Whew. The 2024 Olympic Games are now finished, over, kaput. Are we ready to get back to business?

The Olympic distractions are now past; the competition for headlines will now ratchet back-and-forth between the volatility of the markets and the veracity of the campaigns. Everyone will be trying to determine whether they can afford to place their bets on stock futures… or to place their bets on political futures. Opinions will abound, on both fronts. Who can we trust?

Sports, finances and politics are all subheadings that demand and draw attention, but there are some front-page, historic themes that have lasting importance beyond the short-run volatility of these sideshow competitions. Is there a category of life – of your life – that warrants your primary awareness and engagement? 

Please allow me to deliver yet another BFO to your Monday morning (that’s a Blinding Flash of the Obvious). The #1 issue – your #1 issue – is, and will always be, the dramatic and historic unfolding of God’s plan for creation, the expanding and emergence of His eternal Kingdom, and the count-down clock of our prophetic future. Christianity is your highest priority affiliation, and protecting and advancing that shared agenda is the most pressing responsibility that you and I live to fulfill.

If we had a literal war-room for managing the movement, the white boards on the walls would include some high level flashpoints calling for some attention. Right now, the brand management for Christianity is being compromised by some really distractive claimants.

Last week, on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, this lead drew readers in: A Feel-Good Adoption Story Unravels. The account of a miscreant named Jason Carney filled more than a full page to describe his deceptions. “It was April 2015, and Carney was working as an American missionary in Malawi…” That sets up the story. The scam was “saving orphans in Africa;” the bottom line was “…using money he raised for the charity to pay for his travel, vehicles, watercraft, his home and other personal expenses…” 

Move from Malawi to Missouri: the spotlight shifts from Jason Carney to Cori Bush. Jason self-identifies as a missionary, out to save orphans. Bush – most recently a member of Congress, now running for reelection – was founding pastor of a church – King Embassy International/St. Louis chapter – a decade ago. As a faith healer, she was – and, is – part of a church that claims to resurrect the dead, cure cancer, deafness and blindness. Trained as a faith healer, Bush missed over 100 votes in the House as she battled Covid 19. 

We’re watching frequent takedowns of pastors and ministry leaders whose proclivities regarding money, sex and power are disallowing their continuing leadership in the Kingdom. 

In the earliest days of the Church, the faith footprint had expanded to Samaria, and it was drawing enterprising – and, self-dealing – entrepreneurs into the sign-up line. Peter and John had been dispatched to do a site-visit; once there, they encountered a man named Simon, who had a local history as a sorcerer and magician and.“claimed to be someone great” (Acts 8:9)

“When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. ‘Let me have this power, too,’ he exclaimed, ‘so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!’ But Peter replied, ‘May your money be destroyed with you for thinking God’s gift can be bought! You can have no part in this, for your heart is not right with God. Repent of your wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive your evil thoughts…” (Acts 8:18-22).

No standards for biblical holiness are used to vet world-class athletes, social-working humanitarians or philanthropists, would-be political candidates or Forbes 100 billionaires. Qualifying for leadership in the Kingdom is no small matter; God’s standards for service are non-negotiable but offer access to the divine power that is unmatched by any other movement.

Join me in modeling those disciplines while exercising the influence reserved for those who are legitimate followers of the Lord Jesus!

Bob Shank