This Is a Good Time to Be Thankful

I doubt that thankfulness is the first thing most conservative Christians feel these days when they reflect on American culture. There are some good reasons for that! I get it. Much is changing. Much more has already changed but is now becoming evident in more ways.

Many of the changes we’re seeing have to do with aspects of life we’re deeply sensitive about—like sexual ethics, marriage, and family. Visceral reactions are, if unhelpful, at least understandable.

There’s a lot of outrage and fear.

Inwardly, I’m sometimes too critical of people for that. I hope that, outwardly, I’m more gracious and that, inwardly, I’m improving.

What I want to do in this essay is point out that good things are happening in our society, too, and that being properly thankful means we need to notice these things.

Some Context: Taking Thankfulness Seriously

You don’t have to read the Psalms for very long to see a link between thankfulness and worship, and a link between both of those and a third thing: joy.

We find many examples of giving thanks to God based on who He is and what He has done.

I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High. (Ps 7:17)

We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks, for your name is near. We recount your wondrous deeds. (Ps 75:1)

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. (Ps 138:2)

We also see examples of paying attention to blessings He has brought into our lives.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, (Ps 103:2)

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! ¹³ For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. ¹⁴ He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat. (Ps 147:12–14)

These all look to you, to give them their food in due season. ²⁸ When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things. (Ps 104:27–28)

Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord! (Ps 144:15)

When we turn to the New Testament, we find that our responsibility to be thankful remains prominent.

giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Eph 5:20)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:17)

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Th 5:18)

Apparently one of the most fundamentally ungodly things humans can do is fail to be thankful:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Ro 1:21)

Arguably, if we’re not recognizing good gifts in our lives, consciously appreciating them, and directing that appreciation to their Source (James 1:17), we’re living in a fundamentally unchristian way.

Authentic Christianity prioritizes thankfulness.

I acknowledge that lots of bad things are happening. But let’s reject this false choice:

• either we are aware of the evils of the day and are displeased
• or we are aware of the good and are thankful and joyful

Both of these should be part of our response to the world we live in. But one or the other is usually going to dominate. Given the verses above, which one should it be?

Some Practical Advice

Attitudes are famously slippery things to manage. We steer them indirectly. It’s more like riding a toboggan than like riding a bike.

Some advice to myself—and perhaps you, too, if you need it:

• Take some time every day to do nothing but “count your blessings” and give thanks. Maybe once a day isn’t enough (Ps 119:164, 71:14, 34:1), but it’s a start.
• If you seem stuck on the negative, use that to flip your attitude. Ask the very negative question, “How could things be worse?” Well, you could be on fire. You could have a pea stuck in one nostril (True story!). Taking it in a more serious direction, we could still have Roe v. Wade. The entire U.S. banking system could have collapsed when SVB went under. The U.S. could be 99% atheist. Most of us can probably dream up “worse than reality” scenarios all day. But it often only takes a few to put our real problems in a better perspective.
• Find positive people to engage in conversation. I have some church friends that are so positive, I wonder if they could actually be on fire and still see some good in it to talk about. They are a balm to my often-negative soul! (I’m reminded of 2 Cor 7:6-7.)
• Find some news and “analysis” sources that aren’t completely devoted to the outrage and victimization industry.
• Remember that human society has been broken for a long time. Well before we get to the decadence of Sodom in Genesis 19, we have brother killing brother in Genesis 4, and “only evil continually” in Genesis 6. Only the details are new.

Good Things Are Happening

Speaking of Genesis 4—for ease of calculation, let’s suppose Adam and Eve had six other kids when Cain killed Abel. It would be statistically accurate to say that, in their society, 10% of the people killed another 10%.

What a headline!

You could say that in one day, violent crime increased dramatically, religious persecution skyrocketed, and orthodox worship of God declined by 10% among young males. Sounds like a decadent culture to me.

But the Christian way of thinking—because thankfulness matters—asks, “OK, but what have the other 80% been up to?”

They’ve been up to things to thank God for, that’s what—for starters, not killing each other or being killed by each other.

Of course bad things are happening. But good things are happening as well, even in these changing times.

As a sample, here are a few headlines I’ve been collecting for a while…

• Post-Pandemic, the Rise in Intact Families Continues – IFS
• “Companies are rethinking a recent willingness to publicly wade into contentious issues.” – Bloomberg
• Coca-Cola soundly rejects abortion resolution - World
• Those Who “Detransition” Are Becoming Impossible to Ignore - Breakpoint
• Congress Remains Far More Christian than the Country – Christianity Today
• Christian mayoral candidate wins settlement for religious discrimination, firing over biblical views – Christian Post
• Student Wins Lawsuit Over Right to Wear ‘Jesus Loves Me’ Face Mask – Christian Post
• Pro-Life Protestor Acquitted in Federal Case – Christianity Today
• Bipartisan Legislation on Kids and Tech Gains Momentum in Congress – IFS
• Google, YouTube taking steps to protect users from explicit content – Baptist Press
• Rising Spiritual Openness in America – Barna
• Over Half of Gen Z Teens Feel Motivated to Learn More About Jesus - Barna
• Two-thirds of American adults believe the resurrection really happened - Lifeway

There are more where those came from. God has not stopped graciously pouring out blessings on us. We owe it to Him to notice and give thanks.