The thin line of normal.

There was a time when life norms were more broadly applied. Go with me to childhood in the 1950's. Yes, it was a simpler, less arbitrary America. What was considered normal then crossed most social and cultural boundaries. Take the typical public school day, for example. Every class day began with students placing hands over hearts and repeating the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States. Then we closed our eyes for prayer, usually led by the school principal over a loud speaker system. That was normal for most public school children until a series of Supreme Court rulings forbidding such in 1962. It is not normal today, by any means.

Or, note normal Sundays in America until most blue laws were abolished by state and local governments. Surely, every citizen didn't go to church on Sundays. But, most retail businesses were closed in long standing reverence for a day of worship. Though most Sunday sales prohibitions were religious in origin, some guaranteed a day off for several categories of workers, notably those in postal service. While the Supreme Court has long given judicial approval of blue laws in protection of religious freedoms, most have been abolished except for a few states which still prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sunday. The normal Sunday in those days was quieter, calmer, and less active. There was one source of conflict in those normal Sundays, however. Most of our parent's had arguments over where we were going to eat our after-church meal. Go figure. Of course, Sunday in the twenty-first century is pretty much like any other day. Another change in what has become normal for us boomers.

The Christian community has been relatively silent about the downward slope of these norms. There's been an anti-Christian leaning in our cultural standards for more than a generation and these changes are perhaps the result. Our silence about them is really about what I call the thin line of normal. This thin line, barely detectable, is the marker between our Christian commitments and the expectation that we will be submitted to and obedient to the governing authorities. Romans 13: 1-7 is strong Bible teaching regarding the Christian relationship to governmental authority. Amendment 1 of the Constitution of the United States, is another element of that thin line. People of faith are guaranteed their right of religious preference and expression. Romans 13 demands our subjection to government. We usually accept shifts in what is considered normal in our lives as honoring Romans 13. On election day, "we the people" can vote our approval or rejection of governmental intrusion of our religious liberties. The problem is, only 58.1% of eligible Americans voters went to the polls in 2016. Sad.

The new normal after Covid-19 may witness continued further declines in Christian practice and influence. That thin line of normal should be challenged by our obedience to biblical guidance---

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable

and perfect.

Romans 12: 2, ESV

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If

I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Galatians 1: 10, ESV

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching

ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will

turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

2 Timothy 4: 3-4, ESV

Wisdom is he discipline of the day for people with a Christian worldview. The Christian leadership and community must exercise genuine biblical wisdom when we stand at the thin line of normal. Only wisdom can differentiate whether we must obey the dictates of our faith or submit to further government intrusion in matters of faith. If we're running short in that department, we should join James---

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without

reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one

who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that

person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-

minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1: 5-8, ESV

Pray that leaders on both sides of that thin line will give us stable and focused voices in these challenging times. Let us ask God for the wisdom to navigate the thin line of any new normal in the days ahead.

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Please explain normal.

So, everybody's talking about the new normal after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. All well and good. Even so, many are trying to get a handle on normal, that which is supposed to be altered in the post-pandemic world. It's really not a strange or alien concept, the idea of normal. The people over in the language department define normal, when used as a noun, as the usual, average, or typical state or condition of something. You know, like the old concept of normal working hours, or normal temperatures, or normal education courses. As an adjective it may be more conforming to a standard, usual, typical, or expected quality, like behavior, or income, or house pricing. We are used to normal health qualifiers---temperature, hemoglobin A1c, heart rate, weight and height categories, and even age spans. Normal isn't a foreign concept.

Of course, we love our word games and many have used normal as a life status. In this regard it seems prejudiced and biased, a life definition which abnormal people have somehow missed. So, defining normal people, families, careers, education, religion, life-styles, and other distinctions is off-limits today. To conclude that the normal is superior to others is out-of-bounds. Penalty time. Who among us is privileged to judge the normalcy of one system over another. You know, anything goes here.

And, that's the deal about normal. In it's broadest concept, normal defines the patterns, routines, habits, rituals, and cycles that mark our days. In this concept, there are really 330,000,000 normals among the American population. Sure, in that size control group there are similarities and many likenesses. We do live in families, clans, and factions that share many life components, schedules, and calendars. Even in those groupings, there's an individual touch that gives each of us distinction about what is normal. In that context, new normal is adjustments that each of us must make as a result of what is happening to all of us.

