Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10.5)

Vision
Human Life
The commencement speech can be a most revealing literary form. And what we learn from commencement speeches should encourage us both as to the reliability of Scripture and the readiness of the world to hear the message of Jesus Christ.

Commencement speeches follow a kind of unwritten formula. The speaker uses the occasion to rehearse his or her most cherished life lessons, values, or aspirations – or what he or she would like to have on the record concerning these.

At the same time, the commencement speaker will reaffirm the importance of education and the institution which has prepared their audience for the next stage of life. That is, the speaker wants the inviting institution to be happy about its choice of speakers, and so will reflect in his or her address values that line-up well with the host.

Likewise, the speaker will offer encouragement that resonates with each graduate. Commencement addresses tend to orbit around values, ideals, and aspirations that the graduates can affirm, whether or not they actually embrace those virtues as their own.

As a result, commencement speeches can be fairly bland and predictable.

Which is to say, they usually end up as exhortations for everyone present to live like a Christian. I offer as Exhibit 1 the commencement speech of Maria Popova for the graduates of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, which she printed in her weekly Brain Pickings newsletter for Sunday, May 22, 2016.

Though Ms. Popova explains she is not a believer, she takes as her subject the care and nurture of the soul. She describes the soul as “the seismic core of personhood from which our beliefs, our values, and our actions radiate”, which rather concisely defines the function of the soul as revealed in the Scriptures.

Ms. Popova explains we must guard our souls against cynicism and all destructive tendencies and moods. We must not compare ourselves with others, since doing so can make you “vacate your own experience, your own soul, your own life.” Comparing ourselves with others is not wise (2 Cor. 10.12).

We must not be jealous of others, but do the best we can with the time and opportunities available to us (1 Tim. 6.6-8; Eph. 5.15-17). Hope – “vigorous, intelligent, sincere hope” – is the best defense against cynicism (Rom. 5.1-5). We should strive to construct something positive and giving out of our lives (Heb. 10.24; Gal. 6.1-10). We must try to “help people discern what matters in the world and why by steering them from the meaningless and to the meaningful” (cf. Acts 17.22-31). We must all strive “to be uncynical, to be a hope-giving force, to be a steward of substance. Choose to lift people up, not to lower them down” (Eph. 4.29-32). Ms. Popova urges us to resist the tendency to indulge narcissistic self-interest (Phil. 2.4); instead, we should work hard to be what we are inside, and to revel and flourish in that fully, so that we may “ennoble public life and enlarge the human spirit” (Matt. 5.13-16).

Finally, Ms. Popova exhorts her audience and readers, “remember to breathe in the spring air and to smile at a stranger every once in a while. Because there is nothing more uncynical than being good to one another” (Eph. 2.8-10; Tit. 3.1, 8).

As I said, these ritual speeches are revealing in that they demonstrate that humans are beings whose flourishing depends on living like image-bearers of God, according to the works of His Law, which, as Ms. Popova demonstrates, are written on the hearts of even those who do not believe (Rom. 2.14, 15).

For reflection
1.  Why do you think even non-believers find such Christian virtues to be appealing and important?

2.  Do you think that, if Christians could live more consistently like this, people might be more interested in why we do (1 Pet. 3.15)? Explain.

3.  How should an address like Ms. Popova’s encourage us in our walk with and work for the Lord?

Next steps: Talk with a non-Christian friend about Ms. Popova’s catalog of virtues. Does he or she agree that these matter? Would he or she be surprised to learn that this is precisely what the Gospel teaches?

T. M. Moore

This week in our ReVision column we begin a series on “The Kingdom Economy”. This is an important component of a Christian worldview. Here we’ll glimpse the mind of Christ concerning how a social order ought to work. Be sure to follow each of these studies, as they offer important Biblical insights for our lives and societies.

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