People like us do things like this

Seth Godin is an insightful entrepreneur, marketer, author, and speaker. Seth teaches an approach to marketing that's based on psychographics rather than demographics. To explain this term psychographics, he uses the statement "People like us do things like this."

It's a simple sentence that addresses identity (People like us) and culture (do things like this).

This little statement reminds me that when we come to Christ, we're given a new identity and we're brought into a new culture. Our job, then, is to discover who we are in Christ and to become students of a culture defined by Christ.

Let's read the New Testament with this lens and ask Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude to be our guides. Let them tell us who we are. And let them show us what the Kingdom is like. Then, more and more, our words and our works will show others that people like us do things like this.

The Good News penetrates bad news

Speaker 1: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Speaker 2: But are justified by God's grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Speaker 1: The wages of sin is death.

Speaker 2: But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Speaker 1: If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Speaker 2: But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Speaker 1: Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Speaker 2: But the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

On bubbles and idols

According to Wikipedia, an economic bubble is "trade in an asset at a price or price range that strongly exceeds the asset's intrinsic value. It could also be described as a situation in which asset prices appear to be based on implausible or inconsistent views about the future."

Assets have real value but we can imagine they're more valuable than they actually are. And we can misread an asset's future stability. The same is true of other things in life. Popularity, relationships, possessions, comfort, health, career—all of these can become idols. They have real value to us but we can overstate that value. And every one of them is fragile.

Asset bubbles burst and idols topple. If we depend on them for our happiness and security our world will crumble right along with them. Be cautious—always on guard.

Except for one place.

I have learned—and am still learning—that I can pour everything into my relationship with Jesus, unconcerned that my commitments will ever approach His true worth. He is infinitely valuable and eternally dependable. The full weight of my life is secure in Him.