Wednesday September 17, 2008
Harsh Language
Nathan Busenitz provides his take on "John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Harsh Language."
On Abortion and Voting
Josh Harris writes about a difficult subject. "Recently a couple pursuing membership in our church wrote me a very thoughtful, humble letter with questions generated by the recent sermon 'Don't Waste Your Vote.' In particular, they took issue with the emphasis placed on the issue of abortion. While pro-life themselves, they felt that by highlighting abortion we were essentially endorsing a particular party."
A Theological Vision for Families
This three-part series on the family, written by Andrew Nichols, is a good bookmark for just about anyone. He wonders if Satan is more concerned about the families in your church than you are and then provides a solid theological vision for families.
Christian Film This Fall
CT has a roundup of some of the Christian films coming our way this fall.
A Too-Quiet Plane?
Here's some strange news. The new Airbus A380 is so quiet that customers are complaining; Airbus may have to provide background music or white noise in order to placate their customers.
Nathan Busenitz provides his take on "John Piper, Mark Driscoll, and Harsh Language."
On Abortion and Voting
Josh Harris writes about a difficult subject. "Recently a couple pursuing membership in our church wrote me a very thoughtful, humble letter with questions generated by the recent sermon 'Don't Waste Your Vote.' In particular, they took issue with the emphasis placed on the issue of abortion. While pro-life themselves, they felt that by highlighting abortion we were essentially endorsing a particular party."
A Theological Vision for Families
This three-part series on the family, written by Andrew Nichols, is a good bookmark for just about anyone. He wonders if Satan is more concerned about the families in your church than you are and then provides a solid theological vision for families.
Christian Film This Fall
CT has a roundup of some of the Christian films coming our way this fall.
A Too-Quiet Plane?
Here's some strange news. The new Airbus A380 is so quiet that customers are complaining; Airbus may have to provide background music or white noise in order to placate their customers.
Comments (1) »
1. Scott C
September 17, 2008
12:18 PM
Nathan Busenitz has some excellent thought on the Driscoll/ Piper controversy. I am a bit suprised by Piper and what is being promoted at the DGM conference. I was outright shocked by a video posted at DGM by Paul Tripp who is speaking at the conference. The video can be found at:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Events/NationalConferences/Archives/2008/Podcast/115/
The video is prefaced by the following statements:
“This interview contains potentially offensive, four-letter language to illustrate a profound biblical truth about wholesome language… Please be discerning in how you recount this story. Such discernment is exactly what the video is about.”
Tripp relates a story about talking to his children about the use of bad language. The family then has a little fun with the s-word. IMHO, this was not “potentially offensive” is was postively offensive and it demonstartes a lack of discernment on the part of Paul Tripp, DGM and John Piper. I love and have benefitted greatly from the ministries of both these men, but I am utterly disappointed with what is going on here.
Tripp argues that it is not words themselves that are the concern for unwholesome language but the intentions of the heart and whether or not words bring grace to the hearer. I can say unequivocally that the words Paul tripp used in this video did not bring grace to my ears, they brought offensiveness and deep concern. To assume that words have no consequences and that only intentions are what matters is sorely mistaken. He is right about intentions and the grace words need to communicate, but the words themselves are at least as important. When we choose words that our culture has used in a way that is unwholesome and the culture at large has historically understood the unwholesome nature of their usage no amount of good intentions will mitigate the offensiveness of such words when they are used. When we avoid the use of certain words we should not do so because we want to establish an artificial vocabulary that meets our personal standard of wholesome speech and thus become legalistic (as I think some people assume those you are concerned with Mark Driscoll are doing). How do you define wholesome speech or wordliness if you do not define it in the way the culture does? The Bible does not make a list of such words by virtue of the fact that each culture has different unwholesome terms and such terms change over time precisely because the culture attaches different meaning to those terms over time. It does not take a lot of discernment IMO to see that their is a whole host of words (e.g. four letter words) that are inappropriate to use in the vast majority of contexts regardless of one’s intentions. I agree with Tripp’s basic argument about intentions, but I suggest that if we really search ourselves there is some impure motive, perhaps less apparent, that would drive a Christian and especially a preacher to use language that historically and culturally carries unwholesome and worldly meanings. I find it hard to believe that such language has as it ultimate desire to bring glory and honor to the name of Christ and not to meet some other personal agenda.
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