We have all seen a new wave of moral crises in the last few months. Most of the time (with certain large exceptions) Neil Postman has been right that "nothing puts people to sleep like a crisis". A crisis may keep us tuned to the media with interest because news is good entertainment, yet not necessarily with any sense of a personal stake in the crisis. But the recent corporate scandals are different. They are not just moral absurdities with far off consequences. These crises are hitting many people in their wallets today and in their hopes for retirement in the future.

Wouldn't you think that this situation would provoke a new awareness of the costliness of widespread moral failure? Would we expect an openness to turning to God as an anchor for moral principles like honesty, which without an anchor bend like rubber? Wouldn't it be a natural time to look to the church for cultural leadership?

But this is a particular time when religious institutions themselves are objects of suspicion and cynicism. Do they really represent ultimate truths? Do they really have our best interests at heart? Hindus and Muslims are fighting. Muslims and Jews are fighting. Catholic bishops seem to prioritize the brotherhood of priests above the safety of the children in their congregations. Protestants do not find themselves in the cross-hairs of scandal as they recently were in the televangelist era, but are associated in the public mind with all who call Christ Lord.

The loss of authority of religious institutions has been a vast and complex process, but let me suggest one reason from among many. One cause of the loss of legitimacy has been the scrambling of priorities ­ when it is realized that the trivial is lifted high and the profound is ignored. You could call it getting mountains and molehills backwards. There are strands in Muslim and Jewish expression that are meticulous about ritual washing but are quite tolerant of murder. Holding the public image of the church above the safety of its children follows the same pattern. There are sacred Protestant legalisms, which if given their way soon eclipse the most basic teachings of the Bible. Think of the time and aggravation spent on "worship styles", music that is approved, smoking a cigarette, the correct "quiet time", wearing black leather and who does and does not have a tattoo ­ to the neglect of treating people with humility, love and grace. Of course some are attracted to very external rigidity because they love it. But for so many in this country who are looking at the church from outside, it discredits the institution as having to do with molehills, not mountains.

The irony is extreme because of whose church it is. Surely followers of Jesus have less excuse than anyone for inverting mountains and molehills. Throughout his ministry Jesus rebuked those who tithed "Šmint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faith". He called them blind guides, "straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel".

The New Testament records many chilling examples of micro-morality driving out the most substantial Biblical values. You see the delicate and scrupulous conscience of Jesus' murderers who would not accept the return of Judas' hit money ("it is not lawful to put it in the treasury"), and those who would not set foot in Pilate's palace to argue for Jesus' crucifixion -- for fear of becoming unclean during the Passover. So today, we have seen young people thrown out of their homes by their parents for having hair that was too long and asking too many questions. The religious pursuit of moral molehills leads to spiritual and moral confusion because the sheer number of molehills is such a distraction. But the religious pursuit of the trivial can also mask radical evil when it is packaged in righteous self-deception.

Part of what it means that Jesus is the "light of the world" is his glorious teaching and example about what really matters and what matters less. There is no holy land, holy mountain, holy city or holy place that the church must fight for or defend. There are vast legalisms that are short-circuited by his Gospel. May his people today treat mountains as mountains and molehills as molehills.

We finished a very busy summer term, with higher numbers than usual, but the sad reality of having no place for quite a few who wanted to come. We had a wonderful group which maintained a really helpful spirit of unity even though there was significant turnover in the course of the term. We were never at a loss for good discussions and hard questions. It was a time of reaffirmation for us of the great need for a place where people can come to study and see what faith in Christ is about. We had three invaluable helpers, Luke, Joel and Jessica.

Mark and Terri have really hit their stride in the work, with Mark finishing his lecture series on Islam and both of them doing a lot of tutoring, serving of meals, organizing the work crews and hanging out with the students.

The Morrells are doing well, but the weight of being the main couple in the big house is exhausting. Do pray for Luke who starts third grade and Nate who begins kindergarten this September.

The Keyes family seems in pretty good shape also. Mardi's health has remained good, and we have both enjoyed our tutoring in the last term. Ben is at L'Abri in England.

The real changes come with our younger workers. Tommi Shaw, who has been living, tutoring and serving meals in the upstairs apartment of the big house and managing our office, will be leaving in the autumn. We are thankful that she will be living in the local area and staying in touch with us all. Doug LaFountain who has been living in the middle of the big house, tutoring and serving meals in the student kitchen is also leaving, having just gotten engaged to Jessica. Doug is moving to Illinois to find a job near Jessica's home and they plan a wedding around the new year. Give thanks for Tommi, Doug and Jessica, and pray for their futures.

Pray for us as we try to plug the holes left by these good friends and capable workers. It will be a very important time for us to readjust and reallocate responsibilities and find some one to pick up the office responsibilities.

Pray thanking God for a very good conference in Hamilton Ontario earlier in August. There was a good turnout, good lectures and workshops and much interest in what we all had to say. There will be a conference next year (July 31 - Aug. 3, 2003) in Charlotte, NC, and the possibility of another on the west coast the following weekend. Pray and take note.

Mardi and I will be going to the new L'Abri branch in South Korea in late October. Pray for the conferences, the trustees' meeting there and for that branch.

There is a possibility of having another seminary course in cultural apologetics here at L'Abri in January as we did several year ago. Pray that this might take place. I pray that what L'Abri stands for might be more present in the life of the wider church, thinking of sensitivity to apologetics and to mountains and molehills.

Dick Keyes