Max

CBS is about to finally announce a replacement for the disgraced Dan Rather. It appears that Katie Couric, the perky diva from NBC's Today show, is the heir apparent to the chair that Walter Cronkite once held. And the CBS staff apparently is not in favor of the move.

I'm not going to get into the politics, or my like or dislike of Ms. Couric and her style of journalism. My bigger question is "Does it really matter who sits in the big chair?" Do Americans ascribe validity to the information they receive based on the talking head reading it off of a teleprompter? Seriously, do news anchors do any real reporting? Do they go out and beat the bushes for news? No. They read what their producers put on the teleprompter and they make inane chatter with the correspondents whose pieces are being used on the newscast.

I vote for bringing back Max Headroom. The folks who created him were way ahead of their time. If the news we receive is just some talking head reading off a script, why not have an animated character and save a boatload of cash? Plus, Max doesn't have bad hair days and he doesn't have attitude problems, like Mr. Rather's famous walking off the set incident.

Vive le Max!

Bridges

Sometimes a picture really does say it all. This is a bridge in Honduras that lost its purpose after Hurricane Mitch struck that country several years ago. In case it isn't clear, the bridge goes to nowhere because the river moved. The tremendous rainfall and flooding from the hurricane changed the channel of the river, and what is a magnificently constructed piece of engineering has no purpose.

Ever been to a church like that? It has a beautiful edifice, strong, stately columns, flying buttresses for support and by all measures it is a prime specimen of craftsmanship. But it is empty most of the time. Like the bridge, it is well constructed but not useful.

Rev. Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church, pointed this out to me in a chapel message he delivered at Asbury Seminary. Podcasts are available here. He spoke of the church being primed to fight the last war, the war on modernity. We have our columns of proof texts, legions of trained apologists, and an army of witnesses to go tell people that the Bible is not in conflict with science. Problem is, Modernity is dead, like the old Soviet Empire.

In its place, we have a world where proof texts are pointless, when the person you are talking to is biblically ignorant and apathetic. We have an army primed to fight the last war, and the new one is upon us.

In the new battle, we have to "win the hearts and minds" of the culture. We are no longer the favored player. Quite the opposite is true. Every religion but Christianity seems to get a better shake from the culture. So we have to start over and try to win people to Christ through our love, our lives, not our words.

Garlow challenged us not to become like the bridge in the photo. We can build bridges, but we have to be prepared for the ground to shift underneath us. Or we end up looking like a sad relic from the past.