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.”
Video of the Week
Family Meeting on MLK50, Thabiti Anyabwile and Cross Politic. The 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death has sparked a lot of conversation regarding Dr. King’s legacy and racial reconciliation today. In the midst of these various conversations, Anyabwile ruffled more than a few feathers with a provocative statement: “My white neighbors and Christian brethren can start at least saying their parents and grandparents and this country are complicit in murdering a man who only preached love and justice.” Many were concerned that Anyabwile was promoting the idea of “white guilt” – that skin color is inherently tied to moral culpability. Cross Politic brought Anyabwile on their show to address those concerns. The tenor of this conversation demonstrates the kind of “family meeting” we need to see much more of as we talk race in the church.
Articles of the Week
The Moral of Moral Failings of Christian Leaders, Ed Stetzer. We’ve heard this refrain from many Christian leaders in the past few months. Look at the Christian leadership landscape just a decade ago, and chances are that about half of the leaders you’ll be looking at have now fallen from their posts due to moral failure (or worse). This is a painful time for the American church, but it may also be a time of purification. Stetzer offers three morals for the church going forward.
Conservatives Should Care About Institutional Racism, Ashleen Menchaca-Bagnulo. Americans don’t all see eye to eye when it comes to systemic racism. And as Christian Smith and Michael Emerson have demonstrated in Divided by Faith, Christians are more divided about the idea. So is it possible to be conservative and still recognize the reality of institutional racism? Manchaca-Bagnulo thinks so. This is a much-needed invitation to self-scrutiny and empathy for the legitimate concerns of minorities, regardless of your political perspective.
Bleep! Why Christians Shouldn’t Cuss, Clint Archer. If you’re searching for a proof text in Scripture to condemn cussing, you’ll be searching for a while. The Bible doesn’t offer it. But the Bible has quite a bit to say about the importance (and danger) of our words. What qualifies as dirty talk may shift from generation to generation, but one thing doesn’t: God expects us to use our words with self-control, grace, and wisdom.
God, Make Us Good Question-Askers, Lore Ferguson Wilbert. “The thing about asking questions in conversations, though, is first, all it does is make the other people who are already talking talk more. Second, it doesn’t leave much space for [my husband] to share his wisdom (which is solid gold if you ask me). And third, it can make most conversations feel unfinished because there’s always another question. … The other thing about asking questions, though, is you learn and, if the questions are wise ones, the person you’re asking them of learns too.”
On the Lighter Side
Avengers Cast Sings “The Marvel Bunch.” I’m told that there’s a big movie coming out this weekend. It has superheroes in it and will, I believe, lead to the joy of many. If you love such Marvel movies, you may enjoy this little parody. And if you don’t plan to see it, this little ditty will humorously catch you up.
