting that so many really high-profile celebrities die? Isn't it amazing that people like Michael Jackson die an early death? Superstar. Elvis Presley. Superstar. Wham! Superstars just died from whatever reason. Is it possible that the reason we see so many high-profile superstars perish at a young age is because they are not built to receive the accolades that they receive on a regular basis from everyone, the people that work for them? The people that buy their tickets, they just applaud them and idolize them. They see their pictures all over the place. They get primped and prepared for photo shoots. And it kills them. Why? Because a human being is not built to receive what is only intended for God. What does that have to do with your emotional well-being? Because chances are, you, like I, are not a superstar. Is it possible that you and I, in our current context and culture, are receiving so much omniscient information that it is weighing us down because you and I are not built to know everything. And just like the superstar who is not built to receive praises from people that are designed only for men, you and I are not designed to know as much as we do. You and I are not made to carry the cares of the world. You and I are not made to be omniscient or omnipresent. And because of that, because of the internet, because of media, because of cable, because of podcasts, because of all of the signs and images, messaging that you get everywhere, you are exposed to too much. And you can't take it. And neither can I. A quote from this Greg Kokel article, could it be that God didn't wire us to carry every event taking place in every part of the world at every moment as if it were ours? Could it be that technology has produced a faux omniscience, an omnipresence that is hurting mankind and not helping it? God and God alone can shoulder the weight of everything. You can't. And I can't. And yet, because of the blessing of social media, we are being asked to do that very thing. God is omnipresent. He can handle all the evil. He can handle all the knuckleheadery. He can handle all the pain, all the tragedy, all the violence, all the aggression, all the warring factions, all the dumb thinking, the tearing down of what is good. He can handle it. You and I can't. We're not made for it. We're not built for it. He has the emotional bandwidth that you and I do not possess. He can watch evil. He can be plugged into every single event and not feel blue. But I don't think you and I can. Is it possible that you and I need to consider this so that we can be more emotionally healthy and experience joy, especially when we can't really do much, if anything, about everything that we are exposed to? Please let me attach a caveat at this moment. I understand that sticking our head in the sand isn't wise either. I'm not calling for that or asking for that or suggesting that. That's not that's not wise either. It's good to know that That perhaps some cities are burning down right now But is it necessary to see the images every single day and then to see another store window broken? another graffiti attack another violent act another kid needlessly shot By some people that are out of control and the government that won't do anything about it Do I need to know it all the time? Do I need breaking news constantly? Do I need every single news story that is a drag? Come on, the jokes have been going on for years. When was the last time you turned on the news and they said, OK, wow, what a day in Atlanta. There's so much good stuff to report. Let's see if we can get to all of it today, shall we? As always, who got murdered? What police officer was attacked or assaulted or perhaps did some attacking or assaulting? the problem with the people who are starving over here, the accident over there, the government corruption in that building. It's never good. It's all bad, bad, bad. And because you and I are not God, despite what Francis Chan seems to be intimating these days, Somehow God is in me and there's a sense in which I am like God and man all at once. No, there's not a sense. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. You are not the incarnated Christ and we are not divine beings. The divine dwells within us, but we are not little gods and we are not meant to carry and to shoulder so much heaviness. We have this sense of faux omnipresence. The news feed, where you can see this story, that story, this story, and you don't even... I know we've all heard these diatribes before. Hey, you just scan the news and you don't... My point is, we scan it so fast, and what is it? The media doesn't like happy. What, did you, on the day that the COVID deaths were down, did they celebrate? Hey, hey, hey, good news. Guess what? The COVID death rate is down. You don't hear that. You'll just hear something bad about COVID. You'll just hear something bad about it. Okay, the stock market was up, but. and we see it and we're exposed to it, lickety split, and we get to see it in places where historically we would have had no business seeing it. Is it possible that because of that, because we are being asked and apparently willingly desiring to play the role of divine omniscience and omnipresence, We are feeling a weight that you and I cannot shoulder or burden, and it is weighing us down, and it is heavy, and it is sapping us of joy. Please, put the joy-mometer on yourself. He wants you to have joy. He wants you to be informed, but he does not want you and me to be playing God. That is a job that only he can shoulder. This is Wretched Radio. Not to say I told you so, but I've been sharing with you how