Recommended: "Stop. Look. Listen" Presidential Vote Series

The Bulletin podcast from Christianity Today is doing a special election mini-series called “Stop. Look. Listen.” Here’s the description:

“Over the next three weeks, we'll talk with different voters who have come to conclusions about which box to mark on their ballot. We'll hear their stories, ask important questions, and we hope model the winsome discourse that we believe we all can offer as we witness with grace each other's decision-making in this contentious time. Today, Mike Cosper sits down with Matt Martens to talk about his convictions about third-party voting and how they will manifest at the polling place this fall. Let's stop, look, and listen in.”

Two are out so far: “Voting Third Party” and “Voting Democrat.” The last one (“Voting Republican”) will come out next week.

Enjoy!

Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash

Snippet: On Narcicism in the Church

Snip·pet | ˈsnipit | noun a small piece or brief extract.

There’s been a lot of conversations about narcissism in church leadership. It’s a real problem. Probably no one has done more to call attention to this than Mike Cosper in his podcast mega-series “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” Here, on The Bulletin podcast (October 18 Episode), he’s talking about a conversation with Chuck DeGroote in which DeGroote told him…

“Narcissism is a cultural phenomenon. It's not unique to leaders and people in a position of leadership. If we really want to understand the problem of narcissistic leaders in the church, we have to deal with the culture of narcissism that's in the pews.

“There is something about this on-demand economy, this on-demand way of life, an algorithm way of life, where the news you consume is tailored to your browsing. The shopping you do is tailored to you. Everything's on demand.

“Everything's tailored to your preferences. …we have to recognize that that phenomenon conditions us in profound ways.

“Then you show up at a church…”

It’s the air we breathe, so we have to prayerfully root it out in our hearts. Short of rooting it out, we need to be aware and fight the tendency to expect the church to cater to our own desires and preferences.

One of my favorite questions at Pizza with the Pastors is, “What are you all doing in the community?” Couple that with asking ourselves, “What am I doing in the community?” and you have a potent combo of questions to fight our tendencies.

Photo by darkzo on Unsplash