Recommended

CP VOICES

Engaging views and analysis from outside contributors on the issues affecting society and faith today.

CP VOICES do not necessarily reflect the views of The Christian Post. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author(s).

Why Is Mister Rogers Back in the News?

Television personality Fred Rogers, of public television's 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood,' laughs as he poses with a plaque he received at the ceremony to unveil his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, January 8, 1998. The popular and award winning children's program is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Rogers' is the 2,101th star on the Walk of Fame.
Television personality Fred Rogers, of public television's "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," laughs as he poses with a plaque he received at the ceremony to unveil his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, January 8, 1998. The popular and award winning children's program is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Rogers' is the 2,101th star on the Walk of Fame. | (Photo: Reuters)

The news is filled with unlikely stories this morning.

Two years ago, who would have imagined that Donald Trump would be addressing today's United Nations General Assembly as US president? Bill Cosby was once a cultural icon; now he faces years in prison as his sentencing hearing starts today. A year ago, Tiger Woods couldn't sit or walk because of back pain; his victory Sunday is being called "the greatest comeback story in sports history."

And Mr. Rogers is back in the news.

Get Our Latest News for FREE

Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

Google honored Fred Rogers on the homepage of its search engine last Friday to celebrate the filming of his first episode on September 21, 1967.

I encourage you to watch the short video. You'll learn that Mr. Rogers often named his characters for real people in his life (Queen Sara was named after his wife, for instance). His mother hand-knit all the cardigans he wore on his show, including a red sweater that is now at the Smithsonian. And the stoplight at the opening of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood always blinked yellow to remind kids and parents to slow down a little.

Fred Rogers was not the only television personality to begin a show fifty years ago. Hawaii Five-O, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and The Mod Squad would qualify as well. But Google chose to honor Mr. Rogers instead.

What does Fred Rogers' abiding popularity say about our troubled times?

"I like you just the way you are"

Fred Rogers' message was simple: "I like you just the way you are." We are starved for such unconditional affirmation because we find it so seldom in this world.

The root of our problem is not just that others condemn us for our failures. It is that we condemn ourselves for our failures.

When others criticize us, their attacks are hurtful, of course. But no one knows us as we know ourselves. No one knows our failures like we do.

No matter how much we succeed in life, no matter how much we do and own, no matter how much popularity we amass, it's never enough. When others affirm us, there's a voice in the back of our minds that says, "That's because they don't really know me." We can spend our lives trying to compensate for our failures, but we will never succeed.

We need a shift in perspective, a way of seeing ourselves that is life-giving rather than condemning. But nothing in our secular culture affords us this option.

As the Western world moves further and further from a biblical worldview, we lose not only the biblical principles that are foundational for personal and communal morality. We also lose our ability to see ourselves as God sees us.

And this loss changes everything about how we see ourselves.

"The Lord takes pleasure in his people"

So, how does God see us?

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

Why did God save you? "He rescued me, because he delighted in me" (Psalm 18:19).

How much does he love you now? "The love of Christ . . . surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).

What will make him stop loving you? "Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

In short, "The Lord takes pleasure in his people" (Psalm 149:4). Did you know that the God of the universe "takes pleasure" in you right now?

"If we are faithless, he remains faithful"

Our Father loves us when we cannot love ourselves. He forgives us when we cannot forgive ourselves. No matter how much we succeed or fail in life, "the Lord is faithful" (2 Thessalonians 3:3). In fact, our Father promises that "if we are faithless, he remains faithful" (2 Timothy 2:13).

So, here's your Father's invitation to you this morning: stop measuring yourself by what you think of yourself. Stop trying to do enough good to be good enough.

Your omniscient Creator knows you even better than you know yourself. In fact, he knows all the past sins you've forgotten and all the future sins you don't know you'll commit. Yet he loves you without condition.

Decide that he's right. Decide that your eternal life is worth the death of God's Son. Not because you can ever earn such love, but because you don't have to: "by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:8).

Now choose to love others as unconditionally as God loves you. Then you'll "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39) with a love that will change the world (John 13:35).

Can our world wait for such love even one more day?

Originally posted at Denison Forum.

Adapted from Dr. Jim Denison's daily cultural commentary at www.denisonforum.org. Jim Denison, Ph.D., is a cultural apologist, building a bridge between faith and culture by engaging contemporary issues with biblical truth. He founded the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture in February 2009 and is the author of seven books, including "Radical Islam: What You Need to Know." For more information on the Denison Forum, visit www.denisonforum.org. To connect with Dr. Denison in social media, visit www.twitter.com/jimdenison or www.facebook.com/denisonforum. Original source: www.denisonforum.org.

Was this article helpful?

Help keep The Christian Post free for everyone.

By making a recurring donation or a one-time donation of any amount, you're helping to keep CP's articles free and accessible for everyone.

We’re sorry to hear that.

Hope you’ll give us another try and check out some other articles. Return to homepage.

Most Popular

More In Opinion