Pastor Zach's Blog

2016 in Review

January 2, 2017 at 5:15 am 2 comments

It’s difficult to believe, but another year has come and gone.  Before we chug full steam ahead into 2017, I wanted to take a moment to reflect back on the year that was.  Whenever I look back over what I have written over the course of a year on this blog, I am always amazed – and a little disturbed – by how much I have forgotten.  Thus, it seems worth it to look back and linger a bit longer on 2016, lest we file away some important lessons from this year into the dusty rolodex of our fleeting historical memories too quickly.  So, here is my Year in Review for 2016.

January
The biggest Powerball jackpot ever, valued at $1.5 billion, goes up for grabs.  People across the country flock to convenience stores to buy their ticket, even though the chances of winning the jackpot stand at 1 in 292,201,338.

February
Fear of the Zika virus sweeps the nation as a woman in Dallas contracts the disease. Justice Antonin Scalia, a fierce proponent of Constitutional originalism, passes away, leaving a vacancy on the high court and an even split between more conservative and more progressive justices that remains to this day.

March
Terror strikes Brussels, Belgium as two coordinated attacks – one at the airport and another on a subway – are carried out simultaneously, killing 32.

April
A bathroom brouhaha erupts as retail giant Target announces it will allow “transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.”  Massive boycotts of the chain ensue and concerns are raised over the misuse of the policy by predators.

May
Art Briles, head coach of the Baylor Bears football team, is dismissed after he is implicated in cover-ups of sexual assaults by his players.  The University’s president, Ken Starr, also leaves the institution in connection with the mishandling of the assaults.

June
Omar Mateen opens fire in an LGBT-frequented Orlando nightclub, killing 50 and injuring 50 more.  In a stunning electoral surprise, Britons vote to leave the European Union 52% to 48% in what has popularly become known as “Brexit.”

July
Police officers shoot black men in Baton Rouge and Saint Paul and five police officers are killed in Dallas by people protesting these shootings.  The next week, 84 people are killed when a terrorist drives a large, white paneled truck into a crowd of revelers celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, France, 290 people are killed in a failed coup against the president of Turkey, and three more police officers are killed in Baton Rouge by a sniper.

August
More than 50 people are killed in Istanbul when a 14-year-old suicide bomber walks into a wedding party and blows himself up.

September
Nicholas Kristof pens a column in The New York Times issuing a call to rethink Christianity as a faith free from many of its traditional beliefs, such as opposition to abortion and an affirmation that marriage is between a man and woman.

October
After decimating Haiti and Cuba, Hurricane Matthew strikes Florida and slowly moves up the eastern seaboard.  About 1,600 people are killed by the massive storm.

November
Donald Trump wins the presidential election over Hillary Clinton after taking many of the so-called “rust belt” states that, for the past several election cycles, have traditionally gone to Democratic candidates.

December
Fidel Castro, the longtime brutal dictator of the island nation of Cuba, dies.  The Russian ambassador to Turkey is shot by a Turkish police officer in Istanbul while, on the same day, a Tunisian refugee drives a semi-truck into an open-air Christmas market in Berlin, killing twelve.

As I look back over the list of stories I blogged on this year, a few thoughts come to mind.  First, the violence of this past year has been horrifying.  From terrorist attacks to assassinations to sexual assaults, there is no shortage of violent acts in our world.  Indeed, this new year has already brought new violence with a New Year’s Eve terrorist attack in Istanbul that killed 39 and injured many more.  Second, the political season of 2016 has been a thing to behold.  On this blog alone, I wrote about issues pertaining to this year’s presidential election here, here, here, here, and here.  Politics was certainly front of mind for many.

What strikes me about these two themes in particular is that whether the stories were about violence or politics, these themes shared a common denominator – that of power.  In the case of violence, acts of terrorism, for instance, seek to gain power by striking fear into the hearts of societies.  People live on edge, never knowing when, where, and how a terrorist will strike.  The terrorists gain power by “getting inside the heads,” as it were, of communities and nations.  In the case of politics, it is obvious that the United States is painfully divided.  Whether it is cast as a division between red states and blue states, the seaboards and middle America, or traditional America and progressive America, there is a pitched battle to define this nation, with each side fiercely fighting for its own interests.

As I wrote on this blog last weekend, power is not a bad thing in and of itself, but it can be used badly.  Rightly used, power is a gift from God to be stewarded.  But we all too often assume it’s a weapon of our own to be wielded.  In other words, we are called to use whatever power we may be given to first serve others instead of serving ourselves.  If the stories from 2016 are any indication, we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to stewarding power appropriately.

Perhaps the most notable thing about the stories from this past year is how impotent our potency ultimately proves to be.  The spread of the Zika virus and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Matthew are sobering reminders that there is still much we do not and cannot control.  What is true of these disasters is also true of the future.  We cannot control what 2017 will bring.  So perhaps the best posture to take as we head into a new year is one of humility toward the future and faith in the One who holds the future.  He knows what is in store for us.  And He will take care of us.

Entry filed under: Current Trends. Tags: Christianity, Hope, New Year, News, Power, Sin, Year in Review.