"My great concern... [is] that we will not give MacArthur a fair hearing."

Challies responds to MacArthur’s appeal to the “Young, Restless and Reformed” John MacArthur Wants Us to Grow Up

Discussion

I appreciate the author’s comments about giving Brother MacArthur a full hearing. Proverbs 18 says we should hear all a person has to say before we rush to judgment. One of my ministry colleagues pointed out that, due to their high degree of familiarity with the newer technologies, the younger generation has rapid access to large amounts of information. This can be helpful, but he also pointed out that this ability can lead to a false sense of confidence. There are some things we learn in life that can only come with time, and this includes both life and ministry. In my younger years in ministry, I coveted the time I was able to spend with older, experienced men at pastor’s retreats and conferences. I greatly profited from simply listening to them. Now that I am on the other end of the spectrum, I appreciate listening to the younger men, because they have creative ideas. It is just that they need to temper their ideas with a balanced, Biblical sense of reality.
I have learned that, when I do not fully agree with someone else, if I have the “iron sharpening iron” attitude, that it is a great opportunity for the Lord to teach and stretch me.
One of the great values of the Sharper Iron site is the opportunity for me to be exposed to some good, critical, Biblical thinking that I would otherwise not hear.

Dick Dayton