Wise Optimism, Beth Moore’s Letter to the Brothers, & the Church’s Response to Spousal Abuse

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

SWBTS Trustees, SBC Entity Presidents Address Abuse, David Roach. “Amid ongoing discussion of statements by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson on domestic violence, Patterson and the executive committee of the seminary trustees have issued a statement affirming ‘the importance of protecting victims of abuse.’ Meanwhile, at least five SBC entity presidents have made statements on domestic violence since April 29. Three referenced Patterson by name but did not offer an opinion specifically on his comments. The others commented on domestic violence generally without naming Patterson.” 

Four Myths About Responding to Spousal Abuse, Bruce Ashford, J.D. Greear, and Brad Hambrick. Being pro-marriage doesn’t mean that the church must therefore be weak on abuse. God is not more concerned about the institution of marriage than he is the individual people in the marriage. And because God is passionate about both, his church should be as well. Here are some of the ways church leaders—usually with good intentions—often make dangerous mistakes in responding to spousal abuse.

A Letter to My Brothers, Beth Moore. It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Beth Moore having the guts and gravitas to write such an eye-opening letter. With an abundance of grace, she firmly challenges the men in our churches to oppose misogyny and dismissiveness toward women at every turn. Misogyny is still far too common in our churches, and it’s up to all of us to attack this sinful scourge at its root. After all, there is no such thing as a healthy church in which the men flourish and the women do not.

The Unrelenting Optimism of Jake Peralta, K. B. Hoyle. One of the hallmarks of our generation is the determination never to be duped. We show our intelligence by critiquing freely, proving to others (or so we hope) that we are far too savvy to be blissfully ignorant. There’s a place for wise critique in the Christian life, of course. But there’s also a place for “unrelenting optimism,” believing the best about others, and looking forward to the future with hope. If you’re looking for a humorous and unlikely model for this kind of wise optimism, look no further than Andy Samberg’s contagiously carefree character, Jake Peralta.

Are You Addicted to Your Phone? Take This Quiz to Find Out, Tim Challies. Since reading Tony Reinke’s fantastic 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, I (Chris) have been trying to curb some of the destructive tendencies of my fancy pocket computer. And yet, taking this quiz today, I still scored a 6 (which is not horrible … but also not very good). Challies promises to give us some antidotes later, but for now, check to see if you’ve got the poison in your system. I’ll bet you do.

On the Lighter Side

Church Google Reviews, John Crist. At some point in the near past, there was a discussion at Google. “Should we allow people to ‘review’ churches on our website?” One of the Master Googlers decided in the affirmative—and while this may not be very helpful for people that are looking for a new church, it certainly creates amusement. John Crist nearly loses his faith going through some of the 1-star reviews.