Distrust

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal notes that “Fake Job Postings Are Becoming a Real Problem.” The article details how these fake postings are crushing the spirits of job seekers:

It’s a common feeling when looking at a job listing online: the title is perfect, the pay is right, and the company seems like a solid place to work. But you also wonder if that job is real.

Lots of job seekers have a story about the postings that linger online but never seem to get filled. Those so-called ghost jobs—the roles that companies advertise but have no intention of filling—may account for as much as one in five jobs advertised online.

The [fake] listings are dispiriting for workers, leading many to distrust potential employers and make a difficult process feel rigged against them. ‘It’s kind of a horror show,’ said one job site search business. ‘The job market has become more soul-crushing than ever.’

Possible Preaching Angle:

In the same way, the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil can crush our souls with false promises and expectations.

In an article in Building Church Leaders, Drew Dyck writes:

Hi, my name is Drew and I’m a helicopter parent.

Well, I’m a helicopter parent in recovery. I still get a lump in my throat when I agree to let me 12-year-old son walk to the convenience store on his own. I clench my fists as I see my 10-year-old daughter gliding on her bike through our neighborhood, even with a helmet securely on her head.

Of course it’s OK to shield your kids from harm; that’s just what parents too. But that healthy instinct can go too far. Parents who try to “nerf the world” for their children ironically end up doing more harm than good—producing young adults immobilized by fear because they see danger lurking around every corner.

Helicopter parenting can also be a sin. In a recent article, “An Anxious Generation,” Carrie McKean writes: “What we call caution, God may call sin: a clamoring for control and a refusal to trust God with the children he has entrusted to us…. Jesus told us not to worry, but worry is our culture’s parenting default. It’s harming our kids.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

There is value in giving kids ample unsupervised playtime and just more autonomy in general. We need to pray, “Jesus, help me let go” to get our nervous fear under control and allow our children to experience the spark of accomplishment and confidence. Mamy verses emphasize God's love and care for children, and encourage parents to trust Him with their children's well-being (Matt. 18:10; Matt. 19:14; Mark 10:16; Luke 18:16).

For most of the last 30 years, the story of religion in America has been a pretty steady one: a constant, and consistent, drop in religious affiliation every year. Starting in the 1990s, the share of Americans who identified as Christian, or identified with any religion at all, began to drop precipitously. At the same time, those with no religious affiliation — nicknamed “nones” — began to spike.

That trend might be ending. Over the last five years, the share of Americans who are “nones” has stabilized at roughly 30 percent, across multiple tracking surveys — largely because of one group: Zoomers.

Sometime around or after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, young Americans began to find, or at least retain, religious belief at higher rates than previous generations.

Gen Z seems to be the key. Recently, surveys have found that Zoomers are the only generation not losing their religious affiliation. Why? There’s no unifying explanation for this trend, but it extends beyond the United States. And that suggests that there might be some structural reasons Gen Z is rediscovering faith. Something about post-Covid seems to be bringing youth back to Christianity, specifically, but also to religion in general.

There are three potential explanations:

1. Loneliness: Gen Z seeks community and connection in faith to combat widespread feelings of isolation.

2. Distrust of Institutions: Turning to religion as a countercultural response to declining trust in government and mainstream culture.

3. Political and Social Shifts: Young men are becoming more religious and politically conservative, while young women favor more liberal faiths, reflecting broader generational divides.

In a new study published in Computers in Human Behavior, a team evaluated 118 children aged three to six and found that overall, kids were more inclined to trust machines over humans.

The study divided children into different groups and showed them videos of humans and robots labeling objects, some recognizable to the kids and other items that would be new to them.

Researchers demonstrated the reliability and trustworthiness of humans and robots by having them incorrectly identify familiar items, calling a brush a plate, for instance. This intentional mislabeling allowed researchers to manipulate the children’s concept of who could and could not be trusted. Interestingly, the children showed a stark preference for robots.

When both bots and humans were shown to be equally reliable, children were more inclined to ask robots questions and accept their answers as true. Even when the robots proved unreliable, children preferred them to reliable adults. Children also appeared to be more forgiving of their machine-friends versus their human ones. When the robots made a mistake, children perceived it as accidental. But when the adults fumbled? Children thought those missteps were intentional.

When asked who they would want to learn from and share secrets with, the majority of children chose the robots over the humans. But that preference might only last for so long: Older children were likelier to trust humans when a robot was shown to be unreliable.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Parents have a God-given responsibility of nurturing trust and educating their children. This profound duty should remain in their hands, not delegated to AI, government, or technology. Embracing this role empowers parents to shape the values and character of the next generation.

