Part 2 - A Reflection on the Third Act of Life

Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.”

An especially talented friend, who had a devastating stroke, recently sent me a YouTube link for a sermon by Pastor Tony Evans. I am not broadly familiar with Pastor Evans’s ministry, so this reflection concerns this sermon specifically. I found his exhortations about “Why You Must Be Careful in Old Age” to be timely and consistent with many Biblical principles concerning perseverance, holiness, and Christian witness. 

The sermon warns that old age does not eliminate spiritual danger; it changes the nature of the temptations believers face. Solomon’s failure in later life demonstrates that spiritual maturity and past faithfulness do not remove the need for continued vigilance, humility, and dependence upon God. Older believers must resist spiritual complacency and the temptation to retire from spiritual discipline. Of course, aging affects physical activity but should not diminish prayer, obedience, engagement with Scripture, and commitment to worshipping and serving the Lord God.

Pastor Evans highlights that spiritual fatigue can produce gradual decline even when a person believes they remain faithful. Old age is not an escape from spiritual warfare; it is a season in which prayer, influence, and decisions continue to affect others. Past spiritual accomplishments do not guarantee present faithfulness, perseverance is ultimately grounded in God’s preservation of His people, not merely human vigilance. Believers must continue pursuing God through humility, obedience, and dependence upon grace until the end of life. The enemy patiently seeks moments of vulnerability, especially when believers become less watchful.

The central exhortation of the sermon is that the Christian walk requires persevering faithfulness to the end, a perseverance sustained by God’s grace. Spiritual attacks may come after long periods of apparent stability. The enemy waits for weakened defenses, unresolved wounds, weariness, and misplaced confidence. Believers must remain spiritually equipped throughout every stage of life. Spiritual decline often begins through small compromises rather than dramatic rebellion. Pride and overconfidence can weaken prayer, repentance, accountability, and dependence upon God. Temptation may appear attractive by presenting compromise as deserved rest or earned comfort. This is the wake-up call in Evans’ sermon: older believers must recognize that ease can become a pathway toward spiritual drift. Because older believers possess influence and a visible testimony, they must remain spiritually alert. The measure of faithfulness is not merely how one begins but how one finishes, a strong beginning does not guarantee a faithful conclusion.

He notes that Saul and David illustrate the difference between beginning well and finishing with a heart continually turned toward God. Later life remains a season of purpose, obedience, and spiritual usefulness. Older believers continue carrying responsibility for their families, churches, and communities as they pursue God’s calling. Holiness is not limited to a period of active ministry or youthful devotion. As long as believers live, they remain responsible for pursuing righteousness, surrender, and obedience to God. The Christian life requires endurance rather than temporary enthusiasm.

Pastor Evans points out that age, position, and past service do not excuse compromise or reduce the requirement for holiness. A lifetime of pursuing holiness provides a powerful testimony to others. Older believers demonstrate the reality and endurance of faith when they remain humble, faithful, and devoted to God. Long life provides accumulated wisdom intended to benefit others. failure of an older believer can have significant consequences because seasoned Christians influence younger generations. The enemy seeks to damage not only individuals but also the witness and legacy they have built over a lifetime. 

Finally, the sermon addresses the too common condition where isolation creates spiritual vulnerability by separating believers from encouragement, accountability, and community. Older Christians must resist withdrawal and remain connected to the body of Christ. The church must intentionally value, include, and care for older believers. Mature Christians remain essential members of the body of Christ whose wisdom, presence, and participation strengthen the entire congregation. Older believers are not meant to withdraw but to use their experiences, lessons, and testimony to strengthen future generations. Older believers possess insights gained through hardship, faithfulness, and experience that younger believers need. Their responsibility is to transfer wisdom, encouragement, and spiritual guidance rather than remain silent. Pastor Evans provides a concluding exhortation: intergenerational connection is a biblical responsibility, not merely a preference. Older believers must share wisdom, and younger believers must receive guidance so that faithfulness continues across generations.

