BibleDriven.com

Sound-bite Politics

Now, I’m normally not someone who writes a lot about politics. But once in a while I just get so tired of the “rhetoric” that I have to blow off a little steam, if you know what I mean. And I try to not be partisan, because this “sound-bite, bumper-sticker, T-shirt” sort of sloganeering occurs on both sides of the aisle. Today, though, it happened to be Hillary Clinton (speaking in Unity, NH). It was on television, and as I passed through the room I heard her say, basically, “I’ve been involved in politics for four decades. And in that time we’ve elected ten presidents, and only three have been Democrats.” Accurate enough, but then comes the zinger! She said, “Imagine how much progress we haven’t made in all that time,” i.e., she implies, because a Republican president was elected seven times.

For crying out loud! Really? It’s hard to know where even to begin to describe how ludicrous the statement is. First of all, reality (and the progress we can make in the real world) is much more complex and multi-dimensional than whether a Republican or Democratic president is in office. This is just overwhelming oversimplification, besides being a form of the “complex question” kind of logical fallacy, tying together “progress” and the “Democratic party” as if the two must be accepted or rejected together. It’s an example of what’s called a “non sequitur,” i.e. something that just doesn’t follow. It “doesn’t follow” that just because Republican presidents were elected 70% of the time that less progress was made than if Democratic presidents had been elected. In fact, it’s something we can’t know, a “hypothesis contrary to fact,” as it’s called, an argument from something that didn’t happen, and the consequences of which are unknown and unmeasurable.

There’s certainly a lot more that could be said about this particular remark, and about political posturing in general. I only want to encourage you to think clearly about the issues, and not to be led around aimlessly by some rhetorician’s nose ring, influenced by things that may “sound good” but that are anything but “good and sound.”

Thank you for my few minutes on the soap box!!

The Areopagus Christian Study Center

NOTE: This is a shameless plug for a ministry with which I’m involved.

The Areopagus is an interdenominational Christian education ministry and study center dedicated to serving the metro-Atlanta area.

The mission of The Areopagus is to help equip Christians for ministry and to effectively engage our society and culture with the transforming truth and love of Jesus Christ. To this end, we provide a creative and substantive curriculum that expands their knowledge base, stimulates critical thinking, and challenges them to live faithfully and consistently in accordance with the principles and practices of a Biblical Christian worldview.

The Areopagus sponsors seminars, workshops, and forums on a variety of topics relevant to contemporary Christian education and ministry, including…

Biblical studies
Christian apologetics
Christian history
Comparative worldviews and religions
Contemplative Christian spirituality
Contemporary cultural issues
Literature and the arts
Science and the Christian faith

“In the midst of a society that has lost its moral bearings and is being irreparably corrupted by the insidious forces of secularism, compulsive materialism, and mindless hedonism, the ministry of the Areopagus is all the more essential in terms of challenging Christians to intelligently and effectively engage our culture with the transforming light and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

– Dr. Jefrey Breshears
Founder and President, The Areaopagus
from “A Retrospective on the Past,
A Vision for the Future”

Please pray for and help support the ministry of The Areopagus here in the Atlanta area and visit our online site here: The Areopagus. You may find a number of forums, seminars, or book reviews in which you’ll be interested.

Pastoral ministry is hard …

Harder than most people know. Much harder than I ever suspected, I think.

Oh, it’s not the study that’s difficult. It can be demanding, yes, but it’s also very rich and rewarding — intellectually stimulating and spiritually satisfying. And it’s not the teaching and preaching that take a toll at last. Any pastor worth his salt loves to teach his people and loves to preach God’s Word. It’s not the long hours that are exhausting, or the many things that have to be done — meetings attended, visits made, calls returned, emails answered, folks counseled, problems solved, friends walked with, and so on. None of that is what makes ministry hard.

No, what makes it hard are the responses to the work, which (with a few exceptions) are generally things like indifference, boredom, persistent disapproval, criticism, disrespect, insult. Some of the latest figures I can find indicate that 80% of pastors (and 84% of pastor’s spouses) live in a relentless state of discouragement. There was a time in our country, not too long ago, when the pastoral profession was held in some esteem, both in the church and in the community. Now pastors are among the least honorable, and 70% or more say that pastoral ministry has depleted their sense of self-worth and confidence. Fifty percent of pastors say they would leave the ministry tomorrow, if they could, but they have no other way to make a living. The majority of pastor’s wives surveyed said the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

I wonder what the symptoms of burn-out are. Some days I just weep, and I don’t know why. Sometimes I fantasize about running away, and I wonder if it would even matter. I feel exhausted. I never sleep too well. My blood pressure is elevated. And I just may be self-medicating on caffeine!

Pray for my family, and for me. Pastoral ministry is hard!

The latest from Missional Press!

Planting Churches in the Real World by Joel Rainey

My good friend Joel’s first book is about to be released from Missional Press, and let me say that it’s a delightful and eminently profitable read. As the publisher’s press release notes:

Most church planting literature highlights enormously successful ministries. While such ministries can serve as a noble benchmark for every church planter, they are far from the norm. Most who plant churches will never see their name in lights, and all who plant churches will find it to be one of the most difficult things they have ever sought to accomplish.

Here is wise counsel from a faithful pastor learned well while planting churches in the real world.

(Missional Press is offering a pre-publication sale. The book retails for $14.99 but if you enter the code CJ5E9D at checkout, you will receive 20% off your purchase of Planting Churches in the Real World. Click here to purchase the book. The book should be shipping around the end of April.)