God, What on Earth are You Doing?
Anthony Daniels who uses the pen name Theodore Dalrymple is a psychiatrist, conservative, skeptic, and understands the human predicament better than many Christians. He is a gifted and insightful essayist. Here is an example of his brilliance on display:
http://incharacter.org/features/theodore-dalrymple-on-self-esteem-vs-self-respect/
“Conservative, n. A statesman who is enamored of existing evils, as distinguished from the Liberal, who wishes to replace them with others.”
From Ambrose Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary. As quoted in Ralph C. Wood, Contending for the Faith, p. 30.
Earlier this year, I interviewed Gautam Mukunda at the Harvard Business School. Gautam has much to say about leadership. Here is a terrific outline of key issues all leaders should be aware of:
http://vimeo.com/80727700
Looking for a great Christmas present? Get a copy of Booked by Karen Swallow Prior. And while you are at it, buy a copy for yourself. You will thank me later.
Karen will soon come out with a book on Hannah More, writer, philanthropist, and so much more (no pun intended).
On Karen’s Twitter account, I found this wonderful quote from Hannah More:
“It is therefore no worthless part of education, even in a religious view, to study the precise meaning of words.”
I am grateful for friends who lovingly keep me in check. Sometimes they probe into matters which make me uncomfortable, but I have no doubt they love me.
Many leaders (and I have seen it up close) do not have such accountability.
Pray that you have Prov. 27:5,6 friends!
Ronnie blessed our family with his compelling “history of redemption” which you can see in the second link below.
May God use Ronnie’s life and death to be a continuing witness of the greatness, joy, and wisdom of living for Jesus Christ alone.
http://www.historyofredemption.org/
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/when-we-send-a-person-to-his-death
It is always good to remember (and I mean many times each day!) that we are all sinners. It devolves so easily into a religious platitude, but it is the undeniable truth of Scripture.
I may not struggle with a particular sin which is a wonderful mercy of God to me. Unfortunately, this can make me unduly harsh with others who do struggle with that sin.
One of the best antidotes I’ve applied when I sense my unrighteous judgment taking over (because there is a righteous one) is to remember areas where I am probably more tempted than many Christians. It is humbling. And it is healing.
As a person who has the gift of discernment focusing on my own sin brings a much greater level of patience and love when I am in acute disagreement with someone.
I am not going to name names, but will say I have had many wonderful and mutually respectful conversations with various people over the plagiarism issue.
Though my own perspective has not changed, I can say my many conversations have been truly free of rancor, name-calling, and straw men.
What a tribute to God’s great generosity!
I had several candid, and I believe mutually respectful conversations about the charge Mark Driscoll plagiarized.
There is one thing that absolutely baffles me.
Why don’t key people simply say something like, “Plagiarism is serious. No one is above scrutiny. Let’s pray God is truly honored.”
It didn’t need to be long. It didn’t need to be specific. But massive amounts of silence is baffling.
One thing that makes me wonder how healthy things can be is when the constantly quoted Carl Trueman has all been ignored, even though he has written several, important pieces. Thabiti Anyabwile is the only major figure I could find who quoted Trueman on the celebrity problem in evangelicalism.
Yes, I am aware of Kevin DeYoung’s recent piece and the helpful interaction of Justin Taylor. But so many others who tweet and blog on all kinds of things are absolutely mum.
Finally, some have said this needed to be handled privately and not in the blogosphere. Granted, Janet Mefferd should have approached Driscoll privately. She has acknowledged as much. However, plagiarism and ghostwriting are rife within evangelicalism. I have talked to quite a few leaders about ghostwriting and publicly wrote about my own experience:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2013/08/24/is-ghost-writing-unchristian/
Everyone agrees ghostwriting is a huge problem. And that gets us back to the blogosphere and “Christian journalism” as Carl Trueman has written about:
http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2013/12/04/areopagitica/
Many Christian leaders know about the problem of ghostwriting. They know it is pervasive within the evangelical camp, but it is almost never talked about. So the track record of Christian leaders addressing plagiarism and ghostwriting is not particularly strong.
When we are willing to speak out about every imaginable issue, yet disregard something so wrong and rampant, there is a need for others to say what is clearly problematic, but clearly not popular.
So with all the problems of the Internet and social media, we ought to be glad for the potential good which can come from these kinds of checks and balances.
I am 55. My lovely wife is 53. And she is lovely so many ways, not the least of which she loves to read (more below).
We have a very good library: diverse and some of the best books in their respective categories. It was put together over a lifetime. Our library did not cost a lot because we have gone to library sales, used bookstores, received books from friends and family, and get many wonderful books to review from publishers.
I read on Scot McKnight’s blog that Michael Quicke is “retiring” from teaching at Northern. In one of Quicke’s posts about his move back to England, he talks about the painful process of downsizing his library. Quicke has about ten years on me, but for years I’ve been whittling a little bit every month to make the process a bit easier. Not easy to be sure. For the foreseeable future our library will most likely hover around 2500-3000 books. Without my regular whittling it might be twice that size by now, and much more painful to address.
As I get older, I find myself rereading more frequently, especially the books which have truly formed my convictions. And the books which showcase a craftsman at work.
So I will keep chopping up our library with my metaphorical ax.
Here is Quicke’s wonderful, but poignant piece:
http://michaelquicke.blogspot.com/2013/11/changing-life-4.html
If you don’t want have time to read the entire piece, consider these words of wisdom:
“And saying goodbye sometimes comes with cruel reality checks as I realize I cannot possibly read all that I once hoped to delive into. For example, I have collected books on particular subjects that I was going to dive into, that I even imagined that I could write books about, but I now realize time is running out! I remember an athletic deacon in my first church saying that he had suddenly realized that certain things would never happen for him, like playing cricket for England. I remember being amused, but then realizing he was being serious. (I appreciate US friends would not likely take this seriously anyway!) Yes, what once seemed limitless pastures are now ring-fenced. I am grateful that I shall still be able to graze but I can see a fence.”