If I were to change one thing it would be the title. The popular paraphrase of Yogi Berra’s aphorism, “It ain’t over until it’s over, and then it ain’t over,” better captures the sermon’s two-level argument. 1) spiritual vigilance remains necessary through the end of life and 2) the believer’s final witness continues through legacy, influence, and the generations that follow.

 

Readers are encouraged to view the complete sermon for Pastor Evans’s full presentation. The entire sermon, “Why You Must Be Careful in Old Age,” can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/ahRkA4MBWuc?si=Xbmp3cqTpR21NZhw

A Reformed Assessment of Political Power, Calling, and Human Limits

I was taken aback by the news of Senator Lindsey Graham's death. I had just read an article about his visit to Ukraine. The next morning, I was shocked and saddened to learn that he had died. If the reports are mostly correct, despite serious chest pain, Senator Graham waited to get emergency medical help because he planned to keep a scheduled television appearance. The news reports cannot reveal his thinking or tell us the Senator’s state of mind. Whether the report is true or false, it gives us reason to ask how political power can harm human judgment.

For eleven years, I walked the halls of Congress as a government affairs specialist. I saw firsthand what immense human power can do. Members of Congress do not merely hold impressive jobs; they exercise great government authority. Senior officials treat them with deep respect, and national and international media follow them closely as their decisions affect millions of people. Years in that setting can produce deep self-importance and a belief that one is indispensable. People outside Washington may believe they understand this effect, yet its full force is hard to grasp until one has seen it firsthand.

This does not mean that every Member of Congress acts the same way. But Congress strongly rewards confidence, personal action, and endless work. It also rewards the belief that important matters depend on the Member and their expertise. Over time, a person may stop seeing their work as one important calling. They may begin to believe that institutions, policies, or even nations need them to succeed.

A Reformed view identifies this as a failure to remember the Creator-creature distinction. In simple terms, God is the Creator and we are his creatures. God alone exists by his own power, and God alone is indispensable. All human authority is given by God, our lives depend on him, and our abilities are limited. God does not need anything from us. Scripture says,

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." (Acts 17:24-25, ESV)

Scripture also warns those who speak about tomorrow without admitting that they depend on the Lord's will. Political importance does not change this truth.

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit'—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." (James 4:13-16, ESV)

Reformed teaching on vocation, or calling, says that public office is a trust from God. It is not a form of personal rule. A civil magistrate is God's servant with a limited task. Such a person is not the nation's final guardian, nor are they needed to make history move forward. A calling can become the main source of a person's identity, who may then mistake constant work for faithfulness. A person may also mistake real duty for being impossible to replace.

The Sixth Commandment also requires the lawful care of one's own life. It calls us to respect and protect both the lives of others and our own:

"You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13, ESV)

Calling emergency services at once is not weakness, fear, or a failure of duty. It is a wise acceptance of our human limits. It is also a proper use of the ordinary means through which God often preserves life.

The main lesson goes beyond one person's reported medical decisions. Vast earthly power can form habits of mind that work well in political discourse but become dangerous before God and reality. Power can lead a person to think their duties are more urgent than anyone else's. It can make a person trust their own judgment too much; it can also make them feel indispensable. Scripture answers that false belief with humility, wisdom, an awareness of death, and trust in God's providence. No political office removes the limits of the body, no office cancels the duty to protect one's own life, and no mere human being is necessary to the purposes of God.

Discipled by algorithms?

Romans 12:2 is a life verse for me.  You probably know it well, too. 

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will."

In Matthew 22:27, Jesus called on believers to

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

These verses, and many others, challenge Christians to think.  We are to use our minds to discern God’s will, learn and study his word, and step back from mindlessly following the pattern of this world.  We have been gifted with the ability to think and reflect.  We are called to assess and discern. 

Our culture, media, and technology are designed to mold us into images of this world.  We live in a society that would drown us in a sea of gossip, trivia, and irrelevance. 

I was a professional librarian for 31 years and taught students from high schools through doctoral programs about assessing and managing misinformation.  Critical thinking involves identifying needed information, analyzing the credibility of available information, recognizing bias, assessing personal assumptions, and using information in an ethical manner (i.e., giving credit to authors).  These are life-long skills as we daily face a tsunami of trivia, news, opinion, critique, and falsehood. 

