Author: Ian Dehaas

A Nice Hill To Die On

Millennials are terrible at picking causes. We just throw our attention and energy into the next cause that walks by, because we have been fed the idea that all causes are important. This is entirely understandable. There are so many things marketing to our desires and ideals. Even good social movements use viral marketing and attention-grabbing techniques, trying to persuade us that they’re worth our blood, sweat, and tears. It’s hard to discern what’s worthwhile for a generation that desires to make real change in the world. We are driven and compassionate, and we want to change our broken systems, broken politics, and broken ecology. We wish we could change it all.

Someone once told me to think carefully about what hill I want to die on. By this, they meant, “You only die once; where would you be satisfied dying? What would be okay to sacrifice for?” This metaphor provides some much needed perspective on decision making. There are many things I disagree with in my environment, but I have limited energy and time to change those things. Finding the right hill to die on is important.

Our generation has a tendency to choose causes poorly. Therefore, I want to leave you with a few things to keep in mind when you select a cause to champion.

First, keep in mind that not all causes are created equal. A Kickstarter campaign to make a giant potato salad and Black Lives Matter are about as different as campaigns can be. One changes lives and the other changes a moment on the Internet. There is no comparison. This is why Black Lives Matter makes history and a supermassive potato salad does not.

Second, apathy is a trap which deeply believing Millennials can easily step into. Taking part in too many causes wears down our ability to care. We only have so much energy for caring, and if we join too many causes that caring energy will soon be depleted. This is how being human works. No one wants an apathetic supporter. In fact, apathy will discredit the importance of the cause. Don’t become a part of something you don’t fully believe in. If you don’t fully believe in it, it’s simply not the hill for you.

The third thing to consider when choosing a cause is whether the cause hurts people. How many people are being hurt by the words and actions of that cause? Think about it long and hard. Is it worth it? If you do join a cause that hurts people, don’t expect those who are hurt by you to understand your actions. Don’t expect anyone outside of that cause to understand. Never put your causes before people, even if it seems like those causes are for people. Find a better solution.

Finally, keep in mind that making no decision is still a decision. You’re still giving an answer. Saying nothing is most definitely saying something. Choosing to not participate in a cause shows others that you don’t value something. This is not a call to reject all causes. On the contrary, the drive to change things in the world may be the single best attribute of the Millennial generation. I want to encourage you to find something bigger than yourself to pour into and to make better. It would be such a waste to be divided and disconnected. So please, be thoughtful and real and find a hill where you can firmly plant your roots and grow into someone who changes the world.

Ian is a senior majoring in communication and theology.

Tags Black lives Matter, kickstarter, millenials

Stories In Focus

Philosopher and Author Speaks at Houghton

Post author By Ian Dehaas
Post date November 17, 2016

This year’s Woolsey lecturer is James K.A. Smith, professor of philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as well as the author of a number of books. Among the most notable of his works are Desiring the Kingdom and Imagining the Kingdom, the first two books in an unfinished trilogy entitled “Cultural Liturgies.” His newest book and title of this year’s lecture series, You Are What You Love, came out this summer, and is in some ways an introduction to Smith’s philosophy and work in the trilogy.

facebook.com/jameskasmith

Smith’s works are concerned with convincing the reader that the church focuses on the rational side of humanity far too much. One of the ideas expressed in You Are What You Love is that the Reformation boiled the mystery out of religion. Smith writes that religion became something that treated humanity as “brains-on-a-stick.” That is to say people were treated as if they were only rational, and that thinking was the best way to change people’s actions. He writes, “Your love or desire – aimed at a vision of the good life that shapes how you see the world while also moving and motivating you – is operative on a largely non-conscious level. Your love is a kind of automaticity.”

For Smith, the way to the head is through the desires of the heart. This interplay between head and heart is fundamental to him. He is most certainly not making an argument against the importance of the head, but rather attempting to bring the heart into better focus. Much of his work reflects this emphasis and encourages the reader to become aware of the falsehood claiming that reason is everything. According to Smith, desire plays one of, if not the biggest role, in human decision-making.

