The People's Theologian Monthly Roundup: January 2025
Promoting thought provoking ideas from the best corners of Substack
I’ve decided to do something new as an experiment. Substack is filled with great writers and writing so I’m going to promote some of the things that have caught my attention and provoked thoughtful reflection. It’s a great way for you to get a glimpse into what is influencing me and what I’m engaging with. It’s also a great way to promote good writing and ideas. Because ideas do matter. So without further adieu…here’s the monthly roundup.
The Amateurization of Everything
“Since the mid-20th century, he explained, economic risk has shifted from businesses to workers. The old days of secure employment are gone, and now even people with salaried jobs at profitable companies work under the threat of layoffs—which have proven an effective tool for driving up stock prices. The 20th-century “company man” model is history. Workers today are encouraged to see themselves as entrepreneurs, building their personal brands and peddling their skills from job to job.”
My Grandfather worked for the Dr. Pepper bottling plant in Gardena. My mom worked for the Southern California Gas Company all of her adult life. They were employees. I feel like I’ve been an entrepreneur building my personal brand and there’s always a pressure to amass followers and an online reputation. We are not only workers called to do our work but we are also marketers forced to promote our skills and accomplishments in the best light.
Will the amateurization of everything ever be overturned? Will we be able to go back to the way things used to be or has that ship sailed?
Jesus, John Wayne, William Branham, and Spiritual Abuse
“Anti-Jesus ideologies abound in many traditions and social groups, even those with “Christian” in their name…Insulting, rough, and even violent speech is like a drug, especially when the speaker is rewarded with an attentive audience. Like any drug, you eventually have to chase the high with more and more stimulus. You’ll find the same mean-spirited, culture-warrior, patriarchal, authoritarian tough-guy talk in many denominations and movements.”
I just finished reading Jesus and John Wayne and this take from a former insider on William Branham and his patriarchal violence shaped ministry also sheds some light on the psychology at play between not only the leader but also the followers in a ministry like this.
What causes leaders and organizations to become anti-Jesus? How can we expose anti-Jesus ideologies in a clear and compelling way?
Twice As Many Teens Say They Do Not Enjoy Life
“The large changes in teens not enjoying life are particularly striking. Especially when you’re a teen, how enjoyable can life be when you’re constantly sitting alone in a room on your phone instead of being with your friends in person? The allure of the phone is a trap: It’s more convenient and draws us in with algorithms, but that time ends up being empty calories. It’s not real, and it’s ultimately not enjoyable even when we think it’s going to be.”
I’ve read a lot of articles about the middle aged years being the saddest time of your life. Now the teen years are becoming increasingly sad due to the massive social experiment known as social media and mobile phones. This is a sad state of affairs. I remember being a teen and along with the angst and pain of that time I also remember the over the top joys. Many of our kids will never know what that means.
How can we get teens to ditch their phones and actually interact more in the real world? What can be done for those teens who are currently not enjoying life due to their smartphone use
Andrew Tate or Panda Express: Which Way Young Man?
“That’s what online influencers provide. When he was emerging as a guide to young men, Jordan Peterson used to challenge them. “Clean your room, Bucko” or “Stand up straight with your shoulders back.” But he also made sure young men saw that he cared about them. That he understood their pain. That he was on their side. He didn’t just view them as the problem but as people who mattered in their own right, people whose hopes, dreams, plans, and aspirations mattered too.”
Even though I’m not a boomer I’ve been guilty of spiritual boomerism. It’s innate in growing older. You see the folly of youth. What I have noticed is that even when you are speaking truth a little empathy goes a long way. That’s what many of these online influencers have. They feel the pain of this current generation.
How can we speak the truth in love to young men about life and its demands? How can we get more hands on mentoring happening with young men who have no direction?
And one more for the road:
The unmasking pains anyone who cares about the vision Jesus gave us. It’s not about wokeness. It’s about Jesus and it’s about discipleship…It’s hard to see how such persons can be called followers of a Jesus who eschewed money, who turned from power and against the powers by revealing the power of self-denial and the cross, and who taught the way of life was to find the broken and bind the wounded and restore such persons to the table with him. His cross was for others, a cross that unmasked the powers and absorbed it in order to redeem.”
In my current reading I’ve been arrested by some obvious facts. These facts have led me to this conclusion: Many evangelical white males are obsessed with power. This obsession has caused them to abandon the principles of Jesus (see Jesus, John Wayne, William Branham, and Spiritual Abuse article)
Will evangelicalism be left behind and something new take its place that’s more in alignment with David Bebbington’s evangelical quadrilateral? How do we answer those who believe that following Jesus is not about Loser Theology?