When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check “none.” A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%). Researchers refer to this group as the "Nones."

Back in 2007, Nones made up just 16% of Americans, but Pew's new survey of more than 3,300 U.S. adults shows that number has now risen dramatically. Pew asked respondents what they believe. The research organization found that most Nones believe in God or another higher power, but very few attend any kind of religious service.

They aren't all anti-religious. Most Nones say religion does some harm, but many also think it does some good. Most have more positive views of science than those who are religiously affiliated; however, they reject the idea that science can explain everything.

Pew also asked respondents what they believe. While many people of faith say they rely on scripture, tradition, and the guidance of religious leaders to make moral decisions, Pew found that Nones say they're guided by logic or reason when making moral decisions. And huge numbers say the desire to avoid hurting other people factors prominently in how they think about right and wrong.

Demographically, Nones also stand out from the religiously affiliated:

• Nones are young. 69% are under the age of fifty.

• They're also less racially diverse. 63% of Nones are white.

• The Nones are comprised of three distinct groups – atheists, agnostics, and those who describe themselves as “nothing in particular.”

Calls for a federal investigation by the Department of Justice (DOJ) are mounting after the latest discovery into the unjust death and burial of Dexter Wade of Jackson, Mississippi. Both attorney Ben Crump, representing the Wade family, as well as civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton, have publicly called for an investigation into Wade’s death.

In March, Wade’s mother Bettersten Wade called police for help, anxious about the whereabouts of her son, who’d gone missing. After repeatedly asking for updates, Bettersten was eventually notified in August--more than six months later. She was told that Dexter had been killed by a police cruiser while attempting to cross the highway. By the time Bettersten was notified of Dexter’s death, he’d already been buried anonymously in a plot of land owned by the county.

Initially, Bettersten says local officials explained the time gap by saying that Dexter had been found with no identifying information. After his body was exhumed, however, an independent pathologist confirmed in an autopsy that Dexter had been carrying a wallet that included the local address that he shared with his mother. These findings suggest that authorities knew where Dexter lived. Yet they made no attempt to contact her about her son, despite the fact that she’d already filed a missing person report.

Their attorney said, “The fact that Dexter had a state identification card and several other identifying items shows us that there was a concerted effort to keep the truth and manner of his death from his family. There is no excuse, not even incompetence, for not notifying a next of kin of an identified man’s death.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Though it's important to differentiate between accidental death and murder, every human is made in the image of God, and therefore loss of life is inherently sacred and should not be minimized or concealed.

Just how bad are the polls for those in political office right now? It turns out more people are putting their faith in the dead than in living politicians. A new survey finds there are more people who believe in ghosts than trust their government.

The poll of nearly 1,000 people in the United Kingdom, found that 50% believe in the existence of ghosts. Meanwhile, just one in five say they have faith in the government. It also turns out that more than twice as many people believe in ghosts than trust in the media.

A belief in ghosts (50%) is more common than believing in astrology (23%) or magic (12%). In fact, 18% of respondents say they’ve had contact with an actual ghost. Luckily, many of these are not the horror movie kind of encounters—as only 23% say they’re afraid of these spirits.

When it comes to religion, Catholics are more likely to say they believe in ghosts (64%) than Protestants (53%), agnostics (42%), and atheists (37%). Although atheists are the least likely to fear a spooky ghost (17%), just one in three Catholics said the same—pointing to most people actually having a positive opinion of these supernatural visitors.

Interestingly, one in three young adults in Gen Z say they’re afraid of ghosts, making them the most fearful of any generation in the poll. Just 16 percent of baby boomers say ghosts creep them out.

For weeks, late night television hosts have been feasting on comedic material from the story of Congressman George Santos (R-NY), after a series of journalistic investigations exposed some bizarre, almost inexplicable lies he told as part of his campaign.

Included in the litany of now-debunked tall tales include lies about where he went to high school and college, previous places of employment, campaign fund disclosure violations, and his personal history and ethnic heritage. He lied about his mother dying during the terrorist attacks on 9/11, and about employees of his dying during the tragic 2016 shooting of the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

Santos even lied about having Jewish Ukrainian heritage, even though multiple family records trace his maternal grandparents to Brazil. And when asked to explain the contradiction in an interview with the New York Post, he backtracked. Santos said, “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Effective and trustworthy leadership starts with integrity. Those who distort the truth will ultimately be discovered and discredited.

