I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what godly sorrow has produced in you… [1 Corinthians 7:8–11]
The Apostle Paul didn’t beat around the bush when he wrote to the Corinthian believers concerning their many misdeeds and blatant negligence. In urging them to change their sorry ways, he sufficiently alarmed them. And their sorrow actually led them to a proper repentance!
More than a few times I have heard an employer or spouse or parent express frustration as their wayward one expresses being “sorry” but it sure wasn’t a “godly sorrow.”
Notice (above) that “godly” sorrow “produces” something. It isn’t simply sorry that it got caught. Nor is it an unhealthy, guilt-ridden, and exaggerated state of self-flagellation. Godly sorrow is an appropriate, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit–provoked sense of conviction about a specific misdeed that calls for repentance and has practical, observable, and behavioral consequences. Sorrow for my behavior leads to repentance which leads to practical actions. More on that below.
Wars and rumors of war
As you know by now, “Operation Midnight Hammer” began this weekend, as seven American B-2 bombers took off from Missouri to Iran, with decoy bombers flying westward. Three nuclear sites in Iran were targeted and supposedly successfully destroyed. In retaliation, Iran fired missiles at US bases in Qatar and Iraq on Monday. Oh boy. Here we go again!
What you also know: War and incessant international strife remind us that this present world is quite wrong and very a broken place. There is no peace in the kingdom of man.
What we don’t know and should be praying for: Will the peace plan brokered by Qatar and the US ever be faithfully held to by either Israel or Iran? Will we see Iran unleash a season of terrorism and cyberwarfare?
What we know by faith:
In the last days
the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains…
Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore. [Micah 4:1–3]
Sorry seems to be the hardest word
Or so sang Elton John many years ago. As well, the baby boomers grew up with a cheesy movie called Love Story where the memorable line was “love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Does it really? I don’t think so.
Apologies are pretty much a necessary part of any relationship. We often hear public apologies given by a famous person (be it a celebrity or a pastor or a politician or a professional athlete). We ought not be the judge of motives, but often the apologies seem a bit forced or more of an explanation than a sincere heartfelt “I am truly sorry.”
Tennis pro Aryna Sabalenka apologized last week for being unprofessional in her post-match comments and for appearing to demean Coco Gauff’s victory.
Elon Musk’s post on X admitted that his recent comments about the President “went too far.”
(And from this headline I recently read) “Megachurch Pastor John Gray Apologizes on Podcast for His Struggles with Marriage Infidelity.”
Of course, I can’t (and shouldn’t) judge what’s in a person’s heart. Perhaps those public statements were followed by a phone call or a handwritten note. I genuinely hope so. But my point is that you can often smell a scripted “I’m sorry” a mile away. One part focus group, one part attorney, one part PR department. It’s not that we expect weeping or sackcloth, but sincerity would be nice. And clarity. And maybe a little humility.
Our personal relationships ought not to mimic those sometimes-contrived public apologies.
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry”? Try again. We all know—married people especially—that love means having to say you’re sorry. A lot! And actively meaning it.
Chap GPT on the move
In the classroom
MIT just completed the first brain scan study on ChatGPT users. The results are somewhat discouraging. Four months of data revealed the significant cost of grabbing for the “easy, already made answers.”
Here’s what they discovered: “Our findings offer an interesting glimpse into how LLM-assisted (sic. Large-language models which are large, deep learning models pre-trained on vast amounts of data) vs. unassisted writing engaged the brain differently. In summary, writing an essay without assistance (Brain-only group) led to stronger neural connectivity across all frequency bands measured, with particularly large increases in the theta and high-alpha bands. This indicates that participants in the Brain-only group had to heavily engage their own cognitive resources.”
Then there’s this: “Psychiatrist Dr. Zishan Khan, who treats children and adolescents, says that he sees many kids who rely heavily on AI for their schoolwork. ‘From a psychiatric standpoint, I see that overreliance on these LLMs can have unintended psychological and cognitive consequences, especially for young people whose brains are still developing,’ he says. ‘These neural connections that help you in accessing information, the memory of facts, and the ability to be resilient: all that is going to weaken.’”
What does all this mean? Our brains, when left to think for themselves, will fire on all cylinders. In contrast, LLM-assisted writing risks having our brains simply run like an idle engine in neutral.
In the pulpit
With so much conversation generated on the topic of using AI and ChatGPT for ministry purposes, Pastor John Piper decided to test the spiritual capabilities of artificial intelligence by asking ChatGPT to compose a 30-second prayer in the style of New Testament scholar Don Carson. The results are quite interesting (and humorous).
Briefly noted…with an assenting nod
“Only a peaceful heart can truly love. Thus, we must try our best to preserve peace of heart, struggling against worry, anxiety, and spiritual agitation.” [Jacque Phillipe]
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” [Mark Twain]
“Friendship fuels the flames of romance because it offers the best protection against feeling adversarial towards your partner.” [Dr. John Gottman]
“I read the news today, oh boy.” [The Beatles]
Tongue in cheek—with “sorry” in mind
“The Psychiatric Folk Song”
I went to my psychiatrist to be psychoanalyzed
To find out why I killed the cat and blacked my husband’s eye.
He laid me on a downy couch to see what he could find,
And here’s what he dredged up, from my subconscious mind.
When I was one, my mummy hid my dolly in a trunk
And so it follows, naturally, that I am always drunk.
When I was two, I saw my father kiss the maid one day,
and that is why I suffer from kleptomania.
At three I had a feeling of ambivalence towards my brothers
and so it follows naturally I poisoned all my lovers.
but I am happy now I have learned the lessons this has taught:
Everything I do that’s wrong, is someone else’s fault! [Anna Russell]
“Almighty and most merciful Father, we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And apart from your grace, there is no health in us. O Lord, have mercy upon us. Spare all those who confess their faults. Restore all those who are penitent, according to your promises declared to all people in Christ Jesus our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake, that we may now live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of your holy Name. Amen.”
[Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury]