When asked about his work, Smith stated, “My argument, my passion, is to help evangelical Protestants remember they are catholic.” He continued, “That is, I think the future of the faith looks ancient, and that worship renewal comes from remembering what we have forgotten, constructively retrieving the rhythms and rituals of historic Christian worship as a reservoir of the Spirit’s formative power.” Smith wishes to invite the Protestant church back into an ancient conversation, which will require churches to become intentional. Smith said Christian education “needs to be holistic, not just providing contents for the mind but inscribing habits of the heart, what ancient thought described in terms of virtue.”

According to self-described “fanboy” of Smith, dean of the chapel, Michael Jordan, Smith’s message will be fresh for Houghton students. “I don’t know if people have really heard what he has to say yet,” said Jordan. He added that what Smith has to say, especially how the head and the heart are connected, is vital. “People of my parents’ generation who have worked at Houghton grew up in holiness churches who devalued the head and relied on the heart,” Jordan said.

Houghton, as a place that values the growth and shaping of the mind so heavily, can easily displace the importance of shaping the heart as well. Jordan believes what Smith has to say might flesh out what campus ministry can be for people and how it can be most impactful.

Smith will give two talks open to Houghton students while he is here, as well as several closed sessions for a ministry conference. The first will be Thursday, November 17 at 7 p.m. in the Center for Fine Arts (CFA) recital hall, and the other will be Friday, November 18 in the Wesley Chapel during the regularly scheduled chapel time.

Tags Author, calvin college, houghton college, philosophy, Woolsey lecture

Opinions

Grace: The Beauty of the Unfair

Post author By Ian Dehaas
Post date November 8, 2015

Grace is a very Christian word. It is something that God gives to all of humankind and it can never be earned. It’s like a priceless gift. Grace is a virtue and an act borne of God’s great love for us. It is in his grace that the Son came to earth to become human and die. It is in his grace that the Holy Spirit has been left as our advocate and guide. It is by his unmerited grace that we can be saved and reconciled to him. That reconciliation is something that we are entirely incapable of earning for ourselves. Once we have received grace, Christ does not say this is enough. We are to give this grace to others as freely as God does to us.

The songwriter Matthew Thiessen once penned these lyrics: “…the beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.” We hear the second half of that phrase all the time. Life’s not fair. That message comes from all kinds of places; for example, people talking about a situation in their lives, or perhaps from a cynical person who likes to tell that to those less weathered. Regardless of the source, problems arise when we look at life like this. Everything becomes checks and balances. We keep track of what we do in terms of positive and negative. We evaluate people to see if they are positive or negative contributors to our lives and we make decisions accordingly. When someone hurts us, we tell them that they need to shape up or we cut them out of our lives. When someone is good to us they become closer to us. This is just how things work.

When we look at life like this it’s so easy to do good deeds merely for the sake of besting another person. And when we allow ourselves to embrace this view, we also allow ourselves to be comfortable in self-pity when the world doesn’t work in our favor. These are the problems that come from a purely worldly perspective of unfairness. Quite simply, a worldly perspective can stunt our growth and our flourishing as human beings and people of God.

Now here is where we add the entire lyric, “the beauty of grace is that is makes life not fair”. Suddenly, the picture of cynicism and self-pity disappears. In its place, we are left with a picture where undeserving people get what they don’t deserve. How does this happen? It’s all because of the grace of God that unfairness can be beautiful. If life was without grace we would all be condemned because there is nothing we can do to attain salvation on our own. It would be fair for us, because of our sins, to be separated from God forever. It would be fair for us when we are struck by someone to reply with a closed fist, but that’s not what God thinks. He chose the unfair route and sent his Son to show us ultimate grace. Once we partake in that grace, the rules all change. Unfair becomes our livelihood and our standard. Just as grace was bestowed on us, we are to bestow it on the others around us, who are as undeserving of it as we are. Grace invites us to think of how our unfair response to somebody can be beautiful. Yes, life is unfair, and thank God for that.