There’s now one more place to see the writing of Michael Reneau, for better or worse. Since September, I’ve been a weekly opinion columnist for WORLD on Campus, a sister site to Christian magazine WORLD. WoC is delivers the same types of stories and content that WORLD Magazine does, just for a college-aged audience. My columns typically appear each Tuesday morning and so far have covered everything from adulthood to politics. Here are my first five columns:
- “Faithfully make hard choices” (September 18, 2012) — An introduction to me and a challenge for us millennials to actually live as the adults we are.
My friend, colleague and boss John Stonestreet recently said, “An indication of adolescence is expecting no consequence for your behavior.” To that I would add the refusal to faithfully make the hard choices for lack of a view of the possible.
- “Resist soundbites about substantive change” (September 25, 2012) — The soundbites about changing the world for the better that we’re all accustomed to hearing aren’t good enough for the work that needs to be done.
But do we know what we’re changing to world to? Do we give thought to how we ought to change the world (which, by the way, doesn’t have to look as grandiose as the marketing campaigns would have us believe), or what really needs changing? This, I think, is where the upper echelons of responsible thinking begin — avoiding easy talking points and adopting hard contemplation.
- “Vitriol gone viral” (October 2, 2012) — Social media represents a whole new communicative frontier. And the deep thinking required of a new cultural force.
Social media is changing how we relate with one another, how we practice friendliness, and how we debate, just as previous innovations changed their own respective cultural norms. It’s a frontier, as any geographical or cultural frontier, where we who are in Christ should be accompanied by the boldness that comes with his Gospel and the humility that precedes that boldness, as Brett McCracken eloquently wrote. Prudence and deliberateness ought to be our companions as well.
- “Common grace for babies and politicians” (October 23, 2012) — Watching our newborn son struggle for breath in the intensive care unit leaves me thankful for much, including the country we live in.
But we also are a people who bear the image of God — his creativity, his innovativeness, and his ability to conquer what seems unconquerable. Yes, these qualities have all been stilted by the fall. But the common grace available to individuals also covers nations. The good our society does is no less real because of our communal frailties. Each breath my son takes reminds me of this, as does each election that passes with a handshake instead of a bomb blast.
- “The lowest common denominator” (October 30, 2012) — The Lena Dunham ad for President Barack Obama is more than just suggestive. It reveals a deeply disordered view of women.
As it equates a young woman’s first vote to her first time having sex, it betrays its creators by revealing how they really regard women who, for whatever reason, aren’t sexually active the day they’re out from under their parents’ control. The ad puts on display how a secular, feminist and ultra-liberal view of the world disorders humanity and society in general and reduces our identity — for women especially — to nothing more than the sum total of our sexual desires and escapades.
Michael Reneau 