There were no highlights from Tuesday night’s first of what will be three presidential debates. There were only lowlights: insults, anger, untruths, misreporting, and, especially, talking over each other. As hard as it was to watch, a harder truth to swallow is that we should no longer have any illusions about the current state of our nation. What was on the stage was a reflection of what we have become.

That means that any real restoration cannot and will not be achieved by elections. Please vote. It’s a part of our duty as citizens and Christians, but also, please remember what my friend Trevin Wax tweeted out Tuesday night: “for perspective— what happens on Sunday in churches across our nation, where the gospel is preached and King Jesus is exalted, is exponentially more eternally significant than what we’ve witnessed tonight.

Amen. And I’d only add that what happened the next morning at the breakfast table, the conversation and connection, and especially the catechism you shared with your children, is far more important than anything else we saw or heard Tuesday night.