Jesus tended to honor the losers of this world, not the winners. Our modern culture extravagantly rewards beauty, athletic skill, wealth, and artistic achievement, qualities which seemed to impress Jesus not at all.

Politics draws lines between people; in contrast, Jesus' love cuts across those lines and dispenses grace. That does not mean, of course, that Christians should not involve themselves in politics. It simply means that as we do so we must not let the rules of power displace the command to love.

We should do whatever we can to cut through the scum that has grown on our understanding and rediscover freshness.

We're concerned with how things turn out; God seems more concerned with how we turn out.

Rather, God has commissioned us as agents of intervention in the midst of a hostile and broken world.

Unless we love natural goods - sex, alcohol, food, money, success, power - in the way God intended, we become their slaves, as any addict can attest.

It's easy to fall into the trap of feeling like you've heard everything before and that you have nothing left to learn.