When Programmers Talk Theology

There is a better, longer version of this post. And maybe I'll get to it one day!

In the meantime, let this be a stub for a future post. And here true programmers may call me out for an inadequate understanding of the term stub, but therein lies the stub rub: I'm on a crash course to learn the latest concepts, nearly all of which have been bandied about for 10+ years, and some for more than twice that long. I'm not the person to best explain these terms (or use them properly) from a programming perspective. Maybe next week I will be.

But to the point of this brief placeholder post: two of the terms that really caught my attention are "Dependency Injection" and "Inversion of Control". The former is related to the "Dependency Inversion Principle" which lends itself even more to the intentions of this reflection.

Seriously? Are we talking programming or theology? Well, if you want to know what these terms mean from a programming perspective, here's a link. As for theological uses, that website may not be out there, but I'm thinking there ought to be one. Think of the applications!

For example (and here I am using only headlines taken straight from the website link provide above):

• Inversion of Control — Let God be God, and maybe you're just along for the ride?
• Dependency Injection — See above. (Those word are good for at least two meanings.)
• YAGNI (You Ain't Gonna Need It) — Applicable to how we think about earthly treasures?
• Boy Scout Rule — Applies to code and probably to good Christian living, I'd think.

Well, enough on that for now. I don't have to write any theological treatises today, and nobody else has time to read them anyway.

New Lows In A Culture Only Dimly Aware Of How Dark It Has Become

I just saw an ad on YouTube that revolted me. It wasn't difficult to confirm via Google that I'm not the first to have noted that it had searingly obvious sexual sadomasochistic innuendos. This article notes...

"In one spot for Devour, which is aimed at men aged 25-35 and has a marketing campaign rolling out Monday, a boss finds his employee having an intimate moment with his lunch, which the excited man gives a sexy slap with his fork. The brand's suggestive tagline and campaign name is "Food You Want to Fork."

Of course a part of me feels I am giving life to this sickness by including the above quote here in this blog. That said, what disgusts me now will soon be as endearingly quaint (at least by way of comparison with the advertising filth that is yet to come) as the first marriage bed did when it was first permitted to be seen in a television sitcom a few decades ago.

At some point, one keeps arriving at the naive conclusion that "surely the bottom is near?" It's not. Just you wait, Henry Higgins. Just you wait. There is no bottom. It's filth. All the way down.

But I don't want to end this reflection on this note. The above is what Satan would have for us, but God has not given up on the human race yet. In fact, I found myself reaching for a verse and quickly realized the one I wanted hails from the book of Romans.

How fitting! Paul began his epistle to the Romans with a grave indictment no less somber than my own.

Romans 1:18-24 (excerpted)
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness... Their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools... Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.

Yes, America may be reaching for new lows, but we have not yet caught up with the depths of darkness plumbed by ancient Rome. Not yet. But we will. And therefore we should, along with Paul, remember the hope we have in Christ. So let us not dwell on the dark assessments of Chapter 1 but rather cling to the promises we find in Chapter 8.

Romans 8:18-19
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

Yes, times are dark, and growing darker still, at an ever increasing pace. The pangs of labor grow sharp. But one day Jesus Christ our Lord will be revealed. Let us be shown on that day to have carried the weight of his glory within us.