#137 - There Is Nothing New Under the Sun {Reflections}

A stand-up comedian delivers the punchline of the year: modern pastors trying to solve modern problems with an ancient book, like a husband leaving for an AI TikTok dancer while the pastor scrambles for a Bible verse. We start there because the joke lands on a real tension many people feel about Christianity and the Bible in a tech-saturated world that changes every day.

From that laugh, we pivot to something unexpectedly grounding: Pompeii. Archaeologists found graffiti from 79 AD, and it reads like a modern comment section. Petty insults, crude jokes, love notes, political propaganda, complaints about bad food. It’s a reminder that while our tools evolve, the human condition doesn’t magically upgrade. We still chase meaning, worship substitutes, get jealous, abuse power, and drift toward whatever promises comfort, control, or status.

That’s why Ecclesiastes hits so hard: “There is nothing new under the sun.” We wrestle with what that line means when headlines feel nonstop, when leaders frame themselves like saviors, and when culture seems untethered from shared spiritual anchors. We talk about how politics can become a replacement religion, why conspiracy theories can offer belonging and meaning, and why deep wisdom matters more than endless information.

If you’ve ever wondered whether the Bible is outdated or oddly timeless, come listen. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Transcript

Welcome And The Big Critique

SPEAKER_00 0:16

What is up everybody? Hey, this is Ryan, and welcome to our Reflections podcast. Hey, a buddy of mine sent me this video on Instagram the other day, and he goes, Hey, Ryan, here's the biggest problem with Christianity.

AI TikTok Dancer Meets The Bible

SPEAKER_00 0:27

And then there's the video of the stand-up comic. It's funny. The comic opens, he goes, you know who I don't envy these days? It's modern pastors. He's like trying to solve modern problems with this ancient book. And he's like, Oh, hey, hey, Pastor, Pastor, help me, help me. My husband is leaving me for a TikTok, an AI TikTok dancer. And then he goes, the pastor's like, uh, uh, uh, he's flipping through his Bible. Uh, oh, that's like what happened to Abraham. I love it. Pastor, help me. My husband is leaving me for an AI TikTok dancer. Like, yeah, they weren't having that problem back in the in the ancient world. And so he's like, Ryan, this is the problem. It's an old system with an old book in a very modern world that's changing every day with things like AI. And I thought about it for a while, and my response was like, Yeah, no, you're not wrong about that. But I think that the Bible is unbelievably brilliant, and Christianity, like the aim of a lot of religions, it's brilliant at diagnosing the human condition. Here's what I

Pompeii Graffiti And Human Nature

SPEAKER_00 1:36

mean by that. So they they've made all these discoveries in Pompeii. Pompeii was a city in Italy that was preserved as after this volcano from Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering the whole city, and then they've excavated it and found all these ancient artifacts. And in the ancient city of Pompeii, dating back to 79 AD, they found archaeologists found graffiti scratched into the walls. And when they deciphered what it was that the graffiti was saying, it wasn't like profound philosophy or deep spiritual insights. What they found was like graffiti that was complaints and pretty vulgar jokes and petty insults. Like one of the one of the uh one of the things that they found basically read, like, the food here is terrible. I love that. There were like love notes, again, vulgar insults, like political campaigning and political commentary, dating all the way back to 79 AD, the destruction when it happened of Pompeii. And which means like 2,000 years ago, people were already leaving like Google reviews and and Twitter posts or ex posts about about politics and you know these kinds of things, which means that 2,000 years ago, the people were a lot like us, you know what I mean? Which really means, okay, that we're not, in many ways, we're not so much more smart, smarter, we're not so much more sophisticated, we're not so, you know, we're not better behaved in many ways, we're not more civilized. Now, in some ways, of course we are. Like our laws are better, there's a more value for human life and these kinds of things, so for sure. But in many ways, the ways that humans behave, the human condition are it's like still left unchecked but run riot. And uh, we're not that different, you know? Different tools, uh maybe same humans, you know.