A prominent scientist was forced to apologize after pranking his Twitter followers with a photo. Étienne Klein posted a picture of what he claimed was a high-powered telescope image. Klein captioned the photo, “Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Sun. Located 4.2 light years away from us. It was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. This level of detail ... A new world is unveiled every day,"

As it turns out, the dark reddish orb with speckles of orange and white was not, in fact, a star. Instead, it was a slice of chorizo, which is a spicy sausage of Spanish origin. Klein revealed the ruse in a series of subsequent posts.

Klein said, "According to contemporary cosmology, no object related to Spanish charcuterie exists anywhere else other than on Earth.” He later apologized, explaining that his point was to prevent people from taking internet photos at face value, especially those “that seem to speak for themselves.”

The James Webb Telescope went operational in July, and is capable of viewing phenomena through infrared light, which is invisible to the naked eye. It’s been a popular attraction for people searching for rare astronomical photos. After apologizing, Klein posted a photo of the Cartwheel galaxy from the telescope, which he repeatedly assured his followers was real.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Even when joking, we must be careful not to deceive others, otherwise we contribute to a breakdown in communal trust.

In his book, The Reason for God, Tim Keller writes:

If you don’t trust the Bible enough to let it challenge and correct your thinking, how could you ever have a personal relationship with God? In any truly personal relationship, the other person has to be able to contradict you.

For example, if a wife is not allowed to contradict her husband, they won’t have an intimate relationship. Remember the (two) movies The Stepford Wives? The husbands of Stepford, Connecticut, decide to have their wives turned into robots who never cross the wills of their husbands. A Stepford wife was wonderfully compliant and beautiful, but no one would describe such a marriage as intimate or personal.

Now, what happens if you eliminate anything from the Bible that offends your sensibility and crosses your will? If you pick and choose what you want to believe and reject the rest, how will you ever have a God who can contradict you? You won’t! You’ll have a Stepford God! A God, essentially, of your own making, and not a God with whom you can have a relationship and genuine interaction.

Only if your God can say things that outrage you and make you struggle (as in a real friendship or marriage!) will you know that you have gotten hold of a real God and not a figment of your imagination. So, an authoritative Bible is not the enemy of a personal relationship with God. It is the precondition for it.

When Portland police contacted a woman named Amanda to tell her that they found her previously stolen ID, Amanda wasn’t entirely convinced. According to police sources, an officer first tried to contact her via phone, then sent a text when the call was unsuccessful. Her response? “There is no way a cop has my cell phone number. Nice try you creep.”

But Officer Fullington, while impressed with her incredulity, was undeterred. He sent a selfie standing in full uniform in front of his official police vehicle, holding the ID card in question. She responded with a laughing/crying emoji, saying she would call after she gets off work. Police say people in Amanda’s situation are right to be skeptical, because scammers have been known to impersonate officers, even sometimes with actual officer names inside a spoofed caller-ID system.

Potential Preaching Angles: Skepticism is only helpful if it leads us to follow through and find the truth. God can handle our doubts; our challenge is to open up to receive the truth where we find it.

Notre Dame political scientist Patrick Deneen’s new book, Why Liberalism Failed, is a challenge to those who want to revive the liberal democratic order.

Deneen argues that liberal democracy has betrayed its promises. It was supposed to foster equality, but it has led to great inequality and a new aristocracy. It was supposed to give average people control over government, but average people feel alienated from government. It was supposed to foster liberty, but it creates a degraded popular culture in which consumers become slave to their appetites.

Many young people feel trapped in a system they have no faith in. Deneen quotes one of his students: “Because we view humanity—and thus its institutions—as corrupt and selfish, the only person we can rely upon is our self. The only way we can avoid failure, being let down, and ultimately succumbing to the chaotic world around us, therefore, is to have the means (financial security) to rely only upon ourselves.”

In our celebrity-crazed culture it's not surprising that people go crazy for memorabilia. For instance, the red leather jacket Michael Jackson wore for his Thriller video sold for over $1.5 million in 2011, and a John Lennon piano sold for over $2 million. But this appetite for celebrity souvenirs had spawned a lucrative market for fakes and forgeries.

Consider the story of some alleged original artwork by the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In 2014 Peter Harrington, a rare books and prints establishment in London, acquired an "Original Bob Dylan artwork." Supposedly Dylan created the artwork for an album covered but it never got used. But when Peter Harrington employees started researching the items for their catalog, several pieces didn't add up. After extensive interviews, they determined that the highly-prized Dylan artwork was actually a fake. The auction house that originally sold the piece refused to take responsibility for auctioning a fake.

