Wisdom For Your Weekend: your weekly installment of what we’ve been reading (and watching) around the web.
Video of the Week
Heroes and Villains: Is Hip Hop a Cancer or a Cure? Lecrae. There are some downright phenomenal lines in this short TED Talk. For instance, “Western society tends to change narratives for the sake of pride—or prostitute tales of murder and misogyny for the sake of entertainment.” Lecrae takes a look at a controversial art form—hip hop—and shows us that while hip hop often celebrates “villainy,” it is also the art form that can turn the ship around. Best 18 minutes you’ll spend on the web this week.
Articles of the Week
99 Things More Helpful Than Ranting on Facebook, Ricky Alcantar. I (Chris) remember with some nostalgia the days when Facebook was primarily a social outlet. For many, “social media” still functions in this way: it’s the medium we choose to share about our babies, our weekend plans, or a good quote from a book. But social media has also grown—rightly or wrongly—into a platform. Now Facebook can become the launching pad for the next vitriolic rant. I confess, I’ve done it. Maybe you have, too. And while it may not be the most sinful thing a person could do, it’s also not the most helpful. In fact, Alcantar has 99 suggestions for actions that are more helpful. (9, 16, & 18 are my favorite; 99 is a little convicting.)
Married Moms Need Single Women, Abigail Dodds. This is true for men as well, even though Dodds’ focus is on women. Marriage doesn’t complete people. But Jesus doesn’t complete people either. In Jesus, we are new creatures, but we still need the varied and complicated and beautiful relationships in the church to round us out. This means that we’ve all got a lot to learn from people unlike us. So if you’re married, learn from your single friends (and vice versa). If you’ve got kids, learn from those who don’t (and versa vice).
Five Reasons to Host a Q&A After Your Worship Service, Tim Keller. I’ve never been to a church that does this, but I love the idea. Offer the people in your congregation an opportunity to stick around and ask questions—about the sermon, about your church, about Christianity. As Keller points out, there are at least 5 excellent reasons to start doing this. Or, at least, something like this.
Missionaries Are Supposed to Suffer … So Am I Allowed to Eat Lobster? Amy Medina. Living off of a support-raised salary carries with it many peculiar challenges. One of the most awkward is vacation. Missionaries, we suppose, are supposed to use every penny we send them to reach the lost. So many people get upset when they learn that a particular missionary took a vacation. It gets worse if they go somewhere (seemingly) extravagant. Friends, this should not be. Yes, every dollar a missionary receives is a sacred trust, and it belongs to God, not to them. But that is true of every Christian, regardless of the income source. Let’s encourage generous, wise, and healthy financial decisions…both for our overseas workers as well as for you and me.
On The Lighter Side
Look at that horse! The salesman here later claimed that he was simply entertaining himself and being goofy (not that he was temporarily confused about what a horse is). That may be his toughest sell to date.
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.”