For the Christian, critical thinking is the practice of using our God-given minds to assess information, think about the source of that information, and consider seriously whether that information fits into a Christian worldview.  Those of you who attended the Sunday School Series based on Brooks’ Precious Remedies against Satan’s Devices may recall that one of the author’s warnings was that Satan would “pollute and defile the souls and judgments of men with dangerous errors.” (p. 64) Brooks could not anticipate today’s technologies or social divisions, but he was confident that Satan will continue to work until the 2nd coming.  We have a grave responsibility to seek out the truth, discern what aligns with the word of God, and use information in a way that brings him glory.

Guarding our worldview

We shape the algorithms that fill our feeds by our clicks and likes, but eventually, those algorithms shape us. Technology enables each of us to end up in an echo chamber where all opinions align with ours, all fears are reinforced, and all information feeds our sense of ‘right’.  This presents a real danger for the church in 21st-century America.  We could easily fall into the errors Paul identified in the church at Corinth: 

“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (I Corinthians 1:10, NIV)

The title of this post comes from an article by Justin Giboney, where he challenges Christians to build on our unity in Christ rather than our political and social divisions. 

Guarding our faithfulness

We have been gifted with minds to enable us to discern the truth. We are called to pray without ceasing and to know the word of the Lord.  The media is rife with false teachers peddling heresy and conspiracy theories.  Adhering to or following such personalities leads to error and confusion. 

In 2 Peter 2:1, he warned:

“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.”

Conclusion

How do we do feed our minds in this mindless culture?  We can start with the array of opportunities provided by Hope Presbyterian Church.  Sunday School and the Worship service are obvious choices.  Sunday School is a chance to learn about and discuss topics important to Christian living.  The worship service is full of readings and exhortation from the Bible as well as hymns based on scriptural teaching.  During the week, men’s and women’s Bible studies are times dedicated to careful study of portions of the scriptures.  The programs at Hope are safe zones for questioning and considering God’s word.

The internet provides rich resources that teach and edify our Christian lives and practices.  The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) features an online bookstore with titles that have been vetted for correct doctrine. Ligonier Ministries offers a similar service.  The Gospel Coalition offers free online courses on theology and Christian living.  Gospel in Life provides sermons and tests by Tim Keller.  The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals broadcasts The Bible Study Hour featuring sermons by James Boice.  These resources are linked in the list of sources below.  This is just a sampling of thoughtful and useful sources available.

Occasional mindless scrolling on the internet or binge-watching shows can be a welcome distraction from day-to-day life.  But is it good stewardship of our time and our minds if we spend long portions of the day focused on our screens? James Boice stated it this way, “We are to be many things as Christians, but one requirement that is certainly high on the list, if not foundational to everything, is to be a thinking people.” (p. 84).

Resources

Encouraged by the 53rd PCA General Assembly 

This past week, I had the privilege of attending our denomination's 53rd General Assembly in Louisville, Kentucky.

For those who may not be familiar with Presbyterian church government, our churches are governed from the ground up. Local congregations elect elders to shepherd and govern their churches. Those elders then gather in regional assemblies called presbyteries. Each year, ruling and teaching elders from across the country meet at the General Assembly to consider and debate matters that affect the entire denomination.

I returned home encouraged by the state of the PCA. The Assembly elected excellent officers and dealt thoughtfully with several significant issues facing the church. Here are five actions that were especially noteworthy and may be of interest to Hope Church.

First, the Assembly voted to continue a study committee on Christian nationalism. You can read its initial report here. The committee appears to be moving in a faithful direction. It acknowledges that the term Christian nationalism is broad and difficult to define while also recognizing that the label has often been associated with unhelpful rhetoric and, in some cases, unbiblical teaching. If you have time, I would especially encourage you to read the pastoral letter at the beginning of the report. Next year, we can look forward to a more thorough and scholarly analysis of this topic, which will, Lord willing, serve the church for years to come.