An employee from Peter Harrington's writes:

This cautionary tale shows how far forgers will go to defraud dealers and collectors, and how they can sometimes exploit an auction house's less-than-rigorous approach to research. These [fakes] come in all shapes and sizes; some … are fairly easy to spot; others, painstakingly faked by individuals with an encyclopedic knowledge of both music history and the memorabilia industry, can pose more of a challenge to authentication. Often accompanied by elaborately fabricated origins, it can take both inventive research, specialist industry contacts, and an instinct for authenticity to sniff out a fake.

Kurt Gödel was a history-making logician and mathematician who died in 1978. In his later years, while working at the renowned Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he became convinced that someone was out to poison him. He relied entirely on his beloved wife, Adele, to cook his meals and to be his taste tester whenever they were away from home.

In 1977 Adele was hospitalized and could no longer help her eccentric husband. His friends tried everything to get him to eat, but he refused. Eventually the masterful logician succumbed—at the end, weighing just sixty-five pounds. According to the official death certificate, he died of "malnutrition and inanition caused by personality disturbance." In plain language, he starved himself to death.

Possible Preaching Angles: We all have "faith" in something. But faith is only as good as the object we place it in. Gödel was obviously a brilliant person, but he believed so strongly that people were out to poison him that it overwhelmed even his will to survive.

In April 2016, Harper's Magazine published a fascinating report about a man named Jay Miscovich, who found what he claimed were hundreds of emeralds from a Spanish shipwreck that went down in 1622. The Florida Keys have long been a hunting ground for sunken treasure. So many vessels were wrecked among the islands and reefs, loaded as they were with billions of dollars' worth of gold, silver, and jewels being shipped in countless Spanish armadas as they sailed from South America to Spain, that they still attract hundreds of seekers after true treasure. Jay's samples and claims that he'd found masses of emeralds that were still out there were estimated to be worth a half billion dollars.

With the advice of a partner, lawyers, and jewel experts, millions of investment dollars were collected from private individuals, wall street managers, and a company specifically set up to protect this enormous find. The article paints Jay as a sympathetic character. He is likeable in ways that make you end up rooting for him. Most of those who contributed to his project were individuals or companies who only cared about what monetary value could be gained from owning or selling the priceless jewels for themselves.

In the end, the world discovered that Jay Miscovich's entire story was manufactured. He made it all up, including deliberately "seeding" the ocean floor with emeralds he'd bought on the market. Exactly as he hoped, his false claims drew the interest of treasure hunters. But down the road as unaccountable discrepancies surfaced, such as the Belgian jewelers finding an epoxy resin on the surface of the emeralds that could only have been added in modern times, and as one by one the investors pulled out, the entire story unraveled. Along with investigations came lawsuits, loss of friendships and family, and a poisonous atmosphere of distrust and anger.

Possible Preaching Angles: All of us are searching for "treasure," the pearl of great price. We are all treasure hunters. But are we on the trail of true treasure or a fake treasure?

In an article for ChristianityToday.com entitled "Our Divine Distortion," Christian songwriter Carolyn Arends shared a personal story that shows how easy it is to view friends as enemies when we are racked by shame or guilt—a dangerous trait that can have an impact on how we view God. She writes:

When I found a brand new lap-top for half price on eBay, I told my friend and musical colleague Spencer about my bargain of a find. He was worried: "Usually when something's too good to be true …"

"I know," I replied impatiently, "but the seller has a 100 percent approval rating."

"Be careful," warned Spencer.

"Of course," I assured him, annoyed. I wasn't born yesterday.

I sent the seller $1,300 and discovered in very short, sickening order that I had fallen prey to a classic scam. A fraudster had hacked someone's eBay identity in order to relieve easy marks like me of our money.

I felt [like a] fool—and didn't want to tell Spencer. The next time I saw his number on my caller ID, I didn't answer. I could just imagine his "I told you so."

Soon, I was avoiding Spencer completely. And I started to resent him. Why did he have to be so judgmental? Why couldn't he be on my side? Why was I ever friends with that jerk?

Eventually, we had to fly together to perform at a concert. "Whatever happened with that computer thing?" he asked an hour into the flight. Cornered, I finally confessed my foolishness, dreading the inevitable response. But as soon as I told Spencer about my mistake, a strange thing happened. The enemy I had turned him into evaporated. Spencer turned into Spencer again, my teasing but deeply empathetic buddy.

As embarrassed as I was by my eBay error, I felt even dumber about the way I had allowed my shame to distort my perception of a best friend. If my hand had not been forced, I would have remained estranged from him indefinitely.

I've always considered myself perceptive, but the longer I live, the more I discover my susceptibility to misinterpretation. This is true of the way I view my friends, truer of the way I see my enemies, and perhaps truest of the way I perceive God.