My Thoughts on the Opening Ceremonies of the Paris Olympics
I originally wrote this on my Facebook page the afternoon following the Opening Ceremonies.
I have some thoughts about the Opening Ceremonies but first…We had a good 
day in Paris yesterday praying over the city, for the churches, and for the games. We shared the One Wish with many and had a wonderful lunch with new friends in Christ we just met.
day in Paris yesterday praying over the city, for the churches, and for the games. We shared the One Wish with many and had a wonderful lunch with new friends in Christ we just met.I have always told teams at the Olympics (this is my fourth Olympic outreach) that the opening ceremony is an opportunity for the host country to tell you who they are. They tell their history, their values, and their character. This is all theirs. The Olympic committee has little to no say in what the host country does.
So what you saw last night was France on display. France has always had a complicated history with contradicting values. From the French Revolution to today, nothing is cleanly cut in France. But, if we are honest, that is true of every country because every country is led by fallible humans.
France has been openly secular for decades. Today France is about 2% evangelical by some measures. So if you had some expectation that they would present themselves as gospel believing you would have been foolish. Maybe what was so startling to so many was that the presentation of France was unapologetic about what they value. (I should note that not all France was happy about the show, but the show is put on by the elites and the influencers)
Perhaps, instead of condemning them, we might bring some humility to the forefront of our response. We might consider the blessings of God that make us sensitive to sin were not given to us because we were so good to begin with. Maybe we should consider the way much of the world lives and thinks is a result of not being Christian. Did we think that lost people might not act like lost people? Maybe the lost around us know how to disguise their lostness better.
God that make us sensitive to sin were not given to us because we were so good to begin with. Maybe we should consider the way much of the world lives and thinks is a result of not being Christian. Did we think that lost people might not act like lost people? Maybe the lost around us know how to disguise their lostness better.Maybe the lost in France should have the benefit of our broken hearts and not our condemnation. I’m not saying what was displayed was okay. (it’s a shame I have to make that disclaimer) I am saying that the best solution to a mind, heart, existence of lostness, is the gospel. Some say there is no hope for a people that act like that. My reply to that heresy is there must be hope for them or there is no hope for any of us. Don’t abandon them, repent of your own self-righteousness, then go to them humbly with the same love that God had for you when he pursued you in your lostness.
Pray for France. Pray for the churches and pastors in France.