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 occasional 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.”
Articles of the Week
Charlottesville, Confederate Memorials, and Southern Culture, John Piper. One month removed from the Charlottesville protests, we are still in need of critical thinking when it comes to the meaning of Confederate memorials. Piper’s take explains why these memorials touch such a sensitive nerve for Southerners, how the Civil War lingers today, and what an appropriately Christian attitude is toward the complex reality of “Southern culture.” Biblically rich, balanced, and appropriately challenging.
When Should a Church Address a Current Event? Trevin Wax. We come up against this question rather often—and, it seems, more frequently of late. There’s a balance between discipling people to apply the gospel to everyday life (good) and allowing the news cycle to dictate the church’s voice (bad). At the Summit, we’re still learning how to navigate that balance faithfully, and we’re asking many of the same diagnostic questions that Wax helpfully offers here.
I Just Want Her to Be Happy (The Collapse of American Parenting), Leonard Sax, First Things. You really can’t have too much First Things in your life. Sax asks, “Why are American-born kids becoming increasingly less creative?” His answer: “We’re encouraging them to ‘be happy.’” We shouldn’t be surprised that the culture of “I just want him/her to be happy” produces teenagers addicted to social media and pornography—and adults filled with unhappy frustration.
My 7 Most Productive Habits, Mark Dance. This is part 2, so you may want to start with Dance’s problem, My 7 Least Productive Habits. Sound council here, and it would be healthier for all of us if these became more systemic habits. For now, though, introduce some more sanity into your life with these. Best line: “Never interrupt a face-to-face conversation to answer a text unless it is a family emergency, a previously scheduled appointment, or you are in the seventh grade.”
Ten Unfair Expectations of Pastors’ Wives, Thom Rainer. Just to be clear, we mean expectations for the one wife that each pastor may have. (“Pastors’ wives” is an amusingly ambiguous phrase.) Anyway, this is Thom Rainer doing his Thom Rainer thing, asking a simple question and getting sometimes expected and sometimes surprising results. I (Chris) can attest to the truthfulness of #1, #2, #4, and #9. My guess is that’s mercifully low.
On the Lighter Side
Degenerate Football Coach Gets Job at Christian School, John B. Crist. It’s like Friday Night Lights meets Fireproof. Sorta.
