Wisdom For Your Weekend: your weekly installment of things we’ve been reading around the web.
Video of the Week
What Is Literature Good For? The School of Life. I make no apologies for my ardent passion for literature. But precious few evangelicals share my passion, even if they are avid readers. So I was pleased to find this little video backing me up. As the enjoyably British narrator says, “Let’s have a think about some of the ways that literature benefits us.”
Articles of the Week
What the Mid-term Elections Reveal About the Way We Vote, Al Mohler. This is an insightful summary of the mid-term elections from Tuesday, sprinkled with Mohler’s characteristic analysis of what it all means. The best take-away, though not a new one by any metric, is that while our worldview affects our behavior (i.e. how we vote), the opposite is also true: our behavior can—and does—eventually affect our worldview. The implications for Christians, as Mohler points out, are legion.
Top Ten Ways Churches Drive Away First-time Guests, Thom Rainer. “If you attend a church regularly, you’ve probably noticed the phenomenon. A guest shows up for a worship service, but he or she never returns. It is, unfortunately, a common issue in many churches. I did a Twitter poll to ask these first-time guests why they chose not to return to a particular church. While some of the responses were anticipated, I admit being a bit surprised with some of them. Though my poll is not scientific, it is nevertheless fascinating. Here are the top ten responses in order of frequency.“
Your Neighbor Probably Believes in Heaven, Hell, and a Little Bit of Heresy, Trevin Wax. Lifeway Research recently spearheaded a study intended to “take the temperature of America’s theological health.” Based on the results, I’d say we have a pretty high fever. (For instance, 60% of self-identifying evangelicals claim that the Holy Spirit is a force, not a person. Oops.) Wax summarizes some of the most pertinent results, showing us specifically how we can interact missionally with our neighbors based on their prevalent but less-than-orthodox beliefs.
Not All Vulnerability Is Brave, Katelyn Beaty. “Granted, you won’t see many Christian leaders getting naked like Dunham does (and for that, can I get an amen?). But you do see such leaders confessing sins and shortcomings and dark pasts in inappropriate times and foolhardy ways. When vulnerability is unfettered by boundaries, it can become another way to earn spiritual points. It can feel like a performance of humility, as self-aware of a peacock surveying its own tail. None of this is good for our leaders or the people they lead.”
On The Lighter Side
A Gentleman’s Guide to Fist Bumps, Funny Shorts. I thought I had a decent fist bump repertoire before this. Apparently, I was wrong. These two have opened up a whole new world of fist bumping possibilities. (My favorite is the “Rocket Ship.”)