Second, the Assembly voted to continue a study committee on worship. In our Book of Church Order, we have a Directory for Public Worship, but most of it is not constitutional or binding on the churches of our denomination. Many hope that this section of the Book of Church Order will eventually become constitutional, making it binding on all PCA churches. Since worship is not a secondary issue but lies at the very heart of the church's life and calling, I believe this could be a positive step. You can read an initial draft of the committee's document on worship here. It will be circulated among the presbyteries and churches over the next year with the goal of refining and strengthening it for the good of the church. I'm very encouraged by this development and hope it will be approved at next year's General Assembly.

Third, the Assembly voted to establish a study committee on the impact of large language models ("artificial intelligence") on the church. Lord willing, this will prove to be a valuable resource. If you participated in our Sunday school class on technology, you'll know that this is an area where Christians need careful biblical reflection. My prayer is that this study will help the church neither reject new technology out of fear nor embrace it uncritically, but instead use it wisely, faithfully, and for the glory of God.

Fourth, in an effort to remain faithful in our understanding of biblical manhood and womanhood, the Assembly declared the Danvers Statement to be biblically faithful and a helpful resource for the churches of our denomination. In 1987, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW)  produced this concise document to help the broader evangelical church articulate a faithful, biblical understanding of the complementary roles of men and women in the home and the church. I supported this action because I believe the Danvers Statement could serve as a valuable resource for Hope Church.

Finally, the Assembly adopted the following statement:

"Therefore, be it resolved that the 53rd General Assembly encourages all congregations in the Presbyterian Church in America to give thanks to the Lord for the United States of America as we approach the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding."

If you were in worship on Sunday, you may remember that I followed the recommendation of this resolution by giving thanks for our country during the pastoral prayer. Although our nation is not perfect and has done both good and evil throughout its history, we can still be thankful for God's many mercies to us and for the freedoms we enjoy through the sacrifices of so many. I hope we will all give thanks to God this week as we celebrate the Fourth of July.

Overall, I left the General Assembly thankful and encouraged. No denomination is perfect, but I believe the PCA continues to demonstrate a sincere commitment to the authority of Scripture, careful theological reflection, and faithful Presbyterian government. Please continue to pray for our denomination, its leaders, and our own congregation as we seek to glorify Christ and faithfully proclaim His gospel in our generation.

A Reflection on the Third Act of Life

“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything…”

Philippians 4:5–6 (ESV)

There comes a point in life when the focus quietly begins to change. Earlier decades are often shaped by building, achieving, advancing, providing, and carrying responsibility. Much of life is organized around motion and output. Yet later life gradually asks different questions.

Retirement and aging are often described as decline, withdrawal, or irrelevance. But perhaps a better way to think about this season is as a transition: not away from life but continuing toward an integrated and faithful way of living. The goal is no longer endless optimization or productivity for its own sake. Instead, the focus becomes alignment: caring well for the body, cultivating the mind, and grounding the soul while remaining engaged with reality, beauty, curiosity, meaning, and gratitude.

The body changes first in ways that cannot be ignored. Energy becomes less automatic. Recovery takes longer. Physical limits become more visible. Yet the aging body is not an enemy to defeat, nor merely a machine to endlessly optimize. It becomes an act of stewardship.

The aim gradually shifts from performance toward capability. Mobility matters more than intensity. Endurance matters more than ambition. Walking, movement, craftsmanship, nature, sunlight, rest, and moderate exertion become quiet forms of wisdom rather than signs of limitation. A healthy relationship with the body learns to respect physical limits without surrendering to them.

The danger, of course, is drifting toward either neglect or obsession. Some people ignore the body entirely; others become consumed by health anxieties and endless self-monitoring. Neither path brings peace. A steadier approach accepts aging honestly while still caring for the body with dignity and gratitude.

The mind also changes with time, though not always in negative ways. Earlier life often rewards speed, specialization, multitasking, and constant information intake. But maturity frequently deepens other capacities: synthesis, reflection, pattern recognition, discernment, and perspective.

The mature mind benefits less from endless streams of information and more from depth. Reading slowly, engaging meaningful ideas, listening to music, learning unfamiliar subjects, exploring creative work, and having thoughtful conversations all help sustain intellectual vitality. Curiosity becomes more important than achievement pressure.

