Surrender the Center

The center of the universe is somewhere near the Superdome. In fact a big banner hanging from the rafters in the Dome reads, “World Champions.” So there should be no doubt.

My son-in-law is a world champion. He won the grand prize at the Memphis in May barbecue cook-off several years ago.

My brother lives in San Saba County, Texas, the “pecan capital of the world,” as the small wooden sign reads.

We all live in the geographical center of the universe—our own address. And we are all world champions in some way in our own minds. Does anyone make a better biscuit than you? Does anyone understand better how to master video games or paint nails? You’re the one!

This is why we assume the world is coming to an end if our family is struck by disaster—or our county or our country. We are the center of biblical prophecy, and the world cannot go on without us or without things as they are for us.

People in Haiti and Indonesia, in the wake of recent earthquakes and tsunamis, may assume that the final apocalypse is upon us all. The world, of which they are the center, is collapsing.

Citizens of nation-states, including these United States, consistently adopt this egocentric and ethno-centric perspective. THE world is coming to an end if MY world seems to be ending. Most good stories—e.g. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, the television series Fringe—involve the end of the world. Fringe, as the story unfolds this fall, is not about the edge of things, as the name implies, but the middle of things. If the main characters do not act fast, the entire universe is going to collapse.

You are only being modest when you suggest that you are on the fringe of things. What you really mean is that despite the skewed perspectives of those who may disagree, you are on target and dead center.

Life as we knew it is over, that is for certain. The aging process alone guarantees this. From communication to transportation to social conventions to the passing away of loved ones and heroes, the world I became familiar with as a boy and young adult is gone forever. Conservation and conservatism, political and social, only pertains where things are passing away and wasting away, as they always are.

Age itself is one reason why elderly people are sometimes targets of the false prophets. When funerals begin to dominate my schedule, the biblical warnings about plagues and disease ring louder. The longing to return to the past—the secure and familiar world of youthful health, assurance and simplicity—is strong in all of us. The politicians exploit that longing in order to get elected, the radio hosts to sell advertising. And the false prophets connect with that longing in us in order to find a way to our wallets.

“All men are like grass” (1 Peter 1:24). This is truth about our temporary and transitory sojourn on Planet Earth, and it is our best protection against the falsehood that we stand at the center of it all. If you and I can resist the arrogance that pushes us toward the pinnacle we will be wiser and better and more faithful people.

We are not the center, but we can point to it: “The word of the Lord stands forever” (1 Peter 1:25). Some things do not wither or fade or age. Humility is deference to the transcendent Truth. To surrender the center—this is hope and peace and progress in a world that still brims with possibilities and opportunities. The center of the universe is not half way between a democrat and republican or a liberal and conservative. The center is the Creator God whose spoke it all into being and will one day give the final benediction.