tomorrow clubs think kids camps in Eastern Europe meeting weekly to hear the gospel. Kids get saved, parents get saved, and churches get revitalized. Here is just one example so I can say, I told you so. There is actually was a dying church only two families so this lady she's a schoolteacher someone told her about this village so she came and believe it or not she has about 40 kids coming to the tomorrow club from the villages around so the whole church is filled with kids love Hearing that, would you please consider supporting your own Tomorrow Club in Eastern Europe? Kids are getting saved, families getting saved, and churches revitalized. $30 a month, 30 disciples. TomorrowClubs.org slash wretched. TomorrowClubs.org slash wretched. So you're sitting around the house, not a whole lot to do. Sports really aren't that interesting right now. So what do you do? Well, you head on over to wretched.org. The Wretched website contains amazing content. Content like full 30-minute Wretched TV episodes, full 60-minute Wretched radio episodes. Our Wretched store contains over 40 amazing resources like Jesus Unmasked, Drive by False Teaching, and Don't Stub Your Toe. And the Wretched library is where you can find a whole bunch of topics ranging from abortion to pneumatology to marriage to evangelism. You can also visit our donate page and become a gospel partner. Without the support of our listeners, there would be no Wretched. So if you're already not a gospel partner, would you please consider becoming one? We cannot. do this without you. That's Retchit.org slash donate. We ask for you to prayerfully consider supporting us. Your faithful and consistent support will help Retchit preach the gospel, equip people to preach the gospel, and strengthen the local church. Retchit. Amazing grace. Amazing gospel. What does $28 buy these days? Well, for starters, it buys an ultrasound. More importantly, it buys a life. My pregnancy was unplanned. Abortion was in the back of my mind. But seeing my baby girl moving and Hearing the heartbeat, it was so overwhelming. We can't wait to welcome our baby girl into this world. That is one grateful mommy and I'm certain it will be one grateful baby who was given life because you provided a free ultrasound through preborn.org slash wretched. $28 will provide an ultrasound 80% of the time. A mommy who is choosing the termination of her own child will choose life. Will you please consider supporting this very efficient and life-saving ministry that preaches the gospel? Preborn.org slash wretched. A vital part of biblical hermeneutics is an understanding of genre. One genre we find in Scripture is gospel. The gospels are four complementary narrative accounts of the same story from a different perspective with a different emphasis. God delivers His timeless truth through a multitude of witnesses. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Friel. Can anything good come out of... Inherit the Wind, this is Wretched Radio. Bad movie, rather profound lecture from Henry Drummond. Progress has never been a bargain. You have to pay for it. Sometimes I think there's a man sitting behind a counter saying, all right, you may have the telephone, But you must give up your privacy and the charm of distance. Madam, you may have the vote, but you can no longer hide behind the powder puff in the petticoat. Mister, you may conquer the air, but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline. There is a cost to progress, make no mistake about it. We human beings have been given a mandate to subdue this wrangly bad boy called planet Earth. Progress is good, but it does not come without a price tag. And that is true no matter what the invention is. And when we look back rather quaintly to these times when these rubes called human beings were nearly as sophisticated and smart as we are, we titter, that's right, we titter when we watch the Victorians in a panic about the telephone. Isn't that cute on the Downton Abbey? They don't know how to answer the telephone. Isn't that charming? And isn't it funny that some of them are worried that it's going to come at some sort of a cost. What do you mean? Somebody can call, they can get right into my home? And we laugh. Why? Because we're so used to it. Telephones are the air we breathe. And so when it was first introduced, there were people who actually said, wait a second, what are we doing here? Forget the telephone. Consider trains. What? To blemish the landscape, to lay down metal track so that people from perhaps bad places could come right into our little town and perhaps destroy it or at least degrade it in some way? Wait a second, you mean industry is going to be coming through here? And we think, oh, isn't that amusing? And yet, it is entirely possible that they were at least, in part, correct. And Henry Drummond, in Inherit the Wind, in this particular oratory, the famous monologue, is correct. Progress does not come without a price. Oh, how charming! They don't want to use dynamite to blow a hole in the mountain so we can put a train through the hill. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho. Don't they understand progress? And we Christians need to have a more holistic understanding of it. We Christians need to be aware that there is a price that is paid whether we are aware of it or not for the sake of progress. What is challenging about that is that progress overall is good and yet it is not always good. Consider for a moment the family. We have excelled for 150 years in making our culture convenient. Boom, running water. And don't we carp when we have to wait for it to turn hot? Oh, so what did we do? We invented a little mechanism that goes under the sink so that you've got instant hot water all the time. Because who can wait for hot water? this is the 21st century after all we turn on a light switch and boom okay I'm guilty of this when we first when we we moved sort of recently and and the light switches you turn them on and there was not even a second delay but there was a delay to the electrician. You know that little delay thing? Can you fix that? Because I can't wait a nanosecond for my light to turn on. We are excellent at convenience. We have entirely overlooked other things like character. Convenience? Yes. Character? No. Convenience? Thumbs up. Family? Thumbs down. Convenience? Absolutely. Emotional health? Simplicity? Godly delights? Not so much, or not at all, and I am simply inviting you to ponder. Is it possible that you and I, perhaps to a degree, need to unplug And you're gonna go, oh come on! This is progress, man! These cell phones are great! Yep, they are. But they don't come without a cost. Don't take it from me, take it from Henry Drummond. Furthermore, take it from the Bible. Who is the one who is able to bear Oh, the blitzkrieg of bad news that we see on our cell phones every day. Come on, don't tell me you have not been whipped up over racial issues on either side, come on. Don't tell me that you sitting in your town, if it wasn't in a 55075, ah, that might be Invergrove Heights, a Minneapolis zip code, you saw the buildings burn down and what did you do? You maybe watched it for hours and hours and hours, day after day. You're not made for that. You can know about that. I'm not suggesting that we become ostriches. We just, I, hey, hey, I just don't need to know anything. Yeah, you do. Because it's important. Because we Christians care about things, and we care about people, and we care to be involved as we can with the chief desire to see people saved. And so it is good to know about these things for the sake of protection of our family. Not saying to bury your head in the sand, but I am suggesting that because we are not God, never has a more obvious statement been made. We shouldn't be seeing everything that's going on in every zip code. Consider a quote from Charles Spurgeon, if you will, taking this courtesy of STR, stand to reason, Charles Spurgeon talking to pastors in training. Many servants of God are made to feel their weakness in another way. by an oppressive sense of responsibility. Do not take an exaggerated view of what the Lord expects of you, he writes. He will not blame you for not dealing with that which is beyond your mental power or physical strength. That's my point. There are things that are beyond our mental power and physical strength. We only have so much emotional bandwidth. Ours is not infinite like God's is. It is very finite. And when you and I are receiving a barrage of bad news every single day from every corner of the planet, We can't bear it. Spurgeon, we are not the Father, nor the Savior, nor the Comforter of the Church. We cannot take the responsibility of the universe upon our shoulders. This is the perspective that he's after is, hey, just watch what you take on yourself so that you don't get confused. My take out of that is you and I are not the Father. You and I can't take it. And I just wonder, you and I need to think about our emotional health. Oh no, you sound like a vitamin commercial. Oh no, we're getting all sappy. Oh no, we're talking about the health that we are supposed to have because of a recognition that we're not God. That is my emphasis. We are not divine beings. And when we take on so much, we're deluding ourselves into thinking that maybe we are. Maybe indeed we do think a little bit more highly of ourselves than we ought. Maybe our thinking is, perhaps frighteningly, a little bit more in alignment with Francis Chan's current thinking than we thought. Somehow God is in me and there's a sense in which I am like God and man all at once. Hey, there's some bad theology for you, but maybe you and I, in our own ways, have adopted that. Well, that would be basically heresy, what you just heard right there. Maybe in some sense, ooh, we've forgotten we're not God. I'm not accusing you of heresy. I'm suggesting that you and I just need a pullback. Progress doesn't come without a price. Have you wondered at birds lately? Have you just marveled at flight? Of course not. You fly 38,000 feet above the ground and, excuse me, the temperature in here, could we adjust that please? Could I have another beverage from your cart, please? Perhaps another bag of pretzels? And we snack, and we munch, and we zoom over cities at 600 miles an hour, and we think birds are now quaints, but we don't have any marvel. Am I suggesting we shouldn't have invented airplanes? No, but am I stating that airplanes come at a cost? Yes, I am. All technology does, and we have ourselves, perhaps, no, we have the most sophisticated technology in all of human history, besides our brain. The cell phone, this machine that you and I freak out about when we can't find it. We actually get, do you do this? I do this. Even my own wife will say, let me just use your phone. Well, can't you use hers? Because I can't have you touching my telephone because I need my phone so bad. And perhaps we become a slave to it. And even worse than that, we've lost our balance while we should be consuming what is going on in current events. that we have taken upon ourselves too much bad, and it is bringing us down, and you and I are lacking joy. Let us remember we are not divine and adjust accordingly. This is Wretched Radio.