There is also freedom in no longer needing to prove intelligence through constant output. Expertise can be used selectively and meaningfully rather than defensively. One can contribute wisdom without needing to control every outcome.

The soul dimension of later life is the most important and the most neglected. At some point, every person must wrestle with deeper questions of meaning, mortality, gratitude, conscience, beauty, relationships, and peace.

A healthy soul learns contentment rather than endless striving. It becomes less concerned with image and more concerned with truthfulness, faithfulness, and peace. Prayer, worship, reflection, gratitude, service, silence, and moral clarity become stabilizing practices rather than abstract ideals.

The soul also learns to accept finitude without panic or despair. Not everything will be completed. Not every question will be resolved. Some hopes remain unfinished. Yet peace becomes possible when life is no longer measured only by accomplishment.

One of the great temptations of modern culture is to treat aging either as a problem to solve or as a reason for resignation. Neither approach is adequate. Human beings are not designed merely for efficiency, nor are they meant to disappear inwardly as they grow older.

A healthier vision of later life involves remaining engaged without exhaustion, interested without restlessness, wise without cynicism, and compassionate without trying to carry the entire world.

This also leads to a different definition of success. Earlier in life, success is often measured through acquisition, advancement, responsibility, status, and accomplishment. In later years, a wiser definition may involve steadiness, clarity, wisdom, gratitude, creativity, resilience, and the ability to remain genuinely interested in life without needing to dominate it.

The challenge is not merely extending life but learning how to inhabit the remaining years well: with attentiveness rather than urgency, curiosity rather than fear, and grounded faithfulness rather than endless optimization.

Perhaps this is the quiet work of the third act of life: not becoming younger again, not retreating from reality, but becoming more whole, more attentive, more grateful, and more at peace.

What Makes You Matter? A Gospel Answer to Loneliness

In her book Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose, Jennifer Wallace hits on an idea that goes to the heart of the loneliness epidemic. She says it’s not just a lack of company that gives us our sense of isolation. It’s actually the feeling of not mattering to those in our lives. There are plenty of practical ways to gain that sense of mattering to others. But Christianity—even beyond church membership—makes all the difference, creating an inward sense of mattering as we experience the Gospel’s power.

Many people in society feel the desire to matter, since the old ways of mattering to others—such as having a deeply rooted neighborhood, going to church multiple times a week, or simply having the responsibility and joy of many children—seem to be fading. Many of us have streamlined our various ways of connecting into one central sense of purpose: our careers, with time-saving text messaging or social media serving as our primary means of connection.

There seems to be a movement of people pushing back against the isolation of modern society, seeking to ensure that they matter to others. Whether by setting aside time to go deeper with friends or by taking on a volunteering role, many people are finding ways to matter.

The most fundamental way to matter, however, is by finding that significance in Christianity. Jennifer Wallace dismisses Christianity’s promise by describing it as a relic of the past. But the Gospel is always relevant. It is the highest way to matter. When you experience the Gospel—the love of God poured out in the sacrifice of His Son on the cross—you realize how much you matter to God. This is the primary source—a well of mattering that flows up in our hearts and even helps us make others feel less alone.

Understanding God’s Law in Leviticus: What the Pharisees Got Wrong

It used to be hard for me not to feel sympathy for the Pharisees in the New Testament. It always seemed that they were doing the best they could, learning from the warnings of the prophets and the mistakes of the past. But as I have been reading through Leviticus, I have begun to see how far they were from what God was offering in the law He gave through Moses.

The laws of cleanness and uncleanness – especially the dietary boundaries and the procedures for evaluating illness or even potentially harmful conditions in homes, such as mold – reveal God’s far-reaching knowledge and His deep, loving care for His people. These laws were not arbitrary. They gently called His people to an attentive, humble acknowledgment that God’s ways are truly higher than our own. God also established a compassionate structure for dealing with sin through sacrifice. The sacrificial system reflects His care, providing a way for His people to confess, be cleansed, and address guilt when they become aware of their sin. God knew that sin, left unaddressed, would fester and burden the heart. The Pharisees treated these compassionate provisions as a standard by which to measure themselves. Instead of responding with grateful humility, they approached the law with a spirit of achievement and self-sufficient pride. In doing so, though they labored to live according to God’s law, they ultimately rejected the Messiah they were waiting for.

