As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“did you know that [John] Newton had his initial conversion experience while still engaged in the slave trading business? That he continued to captain a slave ship for more than 5 years while growing in his faith?” - Michael Brown
“Not only do we have to judge, but we are called to judge, and in today’s society, we need to be more vigilant about judgment than ever.” - Phil Cooke
“We may think we understand our culture, but much of it remains below the surface. We might not see it until someone crashes into our subconscious cultural beliefs.” - TGC
“Conspiracy theories require the involvement of huge numbers of well-informed and ordinarily altruistic guilds (e.g., law enforcement, medical professionals, the clergy, etc.) who secretly and completely betray their ideals en masse in order to support the conspiracy.” - Snoeberger
I doubt that thankfulness is the first thing most conservative Christians feel these days when they reflect on American culture. There are some good reasons for that! I get it. Much is changing. Much more has already changed but is now becoming evident in more ways.
Many of the changes we’re seeing have to do with aspects of life we’re deeply sensitive about—like sexual ethics, marriage, and family. Visceral reactions are, if unhelpful, at least understandable.
There’s a lot of outrage and fear.
“1. Do you present opposing viewpoints in ways that your opponent would agree with?… 2. Do you resort to personal attacks…3. Are you able to assume the best about someone else’s approach even if you disagree with their conclusions?” - 9 Marks
“1. The trajectory of Tocqueville… ‘expressive individualism’….2. The segmentation of the body from the soul…. 3. The perception that historical Christianity is bigoted…. 4. The omni-channel reality… the implications of technology” - Eric Geiger
“Here’s John 13:2: ‘During supper… the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him.’” - John Piper
“Pre-judging like this causes a lot of damage in relationships, churches, and ministries. Instead of approaching disagreements as matters worthy of sincere effort to understand and apply the Scriptures, motives and actions are judged harshly.” - Dave Doran
“If ordinary humility challenges us to take a reasonable and balanced view of who or what we are, epistemic humility asks us to do the same with respect to what we know. This is important since no good comes from overstating the evidence.” - TGC
Discussion