Wisdom for Your Weekend is your regular installment of what we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web. Presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with guidance from Pastor J.D., this is our attempt to reflect Proverbs 9:9: “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.” While we do not always agree with everything these authors post, we share these resources because we find them challenging and enriching. As we often say around the Summit, when it comes to reading, “Eat the fish and spit out the bones.”
Articles of the Week
Isaiah 53, Personalized for Sexual Abuse, Brad Hambrick. “I spoke and no one believed what I said. They thought I was a liar or a lunatic. Even when there was great reason to believe me, they refused. The truth was supposed to set me free, but it made me an outcast. I was a young child. He knew and ‘loved’ me. I was weak and vulnerable in his care. Was it my body? Was there anything about the body of a child that could allure such destructive passion? If so, I’ll hide my beauty. I’d rather not be seen than attacked. To be known is dangerous.”
How Should Christians Think About Socialism? Bruce Ashford, David Koyzis, et al. Socialism is making a comeback in the United States, especially among the younger crowd (18–29). Was Marx on to something? Is socialism as redemptive as its supporters claim? In short, how should Christians think about socialism?
The SBC, Abuse, and the Need for a Better Response, Ed Stetzer.
“The Houston Chronicle’s Abuse of Faith series pointed out what many already knew—the SBC has an abuse problem. SBC President J. D. Greear sought to at least take some steps to address it. The bylaws workgroup of the Executive Committee of the SBC heard his call and decided to address it—at lightning speed.
And, according to a growing number of Southern Baptists, without due diligence.
Actually, they declared (without actually doing much inquiry) that ‘no further inquiry is warranted’ in most of the cases.
Now Southern Baptists have been accused of not taking sexual abuse seriously, and when the members of the Executive Committee responded, it seemed they did not take such allegations seriously as well.”
From Mars Hill to Harvest: Hope for a Wounded Church, Kate Shellnutt. Harvest Bible Chapel recently fired its senior pastor, James MacDonald, for “engaging in conduct that the Elders believe is contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church.” (You can read their entire statement here.) Shellnutt describes what it looks like for the local church to absorb the blow of its leader’s sinful failure.
African United Methodists Won’t Trade Bible for Dollars, Jerry P. Kulah. Over 800 United Methodist clergy and lay leaders met this week in St. Louis to decide whether it would preserve a biblical view of marriage and sexuality or shift to affirming same-sex practice. On Tuesday, they voted, 53%-47%, for the traditional biblical view—largely due to the influence of African Methodist leaders like Kulah.
On the Lighter Side
Library Searches from the New York Public Library, Encore Department Store. Before the days of the internet, if you wanted to know the answer to a random question, you called your local gatekeeper of knowledge—the librarian. These photos prove that while technology changes, the capacity to ask bizarre questions absolutely does not. (But really, how do we know that Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates aren’t one and the same person?)