One of my favorite Bible characters is Solomon. His writings---Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon---give us his unique view of life in their various stages. His late life reflections in Ecclesiastes are especially refreshing, though odd at first. His view of normal those generations ago gives me pause. He wrote---

All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done

is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it

is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us.

Ecclesiastes 1: 8-10, ESV

Yes, I know Ecclesiastes is Solomon's review of life as meaningless, everything being classified as vanity. I also know he was writing such a dismal view as life lived without God. The wisest and richest man who every lived knew that his wisdom and wealth meant little in a world without the glorious and Sovereign guidance of his heavenly Father.

It is also true that many moderns exist in that same negative, pessimistic outlook of what is normal. He said it..."nothing new under the sun". For many of us existence is repetitive days of running in circles. Still, the new normal after Covid-19 will mean some changes in all of our normals, whatever they are. For some there will be more weariness, more same ol', same ol'. For all of us there will be change. Still, this pandemic may have actually taught us a few things, and the new normal will be lessons learned and applied to what defined us previously.

Earlier in his life Solomon provided great counsel for his sons. He wrote---

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all

your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3: 5-6, ESV

What is normal? It depends on who you ask. But the new normal will be change, and God will guide us through it if we trust him and not ourselves.

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Accountability

"The Human element", though the pinnacle of God's creation, isn't without many flaws. Much of the Bible is truth about overcoming the daily challenges of our sinful human nature. Only God in Christ can redeem us from the eternal outcomes of this dark side. Just as his saving grace claims us so his sustaining provision gives us hope against "the human element" issues that confront us in the journey. One troubling hurdle for most of us in the constant struggle to see ourselves clearly. It's the reason accountability is an ingredient we need.

Don't argue with me about the need for personal accountability. "The human element" by nature is egocentric and will not see the plank in our own eyes because we're so obsessed by the tiny specks in the eyes of the people around us (see Matthew 7:5 for the Lord's teaching on judging others). It's one of the reasons self-control is provided as a fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23), God's provision as a hedge against our blindness regarding personal autonomy. In a more practical application, this myopia may be the reason for the success of organizations like Weight Watchers, Celebrate Recovery, twelve step programs, and gadgets like my FitBit. They help monitor those areas of life that need someone or something watching over my shoulder in the more troublesome areas of life management. They are accountability systems if nothing else.

Accountability is a strong biblical concept, especially in the community of faith. Many Scriptures affirm the value of being in a relationship where the metrics of life are shared with others. Several examples include---

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you

may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

James 5:16, ESV

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who

promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and

good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but

encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:23-25, ESV

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you

may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 3:13, ESV

As in most other topics, there are many more Bible verses supporting our need for relationships with accountability as an ingredient.

Still, "the human element" being what it is, genuine accountability is rare. Why is this, especially among people of faith? In my opinion, it's because we don't understand the biblical concept of "the body". Above our many metaphors about the functional dynamics of church, the references about "the body" are perhaps the most revealing.

Those precious Bible passages that define the workings of the "body of Christ" certainly accentuate the inter-dependence, mutuality, and accountability so obvious in an organic body. There are many such references, especially 1 Corinthians 12. In his letter to the Ephesian church the Apostle Paul wrote---

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the

head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint

with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so

that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:15-16, ESV

It's the "speaking the truth in love" thing that overrides the tendencies of "the human element". It's what enables accountability that "...makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love". And, we need it, right now. Many of the discomforts of Covid-19 will be the new normal of the future. Our dependence, reliance, and truthfulness with each other will be an asset as we deal with these new things. And, we've learned a few lessons about accountability during this pandemic---keeping our distance, following direction markers in retail outlets, order limits on certain products, and even wearing masks. I mean, I went to the store yesterday and a lady scolded me for walking the wrong way down an aisle. "The human element" in me bristled. But, she was right. She held me accountable.

And accountability declares, each person to the others, IM4U. Read, I AM FOR YOU. It's what makes accountability work, and helps us deal with the mysteries of "the human element".

Glory.