Let us not make the same mistake. Instead, let us come reverently and humbly before the God who loves us so deeply that He fulfilled His own law in Christ, giving His Son on the cross so that we might receive His righteousness, the righteousness the Pharisees misunderstood.

Pushing Back Against “Gray Divorces”: How the Gospel Saves Marriage

“Gray divorce” is another modern tragedy. It is a recent phenomenon involving a rise in divorces among people who are approaching retirement age. Many people welcome it as an escape from a confining or unfulfilling marriage once the kids are grown up.

While listening to an NPR podcast discussing gray divorce, I expected pushback from another perspective. But no such thing. An echo chamber of affirmation just let everyone settle deeper into their own point of view. The true answer to gray divorce is Christian marriage, because Christian couples are able to gain back satisfaction in their marriage by trusting God more deeply.

Gray divorce offers a way out of unfulfilling marriages, but there is a better way: marriage between two Christians means that each person in the marriage is being convicted of sin separately. Each person should be growing more understanding and pure-hearted toward the other as they grow. Christians don’t need a way out; even if they are dissatisfied for a while, Christians generally find a place of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Gray divorce also promises self-discovery, but Christianity allows infinite self-discovery as we probe the depths of God’s self. Scripture is our mirror, and self-knowledge and growth happen no matter what our circumstances. No matter how small our circumstances seem, God himself gives us our satisfaction and our growth.

A gospel foundation is needed in order to break the power of sin that binds and blinds us to our old patterns. Even if our spouse never changes, even if the struggles of our marriages are real, if we turn to God through the knowledge of what Christ did for us, we can always find fulfillment and always find the growth that some people think only happens in purely self-seeking settings.

Leisure and the Gospel

Coincidentally, I heard two podcast episodes about the American need to restore meaningful leisure. I heard the repetition almost like words of truth: close enough together to plant a sense of urgency about it in my own life. And, although neither podcast brought in the story of Scripture, the general revelation of the best way to live, as well as the specific difference that Christ’s death and resurrection make, can help us understand the ways we misunderstand leisure not just as a problem of society, but also as a problem of each of our hearts—one that only Christ can truly solve.

Hustle culture has made Americans into the top overworkers around the world, only behind Japan and South Korea. It seems like in our modern era, monetary value has taken over any consideration about the value of both work and leisure. In England, The Great British Bake Off is full of hobby bakers, people who do something just because they find it a richly rewarding form of leisure. However, in America, every contest only involves professionals or people with a side hustle. The only meaning we see is how much we can monetize the work we do—whether gigging, selling baked goods online, or influencing, just to name a few. We respect ourselves and gain respect from others based on how smart we were about monetizing any skill we have. Even the word “leisurely” gets thrown around more as a way to complain about the pace of other workers. Americans view leisure more as a way to fully relax (most of us imagine things such as reading a mindless book by the pool, or these days, binge-watching a series to relax our bodies and detach our minds from real struggles).

Our culture in America certainly has a hard time incorporating leisure into our lives, and many are calling out the problem. Brigid Schulte, in her book Over Work: Transforming the Daily Grind in the Quest for a Better Life, calls it a social problem of a gender imbalance we just have yet to progress out of. This, to me, doesn’t go deep enough. Cal Newport, in contrast, finds the roots of our tendency to overwork mainly in our technological addiction—to him, the only solution is to intentionally re-shape our time, selecting non-digital pastimes to give us our way from hustle into meaningful, significant existence. All of us can acknowledge that society is very different and even damaged from the increase of addictive technology, but something deeper has been harnessed by technology to addict us. However, neither of these paths toward leisure digs into the deepest, core reason behind our addiction to work and the path to freedom.

Scripture teaches that any unhealth we find in our lives—whether addiction to work, watching too much television, or checking our emails all the time—is actually a product of our sinful desires. Tim Keller (from John Calvin) called our hearts “idol factories” because when we let good things take over the driver’s seat in our lives, like a desire for significance, this is letting it have the place where God should be.

