Dear Friends,
I am writing this on my phone, so please excuse any weird autoimmunity mistakes—oops. I mean, “autocorrect.”
I am in the mountains at a cabin with no electricity or running water, sitting in front of a wood burning stove hoping my phone battery lasts long enough to finish this missive. When the world order collapses, this is where you would find me, if you could find me, which you can’t, so don’t try. Thanks. I mean, I love you and all, but this place is small.
Humility is Unnatural
I’ve been thinking about how hard humility is. The presenting occasion was R.R. “Rusty” Reno’s meltdown on Twitter. Quick summary: Reno is the editor of the intellectual magazine First Things, and earlier this week he decide to launch a Tweet thread accusing anyone who wears a mask in public of being a “coward,” bowing to the forces of fear and panic. He, um, got into trouble, as hundreds of other fairly influential people thought this was rather gross. I read the Tweet to my wife and she basically said she could think of 1,001 reasons for wearing a mask that fall substantially short of “cowardice.”
And that’s not even the worst of it. For the past couple of years Reno has been a staunch advocate for “post-liberalism”—the idea that our system of government with its emphasis on individual liberty and Bill of Rights is a failed experiment because people…use their freedom poorly or in ways of which he does not approve. What we need, he’s been arguing, is a government robust enough to coerce and shape people to be virtuous, all in the name of the “common good.”
Now comes a moment where the government asks Rusty Reno to do the teensiest thing—wear a mask during a pandemic for the “common good” of his neighbors—and suddenly he’s the reincarnation of Patrick Henry: “GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH!” Forgive me if I don’t take “post-liberalism” very seriously.
But Reno would not apologize. He wouldn’t—or hasn’t—backed down. He finally deleted the Tweet thread along with his entire Twitter account. I confess that I do not understand what is so hard about saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think this Tweet through very well, and I shouldn’t have done it. Please forgive me.” Or even: “I still think I’m making a good point, but you all have given me a lot to think about. I’m sorry for tweeting hastily.”
On the other hand, I do know why it is so hard. The test of the heart comes at the moment of correction. I’ve been learning this anew recently with some other circumstances in my life. Responding with humility when confronted with correction seems to me a supernatural thing. It comes from knowing oneself a sinner and knowing the grace of God. God does not love you because you’re smart, brilliant, courageous, or “right.” Paul says that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That is, he died for us while we were at our very worst, not best. Where then is boasting? Why the knee-jerk need to defend ourselves and rationalize our every behavior? We are sinners saved by grace alone. That should give us the world-overturning power of humility.
I don’t know about you, but from where I sit the world could use a lot more grace and humility, from the top down to the bottom up. And really, there’s never been a force in the world quite like the message of the gospel to bring about reconciliation and concord rather than enmity and strife. Nietzsche, the philosopher, hated Christianity because of its teaching that the “meek shall inherit the earth.” He thought that was crazy talk. Show weakness? No way, Jesus. Power and might move the world, not weakness.
But Jesus proved him wrong on the cross and proves him wrong continuously—the truth is that a soft word turns aside wrath and repentance really does bring life. And if at our weakest God “so loved us that he sent his only begotten Son,” then why the insistence that we are strong?
And look: not every correction is true. We are not called to just acquiesce to any accusation anybody throws our way. But we can respond with grace and humility anyway, even if we do not ultimately agree.
For examples of how not to do this, just open up a Twitter account. You’ll get all the negative examples you can stomach.
Miscellany
As I mentioned, the bride and I are enjoying a night away in our quiet and secluded corner of the world. We’re being invaded by some kind of bird—we think they’re Clark’s Nutcrackers—and they’re providing the entertainment as they swoop around. A Peregrine Falcon just now came leisurely coasting overhead and the whole flock of them just beat their wings for the exits.
I read this disturbing article over at The Atlantic on the growing conspiracy theory movement called “QAnon.” It’s well worth the read. Alarmingly, I know some people online and otherwise who show the signs of buying in to this sort of thing. Beware the temptation of “secret” knowledge. It can take you to very dark places.
Finally, check out this medley performance by the group “I’m With Her.” Really: make sure you listen all the way to the end. I guarantee chills. Chris Thiele declares at the end that “There’s no better band in the world,” and you’ll be inclined to agree. Enjoy, and I’ll see you next Friday!