Friday, November 13, 2009

A Word of Optimism from the State of Perpetual Bad News

Apparently I live in one of the worst states in the union.  From foreclosures (top five) to adult obesity (top ten) to unemployment (the highest in the country at 15.3%), Michigan is not exactly a happening place these days.  Our tax breaks backfire.  Our incentives don’t motivate.  And our plan to be the Hollywood of the Midwest never turned a profit.  It’s gotten so bad we are lobbying to get the Gitmo detainees.
And then there’s Detroit which has become, alternatively, a laughing stock or a pity party.  Two-thirds of the Big Three are owned by the government.  The Lions are unremittingly awful.  The Wolverines are falling apart.  The weather is cold and snowy.  The roads have craters for potholes.  Even the movie version of Cloudy With a Chance for Meatballs modeled their loser town after one in Michigan (the main character is Flint Lockwood who at one point ruins Sardine Land, a poke at the failed AutoWorld from the 1980s).
Can things get any worse?  According to my local paper (Michigan’s Woes Likely to Drag On), they’re not going to get better anytime soon.  And when my state does make some positive news, like it did in the latest issue of World, it’s for a man from Lansing setting the record for Madagascar hissing cockroaches in the mouth.  You’ve made all us proud, son.
We even have our own tear-jerking commercials that try to make us feel better about the six months of winter coming.

Whenever I hear these Pure Michigan commercials I’m not sure if I’m supposed to smile or cry or just not move out of the state.
But Michigan really isn’t quite as dismal as you might think. Most people who want one still have a job (including virtually everyone in my church, so this is not a “woe for us” piece). Billions of dollars are still forked over for our cars. Our indoor plumbing still works. And the sun shines every once in awhile.
Better yet, the gospel is still true. Jesus still reigns. He has all the money we could ever need, and he knows how to get his work accomplished without money too.  Jesus still saves.  The most important news is always good news everyday.
At times, I admit I wonder what it could be like in Michigan in 5-10 years. What if Lansing goes the way of Chewandswallow? What if the state can’t support its colleges and MSU has to make drastic cuts? What if our best people are forced to move away to find work? What if this whole global warming thing never pans out and we get buried in snow year after year?
But then I think, what if people see their need for God in the midst of economic turmoil? What if the church can show the love of Jesus to the poor and frightened? What if we can demonstrate the joy of Christ in the midst of struggle? What if hardship makes us holier? What if God chooses to bring life out of death? That seems to be his way, does it not?
So listen all you God-fearing Michiganders (yes, we are called Michiganders): hold your heads up high. Politics and policies may fail, but the word of God is not bound. Famine, nakedness, peril, sword, and the auto industry cannot separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  God sent his Son for Saginaw and Alpena and Escanaba and Benton Harbor and Jackson just as much as for Boston, Austin, and New York City. God cares about the rust-belt cities too.
And as a special bonus for those of us in Michigan, God knows our city like we know the palms of our right hands.
Kevin DeYoung

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