Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. 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 talking about false comfort, and we're asking the question, is campus chaplaincy a sham? Now this is prompted by an article I read in the Atlantic this week about by Cornelia Powers, who was talking about a new approach to campus chaplaincy, the offering of religious instruction on college campuses, traditionally done by people who are religious leaders and teachers.

But the problem is that 40% of undergraduate students in America claim no religious affiliation, meaning they have no interest in talking to someone from a religious background. But that doesn't mean they aren't interested in some kind of spiritual and moral guidance. And so chaplains are increasingly becoming not religiously connected, but irreligious in their approach and in their title. They're now acting more as emotional counselors or crisis responders or inclusivity advocates. This leads to nontraditional methods to say the least.

Things like chaplains leading on nature walks or even coloring sessions. Things designed to provide some kind of grounding, some kind of safe space for students who have no religious background and no religious inclination. When I read this article, I I don't know what my dominant emotion was, whether it was to feel so sorry for those who are looking for meaning and are being given nature walks and coloring sessions instead or to laugh at the moral absurdity of a culture that is trying to follow the patterns of God without reference to God. This made me think of someone who goes, you know what? I don't really do restaurants anymore.

I'm not really into restaurants and opens up their version of a restaurant that doesn't serve food because that's the moral equivalence here. These are chaplains without anything to offer, without any message of meaning or purpose, of restoration or reconciliation. Look. The Bible says that spiritual leaders, pastors, or in this case, chaplains are like shepherds, but their job is not to lead the sheep whatever wherever they think or whatever they think is best, nature walks or coloring sessions, but to lead them to the good shepherd. That's who Jesus how Jesus referred to himself in the gospel of John chapter 10.

The only thing I have to offer people is a connection to Jesus Christ, the forgiveness and mercy that is available through him. If you take Jesus out of my playbook, I don't have anything to offer neither do chaplains. That's why they're coloring instead of actually offering meaning. Spirituality without truth leads to a meaningless idolatry. This is what Paul means in Romans one when he talks about exchanging the truth of God, exchanging the creator for the created.

We end up looking ridiculous and not actually helping each other. Listen, inclusivity under Jesus is an incredible thing. The Bible tells us that the throne room of heaven is full of people from every tribe and every tongue in every nation, but inclusivity outside outside the umbrella of Jesus means so reducing truth and meaning down to the lowest common denominator that the best we can offer is, hey. I don't know. Let's go for a walk out in nature.

This is why the Bible relentlessly tells pastors and spiritual leaders in places like second Timothy four to preach the word, to correct, to rebuke, to encourage. It's the substance of God's self revelation in the scriptures and in Jesus that actually helps people. Again, without Jesus, without the scriptures, we really don't have anything to offer. This makes me think of Matthew 15 when Jesus talked about the blind leading the blind, whether they lead them on a nature walk or on a coloring session. Listen.

We have to realize something. When the church loses its anchor in truth in the scripture and in the person and work of Jesus, we don't just become irrelevant. We become dangerous. We have people looking in all the wrong places for the things they were meant to have, meaning, purpose, truth, forgiveness, mercy, justice. These things are only found in Jesus.

And, look, I don't know if you're hearing this as a Christian and you need to take this as a reminder to hold fast to the truth. Or if you've stumbled on this as someone who's just looking for someone to tell you something of substance, turn from your sin. Seek forgiveness in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Be filled with the holy spirit and pursue a life of meaning. It won't be easy, but, oh my goodness, if it doesn't have more to offer than coloring in a coloring book.

Chaplains should be pointing students to Jesus, otherwise, they're a waste of time. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Pastor Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!