Wisdom For Your Weekend: your weekly installment of things we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web.
Interview of the Week
Jerry Bridges (1929-2016): Five Lessons from a Remarkable Life of Faith, Tony Reinke. Author Jerry Bridges passed away this past week. Bridges was an authentic and convicting author, as most Christians who have read his Pursuit of Holiness will attest. In this interview from 2011, Bridges shares the most “hard-won” lessons of his 60+ years of living as a Christian. If you’d like to avoid being what the German proverb says—“too soon old, too late smart”—you’d do well to listen to Bridges’ wisdom here.
Articles of the Week
The Power of Saying Yes, Bethany Jenkins. There’s a limit to this, of course, but Jenkins is onto something. “Wouldn’t it be great if we, as Christians, were known by our colleagues as the most helpful people in our workplaces?” Saying “yes” when others need us may seem like a burden, but it’s one of the clearest ways to communicate that we care. Leaning toward “yes” let’s people know we’re in their corner. And it actually (ironically) helps us say “no” in more helpful ways, too.
The Ten Commandments of Parking Lots, Thom Rainer. We often say around here that “the sermon starts in the parking lot.” The environment you create at your church communicates something, and too many of us ignore it—to our detriment. If we care about guests and nonbelievers, we’ve got to think about what our parking lots communicate. Keep these 10 Commandments, for they lead to life.
The Trolls Are Winning, Trevin Wax. Trolls used to be mythical creatures that hung out under bridges in fairy tales, waiting to test passersby with odd riddles. Now they’re much less quaint, though just as dangerous. An online troll is someone who makes “a deliberately offensive or provocative online posting with the aim of upsetting someone or eliciting an angry response.” Some of you might be thinking, “Isn’t that the definition of Twitter?” If so, you’re on to something, as Wax points out here. Our public discourse may not be “the worst ever,” but it’s certainly not civil. As Wax says, “The World needs the aroma of heaven, not the toxic fumes of our online battles.”
3 Reasons We Should Refuse to Be Colorblind, Cole Brown. Many in our society today still believe that the best way to move past our difficult racial history is to become “colorblind.” As Brown points out, that’s not the problem…nor is it even a good goal. Christians shouldn’t be colorblind, because it contradicts the gospel. Here are three reasons why.
On The Lighter Side
35 Totally Random Life Hacks, Nicholas McDonald. “Random” is certainly the right word here. For the most part, this is good advice, ranging from the simple (Go outside) to the more complicated (Learn your spouse’s and kids’ and friends’ love languages). Once you master all 35 of these, let us know. We will sit at your feet.
Wisdom For Your Weekend is presented to you by Chris Pappalardo, with occasional guidance from J.D. Greear. 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.”
