The fifth chapter of Romans opens with delight. Having built the case the absolute and utter lostness of humanity (Romans 1-3), Paul had been teaching that the dream of righteousness is still alive in (Romans 3). Righteousness is not found in man’s work, but in Christ’s. Belief — faith, trust, leaning, acceptance — in His work gets us His righteousness.

I had a conversation with a youth pastor from another church. “What are teenagers going through right now?” I asked. He proceeded to tell me he saw them as a generation whose world was very small, that even though they are digitally connected, many of them have no idea what is happening in the world around them. The only world they know is the world of the friends and networks they have cultivated, many of them online. In other words, he saw their digital connections making their world smaller, not bigger.