Wake Up, Look Up

Hello everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, can you just own it? This is prompted by an article I read in the Atlantic, believe it or not, titled condemning a Nazi Tattoo. Shouldn't be this hard. Look at us, America. This is where we are in 2026. the article basically points to main Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who's actually been in the news for quite a lot of reasons recently, but originally was in the news for this, for about 18 years. Platner had a Totenkopf, the SS Nazi death's head tattoo, on his body. 18 years, he had a Nazi tattoo. He has since had it covered up, which I guess is a convenient thing to do when you're going to run for the United States Senate. When it was pointed out, through photographs from the past that Platner had this tattoo, he came out and said, hey, I didn't know it was a Nazi tattoo. Even though I had it for 18 years. I thought it was just a, like, skull and crossbones design related to military service. Platner served in the military. Let's just set that aside for a second. the guy says that he doesn't. He didn't know it was a Nazi tattoo. As though. Two things. Number one, he didn't grow up in an era like me. I'll add, where the Nazis were the bad guys in every movie. Has he ever seen Raiders of the Lost Ark? The. Because that's all it would take to know his tattoo is a Nazi symbol. We're all familiar with Nazi iconography. We've seen it in movies and in textbooks and in pictures and posters and all kinds of things our entire lives. We all know the symbolism. Second, are you telling me this guy walked around with a tattoo for 18 years and no one ever said to him, hey, man, that's a Nazi tattoo. Come on. You know they did, and, you know, he knew better, so why won't he just say that? Well, because that's not what we do as a society, is it? If he comes out and says, hey, I had a Nazi tattoo, he immediately is gonna be branded anti Semitic, full of hate, and he's not gonna get elected. So instead, he just decides to say, I'm an idiot, which is basically the other argument he has to make. Look, here's what I want you to hear. Me say, the gospel teaches us to have room for redemption stories. It is entirely possible that a young guy was anti Semitic, was full of hate, or was just a moron, got a tattoo he shouldn't have gotten, and it took him 18 years to get rid of it. It's possible that same guy is now no longer anti Semitic, no longer full of hate, no longer the moron he was when he was a young man. And it's possible he would make a fine United States senator if he can just say that. You see, the key to a redemption story is an acknowledgement that you need to be redeemed from something. Look, Mike Nelson, who wrote this article, makes the point that the problem here in our society is that we just want to win. The main Democratic Party knows they shouldn't be putting forward a guy who for 18 years had a Nazi tattoo. But. But they think he can win. That's why they're supporting him. Because what they care about most is winning a Senate seat in the United States Senate. And by the way, the Republicans would be no different if this was their guy. They'd be supporting him, too, because winning at all costs is the goal. But he makes the point that small compromises lead to large ones. In the end, you'll put up with just about anything to win, and that is a problem. But I don't even think that's the main problem. Why can't Platner just say, I knew it was a Nazi tattoo. I wish I had never done it. I'm, not that man anymore. We have to learn how to own and apologize for sin in our culture. Listen, Proverbs 28:13 says it this way. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. And look, this is really not an episode about Graham Platner at all. I don't think I can influence the Maine Senate, election, and I don't want to. Anyways, this is an episode for you and me because we're just as guilty of making ridiculous excuses, of spinning ridiculous stories and lies to justify our bad behavior, instead of looking someone in the eye and saying, I blew it. I was wrong. No excuses. I need to change. I'm, going to change. Listen, if one of your relationships is currently stuck, might it be that, like Platner, you just can't seem to own what you've done? Own it. Seek forgiveness. You might just find it. And in the end, not only will the people you've hurt be able to rest so also, will you? Hey, thanks for checking out. Wake Up, Look up. For more content, be sure to visit the Christ Community Chapel app or or website ccchapel.com.

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