Power Worship Then And Now

SPEAKER_00 3:20

You probably saw already that uh our president posted this picture of himself that at first glance certainly looks like he's um indicating or at least portraying himself as Jesus, as the Messiah figure, which is I don't know, I can't help but like laugh about it. I mean it's it's terrible. And as a Christian pastor, I certainly I reject that. But here's the thing this is not that new, okay? Maybe in the American uh political system, I I'm sure I have no doubt that this is for the first time someone's ever done this. How could anybody have ever done this before? Twitter is pretty new. But like, listen, political figures for a long time have elevated themselves as some sort of a god, whether overtly or covertly, whether externally in front of the public or privately, with their inner sort of you know chamber. That's nothing new at all. Many political figures, rich people, uh people of power and wealth and influence, have established themselves as gods throughout history. So it's not that new, you know. In today's culture, you what are we what's in the what's on the news? Read the news. Like wars, violence, political strife and rivalries, you know, lies, power grabs, oppression, greed, uh, hatred of the rich. All that these are not new things. These things, which are sort of uh um a manifestation of the human heart and human condition, they are not that new at all. Different tools, probably, but same humans, you know. There's this book in the Bible called Ecclesiastes, and it says this. It says, Hey, there's nothing new under the sun. Wow. There really isn't. There's nothing new under the sun. And the funny thing is, that's the Bible saying that. An ancient, old, in many ways antiquated book that's profoundly wise, speaking to today's culture and experience. Uh I mean, look, many people view the Bible as some sort of outdated book that we just don't need. It's irrelevant for today's life. How could the Bible help you with your AI TikTok dancing girlfriend that, you know, lured your husband away? I don't I don't know, you know, like it is antiquated in that way, but man, the Bible, and I would argue church and church community and religion in some ways that you know has some incredibly profound things to say about what it means to be a human and the human condition, that humans are not all that different from the ancients when it comes to the sources of our problems, you know. Certainly the struggles, like the external things are different, of course, you know, but the source, the uh the the sort of the the the beginnings of the struggle, not that different. And here's why again, I just think that humans

Untethered Culture And New Religions

SPEAKER_00 6:00

have not changed all that much. I mean, we still search for home or for life in faraway lands, like the story of the lost son, the prodigal son. We still worship all kinds of things. We are beings who worship. The Bible says that. We get jealous still, we're violent still, we get distracted. We have family drama, we abuse power, we sell our souls for all for money and for fame and for power. And we have short memories. I love it when the I don't love it, but it's it's interesting when the people of Israel, they uh Moses goes to the mountaintop to encounter God, and they have this incredible, transcendent experience with God. And then five minutes later, they make a golden calf to worship this golden calf, you know. Like, yeah, we don't build golden calves anymore. Maybe we do, but but we do keep them in our pockets these days, you know what I'm saying? Same humans, maybe different problems on the outside, but same humans on the inside. And we assume that we're so much more advanced, and maybe we're not, we're just better equipped. Maybe we're not more transformed, we just have more things. Maybe we're maybe we we have more information, but we don't have more wisdom. Maybe we have more technology, but we still misuse it for selfish and like evil purposes. Okay, but here's one thing, and here's I'll end with this. The modern world has begun to untether itself from these long-standing handholds, these ancient sort of roots. Um, in Christianity, religion, church, these are these are parts of it, you know. Um, and so I think what happens is we start to drift because we lose these anchor points, these wiz, these ancient wisdom, this ancient wisdom that really helps us understand what it means to be human, our own proclivity to make golden calves and wander away and these kinds of things. And we've replaced it because we're beings who worship, we worship other things. We're we're beings who worship. We we've replaced religion in a church with the you know, religion of politics. Uh, we also there's this. I there's this great article in the free press that the reason our friends are like so adamant these days about conspiracy theories is because we've lost all kinds of other anchor points. So folks now need meaning. They're clinging on, they're like looking for meaning. So they find these conspiracy theory, like sort of subgroups or ideologies, they grab onto them for dear life. Like an anchor point, and they become their new religion. So conspiracy theories. But the Bible still, in the middle of all this untethering, is the best-selling book of all time, even though it's thousands of years old. And here's why we need deep wisdom in a world full of like just you know, short, shallow thinking, thoughts, presidents posting pictures of themselves as Jesus, like, oh my gosh. We need deep wisdom. And I think the Bible can help because it speaks to the human condition, and that we're not so much better off after all these days. Now we are in many, many ways with air conditioning and heating and you know, laws that elevate people, these kinds of things for sure. But man, we are still people who need

Deep Wisdom And A Clear Invitation

SPEAKER_00 8:58

a God who can raise the dead and save us for ourselves. Okay, love you guys. Peace. Hey, if you enjoy this show, I'd love to have you share it with some friends. And don't forget you are always welcome to join us in person at Central in Elk River at 8 30, which is our liturgical gathering, or at 10 o'clock, our modern gathering. Or you can check us out online at clcelkriver.org. Peace.