For a Christian, we enter work from a place of rest already; the rest that comes from Christ is a spiritual resting in the fact that he died and rose again. His salvation changes everything. Christians put their trust and significance not in their own work, but in his saving power. Now we can come to the Protestant work ethic with a sense of freedom and joy, rather than just a need to maximize our productivity, that allows us to view our labor differently. Instead of maximizing our productivity, maybe we can give back our days in a spirit of worship. Starting our days reading his Word and talking with God will reframe everything. Instead of a tight hold on our schedule, God will free our hearts to gladly serve others. And he also gives us the space to heighten our existence with experiences of the beauty he created: sitting down at an instrument, picking up a good book, baking, creating something beautiful, helping a plant grow, or growing or making our food. A lot of times these meaningful kinds of hobbies allow us to process our lives at a deeper level.

For a Christian, there is an answer to the hurry of hustle culture. We can’t just muscle through it. Instead, we must face the reasons we are fixated on productivity, realize they are a part of the broken world we’ve lived in ever since Adam’s sin, and hold on to the truth of the Cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection is the only thing that can restore us to a right relationship with our work. Praise be to Him!

Rebels of Christian Freedom: Watching Andor Through a Christian Lens

Star Wars’ Andor series, which came out in 2022, is a welcome throwback to the atmosphere and storyline of the original series, later tagged Episodes IV–VI. Unlike so many of the fanboy novels and movie spin-offs, this series, created and written by showrunner Tony Gilroy, the creator of the Bourne movies, comes with a certain detachment, since Mr. Gilroy was “not much of a fan” of the Star Wars universe before taking on this project. But I believe he has returned, in both Rogue One and Andor, to a moral vision that is closer to Lucas’s original trilogy.

This series dramatizes the different reasons that people get involved in rebellions against dictatorial power, specifically the titular character Andor, who transforms from a mercenary cynically assisting a rebellion to an increasingly devoted servant of the cause. The Empire is a vast, far-reaching power that in some ways is the most effective bureaucracy possible. Most of the cogs in the machine have become so accustomed even to horrible ways of torturing information out of people, or running a prison, or plotting ways to make it seem as if the people were rebelling and then wiping out whole people groups, that the Empire has continued gathering more and more power. Most of this seems to go down the chain of command from the Emperor secretly, without being run past the Senate—another way in which this Empire is presented as dictatorial.

Although many characters in Andor, especially those closest to power, blind themselves through decadent living to the truth of what is happening, one by one, for various reasons, defectors gather into an increasingly strategized rebellion in which lives are laid down in the cause of freedom. In the past century, dictators and governments in our world—from Hitler to Stalin to modern-day China—have tried to make life uncomfortable for Christians; for Christians to remain faithful, they have had to become rebels, to turn their backs on social expectations and laws, quite frequently risking their own lives on a daily basis. Although some well-known Christians have been martyred, Dietrich Bonhoeffer among them, every faithful Christian under the cruel cultures of fascism or communism (or the pressures of cancel culture in America) is a rebel just like Andor.

Every Christian carries the light of freedom within them. We all, whether we are being persecuted or not, have the freedom that Christ has given us. Sometimes it can take times of hardship, scarcity, pressure to conform, or even outright extermination of Christians to show us how free our spirits truly are in Christ. God, at the moment of crucifixion and resurrection, gave us freedom from the penalty of sin—even more than that, we are freed from the condemnation of worldly systems, and even the condemnation we might feel from God’s own moral law! Because of this freedom, we can laugh in the face of the most tightly drawn empire or any other power—because at the end of it all, we will be ultimately free, held by Christ in heaven, pain removed, tears tenderly wiped away.

Unlike Andor, Christians ultimately have no need to restructure the power system of the world: our real enemy is only using the forces of oppressive government to try to get Christians to lose our faith. However, if we hold onto the truth of Christ, we won’t need a new order in the world—because a new kingdom is already alive in us, a spirit of freedom in our souls and minds.