Honk if you miss Pluto

December 6, 2006

By Randy Mantik

As you’ve undoubtedly heard, Pluto was downsized right out of a job and is no longer listed as one of the planets in our solar system. (I guess nobody’s job is safe anymore.) So let me ask you, has Pluto’s demotion to a lowly “dwarf planet” made any difference to you?

I miss Pluto and what it represents to me — the solid facts and standards that were once the bedrock of our society. We thought Pluto was a sure thing. Astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930, and it has had an established place on our astronomical charts. But alas, what we thought to be a forever fact is no longer. Astronomers got it wrong. If Clyde has a plaque somewhere commemorating his discovery, I guess it will have to be taken down.

In some ways, it seems like the more we learn, the more we are confused. Solomon said, “For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief” (Ecclesiastes 1:18, NIV). How well we know that today. “Ooops, sorry, we don’t believe that anymore!” is becoming emblazoned over what were once the solid foundations of our age.

No, I’m not asking that we make the errant Pluto a planet again. I simply miss the steadfastness that once graced our culture. A case in point is forces across our nation that desire marriage to be defined as something other than “one man, one woman for life.” I’m sure you can think of many other distressing examples.

In Scripture, David asks, “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3, NIV). The enemy of our souls would like nothing more than for us to get really anxious about the assault on truth in today’s culture and lose our belief in that truth. I remind you of a fact that will never change: Though the most powerful forces in all the earth rise up against God and His ways, His Truth will remain. It’s not going anywhere.

Things that once seemed as sure as the Rock of Gibraltar are now detached and floating in the vast sea of no absolutes. But God remains, unchanged and unchangeable, and His Word will stand forever. “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them” (Psalm 11:4).

God remains. He simply is and forever will be. I love Psalm 11’s final verse. “For the Lord is righteous, he loves justice; upright men will see his face” (Psalm 11:7).

What do we do when the rewriting of historical perspectives and scientific facts seems to occur almost daily? Go to the Lord. He is Ruler over all. He remains the same. Keep your eyes on Him and make Him the filter for your perspectives.

Randy Mantik is senior pastor of Crossroads Church of the Assemblies of God in Pembine, Wis.