Yeah. Imagine what could happen if the church led the way in restoring what's broken. That's what happened when Ryan joined the Colson Fellows program. Shortly after completing the program, he worked with his church to launch his senior home, an addiction recovery center, and a foster care closet, real answers to real needs in his community. That's exactly why the Colson Center exists, to equip believers like Ryan to bring restoration.
But none of it happens without donor support. As we close our fiscal year, we need your help to expand the impact of programs like the Colson Fellows, as well as the other ministries of the Colson Center. Give by June 30th at ColsonCenter.org/slash May and help the church be the church. Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street.
In the Darwinian story, humans evolved by winning the survival of the fittest contest between lower life forms. If that story is true, then why do we find accounts of forgiveness?
So compelling. During the COVID pandemic, Dr. Jay Batticheria signed a declaration with other public health scientists. Raising concerns about the physical and mental health impacts of COVID lockdowns, Francis Collins was the director of the National Institutes of Health at the time. In a since-leaked email, he called Bhattacharya a fringe epidemiologist.
who needed a quick and devastating published takedown of his declaration. And that's exactly what happened. A whole coalition of the powerful worked to discredit Dr. Bhattacharya. His criticisms of Dr.
Fauci's proclamations about natural immunity, mask efficacy, school closures, and contact tracing were all called ludicrous and dangerous. In addition to all the public humiliation, Batticheria received death threats.
Now, five years later, Dr. Batticheria has not only been proven right about the devastating consequences of COVID lockdowns, he was just appointed the new director of the NIH.
However, when he was asked about the public criticisms by Collins and Fauci and others, Rather than take a moment to gloat and condemn those who attempted to ruin his career, He did one of the most radical things he could do. He offered forgiveness. In a recent interview with Barry Weiss, Batticheria said this of Francis Collins I've been praying for him ever since I found out that he'd written that email. I told him that I'd been praying for him, and I still will pray for him. I think that reconciliation is really possible.
Even if people disagree with each other fundamentally, even hate each other. And I never hated him and never will. End quote. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis described forgiveness as the most unpopular of the Christian virtues.
Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, he wrote, until they have something to forgive. And forgiveness clearly is one of the most countercultural things anyone can do in this cultural moment. Jeff Metcalf is the father of a Texas teen who recently was stabbed and killed at a track meet. Interviewed just hours after learning of his son's fate, He said this to the cameras, quote, you know what? I already forgive this person.
When that clip went viral, the responses were divided. Many expressed awe at the father's ability to offer mercy to the young man who killed his son. Others expressed outrage at his quote unquote weakness. Last month in Indiana a young teen lost control of her vehicle and slammed into an Amish horse-drawn carriage. Three Amish children inside were killed instantly.
And yet almost immediately the mother of the victims reached out to the teen driver and offered her the Bible that had belonged to her daughter. as a token of comfort. The mother of the teenage driver said she could never have imagined such compassion and forgiveness. You may remember that a few years ago another mom made news for offering forgiveness to the man who threw her five year old son over a third floor balcony at the Mall of America. Carrie Hoffman begged the crowd to pray while she was running down the escalators to him.
After months of watching her son struggle for his life in a hospital, she commented that she'd forgiven the attacker and that forgiveness is, and I quote, a decision you have to make so that God can do what He needs to do in your life. Thankfully her son survived.
Now, forgiveness may be incomprehensible to many, but it is absolutely real. And that's because forgiveness has been established in the fabric of reality by the creator of reality. Over 2,000 years ago, The Creator took on flesh, lived as a sinless man, and was then punished unfairly on the cross after being beaten, whipped, abandoned, and publicly humiliated. Not only did Jesus pay for the sins of the world in this way, but as he did so, he prayed, Father, Forgive them. When people in this particularly vengeful cultural moment see true forgiveness, they will inevitably wonder why.
Christians should always be ready to give an answer for this hope that we have. Because God forgave. because God first loved us. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. And before I go today, I want to say a special thanks to Charles of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Thanks for being a Cornerstone Monthly Partner of the Coulson Center. You helped make this episode a breakpoint possible. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, please leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. You can always find more resources like this one at breakpoint.org.
