Evangelism is often demanding and intimidating. Overemphasizing self-care could discourage evangelistic efforts that feel too demanding for the individual Christian. But counterintuitively, the spiritual growth and wellness of a Christ-follower are enhanced when he or she engages the lost world with the hope of the gospel. Avoiding evangelism (or simply trying to make it easier) won’t lead to flourishing inside or outside the church. Faithful evangelism, by contrast, leads to joy.

In recent years, a new vision of human flourishing has entered the church: self-care. “Self-care” is now one of the most common terms used to discuss personal and spiritual health, and it means different things to different people. It can be used to reference basic needs like sleep and exercise, or bingeing a new show, or prayer retreats in the woods.
On the surface, self-care seems like an unarguable commitment—of course we need to care for ourselves. But when cultural messages about self-care aren’t reframed by biblical principles of mutual care, this can negatively affect us personally, and a church’s culture corporately. The church that prioritizes care for self over care for others will suffer shallow relationships, a misunderstanding of sanctification, and complacency in evangelism.
Balance Self-Care and Mutual Care
The gospel’s beauty shines when we no longer live for ourselves but lovingly care for others out of a transformed heart (2 Cor. 5:11–21). After all, spiritual growth begins in the heart, but it manifests through intentional expressions of care for others (Col. 3:1–4:6).
There’s no either-or here. Our churches should prioritize the healthy development of the self but do so cautiously, lest we neglect the beauty and belonging that come when a local church practices the New Testament’s one-another commands.
Growth Needs Friends
Self-care without mutual care seldom produces deep and vulnerable relationships. It instead promotes isolation and self-protection. If this tendency is unaddressed, a church can become a place filled with individuals but not brothers and sisters.
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God’s grace in the gospel…must lead unto the obedience springing from faith. God wants obedience. He wants heartfelt allegiance. He wants submission. He must take the place of Lord and be sovereign over one’s heart and life.

Romans 1:1 and 1:5
1:1—Παῦλος δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ, κλητὸς ἀπόστολος ἀφωρισμένος εἰς εὐαγγέλιον θεοῦ,
1:5—δι᾿ οὗ ἐλάβομεν χάριν καὶ ἀποστολὴν εἰς ὑπακοὴν πίστεως ἐν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ.
[Author’s translation:  Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart unto the gospel of God…(1:5) through whom we have received grace and apostleship leading unto the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake.]
The preposition εἰς (into) has the notion of moving into a certain direction.  It can have the indication of moving away from one thing and moving towards something else.
As a minister of the gospel, I learn from Paul in 2 areas in these opening verses from Romans. Paul described himself as a slave of Christ, sovereignly called/summoned as an apostle, and then set apart unto the gospel of God.
This describes a whole new direction of life. It speaks of a new purpose, a new mission, a new ambition, a new calling. Paul’s calling consisted of the reality that the Sovereign God, the Lord of heaven and earth had set him apart away from living life for himself (even as a Christian) and doing his own mission and he must now live for the new directional mission, the purposeful ambition, the submissive lifestyle pressing hard after and proclaiming fully the gospel of God.
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Don’t Look Up is a good old fashioned, modernist film—with a clear moralistic message. The trouble is that it is the wrong message.

*Spoiler alert: This article contains details of the plot and ending to the movie “Don’t Look Up.”
There was a time when comedians got lots of laughs mocking the religious eccentrics who stood at street corners with sandwich boards proclaiming ‘the end of the world is nigh’. Not anymore.
Now such catastrophism has gone mainstream – or at least Hollywood. It’s not just the end of the world disaster movies – but the fact that we are supposed to take them seriously. Hollywood is preaching to us – with all the subtilty of a flying mallet.
Netflix’s latest ‘blockbuster’ movie is a prime example. Don’t Look Up, despite being a flop in cinemas, is one of the most viewed films on Netflix and has been garnering a lot of column inches in the press.
Sadly reviews, like so much else in our society, have been politicised. If you agree with the point being made in the film/sermon, then you will love it. If you disagree then you will hate it. But Don’t Look Up is also fascinating from a Christian perspective.
Let’s start with the good.
This is a well-made movie, with some decent performances from Leonardo DiCaprio as the scientist who can save the world, and Meryl Streep as the Trumpesque President who dooms it. It is meant to be humorous and sometimes it is.
There are also interesting if exaggerated perspectives on the role of celebrity media, big tech and the human propensity in the face of disaster to ignore reality and turn to false idols instead.
From a Christian perspective there is one scene in which, without a hint of satire, the doomed humans turn to prayer. The troubled teen who was ‘raised evangelical, but found his own way’ volunteers to pray as the world is about to end. It is far too beautiful a prayer for such a satirical and dumbed down movie.
Because despite the good, this is one of the dumbest and most inane films I have seen in a long time. Don’t Look Up reminds me of the worst kind of Christian movie, where the actors seem to be deliberately ham acting the most cliched Christian characters they can find, and the plot reads as though it came from a Jehovah’s Witness children’s magazine!
The Plot
It would be difficult for me to spoil the plot, because if you haven’t gathered what the whole film sermon is about after five minutes, I despair. But if you want to put yourself through the two hours and 25 minutes of torment, don’t read the next few paragraphs.
The simple plot is that Earth is threatened by an approaching comet which two scientists try to warn the US president about. The president is more concerned about her poll ratings and seeks to deflect away from the approaching reality.
Evil money grabbing capitalists (including a big tech zillionaire) see the comet as an opportunity to do some mining for precious minerals; ordinary people are more interested in celebrity gossip on their mobile phones; TV hosts are dumbed down, inane and self-obsessed; the FBI are clowns; and we even have a racist, homophobic space pilot.
Of course, the earth is destroyed – but at least 2,000 people escape and take a 27,000-year flight to another planet, where, as the elect emerge from their cryogenic sleep, naked into their new paradise, the president is eaten by a dinosaur.
The Sermon
The purpose of the sermon is clear. Adam McKay, the writer, director and producer leaves us in no doubt: “This movie came from my burgeoning terror about the climate crisis and the fact that we live in a society that tends to place it as the fourth or fifth news story, or in some cases even deny that it’s happening, and how horrifying that is, but at the same time preposterously funny.”
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