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 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.” While we do not always agree with everything these authors post, we share these resources because we find them challenging and enriching. As we often say around the Summit, when it comes to reading, “Eat the fish and spit out the bones.”
Video of the Week
What Is an Apostate? Michael Kruger. Many of us have had the heartbreaking experience of seeing a close friend abandon the Christian faith they once professed. This is particularly painful when the friend has been your mentor (or been mentored by you). Kruger gives some helpful categories to this experience and distinguishes “apostates” from several other types of people. A lot of sobering wisdom here.
Articles of the Week
How to Help a Friend with Mental Illness, Amy Simpson. There are few experiences that leave a person feeling more powerless than walking through mental illness with a close friend. As with any suffering, the reality is complex. And complex realities don’t make for simple solutions. The good news is there are a lot of ways you can help. Simpson gets you started with a helpful list of 12.
In Praise of Mediocrity, Tim Wu. This is a freeing perspective, if we’ll hear it. In our performance-based culture, far too many of us bear the weight of being excellent at everything we do—including our hobbies. In fact, as Wu argues, most of us don’t have hobbies precisely because we don’t want to “waste our time” doing something we aren’t great at. But there’s a beautiful richness in doing something just because you love it.
An Ancient Solution to Digital Weariness, Zach Barnhart. Some might quibble with Barnhart’s use of the term “fasting” here, but the path he’s commending is certainly worth walking. Set intentional time in your schedule to be device-free—an hour a day, a day a week, and a week a year. Put your phone to bed. And try using your “digital mouth” a little less. (For more in this vein, check out Andy Crouch’s The Tech-Wise Family.)
Not Many of You Should Become Writers, Readers, Publishers, or Editors, Lore Ferguson Wilbert. If you’re coming ‘round these parts, you’re probably a regular reader of blogs. Listen, then, to Wilbert’s words on Christian publishing and the road to integrity. It’s on all of our shoulders to get there.
On the Lighter Side
Taking a Date to Church, John Crist. “Oh, I love babies! We’re gonna have five.”
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