Truth Unites - If You Need Hope...

Episode Date: September 11, 2025

Truth Unites (https://truthunites.org) exists to promote gospel assurance through theological depth. Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is President of Truth Unites, Visiting Professor of Historical Theology at Phoenix Seminary, and Theologian-in-Residence at Immanuel Nashville.SUPPORT:Tax Deductible Support: https://truthunites.org/donate/Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/truthunitesFOLLOW:Website: https://truthunites.org/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/truth.unites/X: https://x.com/gavinortlundFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TruthUnitesPage/00:00 - Evil In the World01:02 - How To Keep Going Forward 01:21 - 1) Read John 14-1602:41 - 2) Resolve To Do Good04:03 - 3) Spend Less Time Online04:57 - 4) Take It One Step at a Time05:46 - 5) Meditate on Jesus07:00 - Conclusion

If anybody out there needs some hope, this will be a short pastoral reflection upon the state of the world. Recording this morning of September 11th, 2025, this video probably won't be relevant a week from now, even three days from now. But just for those of us in the meantime, who are sort of looking at the evil of the world, especially the death of Charlie Kirk yesterday. But, you know, honestly, there's, and I have no script for this video. I'm not going to speak in a real logical. way, just a pastoral and personal word. I mean, I'm feeling it. I'm feeling the sense of, especially you see it's the way people respond to it as well, and you've got people gleeful. I mean, it's, I think what I'm feeling is the sense that we've crossed a threshold. The world has never felt like this in my memory. We're in a different time. And just the, I think to not

ramble and to be right to the point, there is tremendous evil that is rising up around us. and it's easy to feel disoriented and overwhelmed. And so this video is not going to solve any problems. It's just for those of us who are needing kind of, okay, what are the next steps? Like, what do I do today for the next eight hours? How do I keep going forward? That's what I'm thinking about. What's my focus and so forth?

And I thought maybe this could help someone else out there. I thought of five things. I just wrote them down on my sheet of paper right here. Number one, going to text like John 14 to 16. I think here's what happens is when evil feels overwhelming, we can feel unmoored and disoriented. And we feel this sense, you know, we start to question everything. You know, we start to feel like what is up, what is down, it's this very disorienting experience

when you come face to face with evil. You see, you know, that's not even talk about it. But the point is those are the moments where we need to kind of go back and anchor ourselves in the truths of God's word, the hope that we have as followers of Jesus, and basically speak back to the darkness, speak the light of the gospel. So John 14 to 16 is a great passage. You think of the disciples there huddled together, afraid, fearful. Their savior, I mean, they felt overwhelmed, I'm sure. Their savior, the one their following is about to leave the world. And I'm sure they've had all kinds of emotions. And the first words out of Jesus's mouth,

let not your heart be troubled. And then he's giving them hope. He's talking about, I go to prepare a place for you. You know, as followers of Jesus, we have a hope that rises above the evil of the world, and no matter what happens, it's unshakable. And so the first thing to do is go to God, go to the prayer closet, go back to the basics, and anchor our hearts in that, and don't do anything else until we've done that. A second thing that's on my heart is a fresh resolve to do good and to seek good and to oppose evil. I think one of the things that we can be tempted towards when we see real evil is a sense of despair or throwing in the towel or cynicism, like, okay, the world is just so broken that I just give up. I just turn my back on the world

and I'll just kind of huddle in my little corner here and not. That's not our calling either. And so speaking to my heart, speaking to other hearts, now is a time not to get quiet, but to speak all the more boldly and lovingly about hope and about Jesus and about truth. and we need, you know, ignore the hateful people. On X, I get mobbed by, I don't even understand what is going on. It's humbling to admit. I literally don't even understand some of the hateful reactions you get and things, and it's kind of bruising to see it.

It's kind of depressing to see the ugly side of human nature that you see on the Internet. So you ignore that. I know enough to know you just tune out. You don't engage with that, but you speak to the silent onlookers. You speak to those who are troubled, who have a troubled heart. and you speak to them about the hope of the gospel, now is not a time to shrink back in fear. Now is a time to fresh resolve to lean forward and oppose evil wherever we can, rather than just give up. The third thing I'm thinking about is less time online, less time on the Internet.

You know, less Protestant versus Catholic versus Orthodox for a little while. Let's, it just doesn't feel right right now. I have a video that I was going to do on the discussion between Michael Knowles and Ben Shapiro. Ben Shapiro was saying, you know, he was asked, would you be Catholic or Protestant? Fascinating discussion about rituals. I mean, maybe I'll still do that. I don't know, but I just wait a little bit on that. Less time online.

I think just an encouragement for all of us, just to be aware, the Internet is radicalizing people. It can affect us, and it is increasing our anxiety. It is distorting our perceptions just to realize that. It doesn't mean we never go on, but just be. mindful, pull back, go through the frisbee, get outside, spend time with friends. We need to be mindful. You know, if we're just constantly online, it escalates the anxiety. It doesn't help things. A fourth thing is just taking it one step at a time, one day at a time, when we're overwhelmed by evil. Don't try to solve all the problems. This is a simple thing. This works on a lot of problems

in life, is take it one day at a time. So today I'm recording this. It's Thursday morning. I'm about to have a discussion with Josiah Trenum. I'm so excited about that. What an honor to talk to such a wonderful man. So that's my next step. Then after that, I'm going to go on a bike ride. Then after that, I'm going to just take the rest of the day off and just love on my family, play with my kids, and so forth. So I know my marching orders for this day. And you just focus on that. This is the wisdom of Christ and the sermon on the Mount. You know, each day is enough trouble of its own. Don't worry about tomorrow. One day at a time, focus on what is God calling me to do right now? It's too overwhelming to think about tomorrow. It's too overwhelming to

try to fix all the problems. What can I do one step at a time, one moment at a time? Fifthly, the hope of Jesus. To think about what Jesus went through, it never, you know, the cross is there. You think you understand it. You think you know the meaning of it. And then in your experiences of life, you come back to it and see the true depths of the meaning of the cross. It helps you understand what Jesus went through. If we feel overwhelmed by evil, think of how Jesus felt. Assaulted, violated, when we feel violated by evil, we feel injured with the pain of injustice when you're treated unfairly, when people twist things. Think how Jesus felt, betrayed by all his friends. His words horrifically twisted, slandered, you know, people saying, falsely accusing him,

and then just utterly vulnerable on the cross, utterly helplessly tortured. And yet through that very thing, God brought good and there was resurrection hope on the other side. I think we need that when there's terrible pain in the world. When we feel overwhelmed by evil, we need to remember resurrection hope. And it just makes you love Jesus more. It makes you more gratefully say, wow, the gospel really is good news and anchor our hearts on that. So I pray that you, maybe some of those strategies could help you as well. This is what I'm focusing on.

Let's look out for each other. let's take care of each other and let's lean forward. I think that two-step process, anchor your own heart in the hope of the gospel and then lean forward to do good and be thankful for Jesus. Could we face the evil of this world without the hope of the gospel? I could not. I would not know what to do without the hope of the gospel. But I'm thankful we have that hope.

That can sustain us, and I hope it is sustaining you. God bless you.