Radiate: Tristan Mason’s blog

Currently listening:

Imogen Heap – Speak For Yourself – Pretty sweet electro-pop-ish stuff.

---

So: I’m pretty sure that horoscopes are a load of hooey. I’ve read a few, and they’re usually worded so vaguely that anyone could make some event during the day/week seem like it fits. I’m inclined to think that if someone did a comparison test where they purposefully mixed up the predictions and signs and printed it that way in the newspaper, just as many people would somehow find those things happening to them.

Well, enough on that soapbox. So instead of Americans on a first date saying things like, “I’m a Capricorn, how about you?” (not that you, my dear reader, would ever dream of doing such a thing), they should exchange their Myers-Briggs personality types. It would be far more useful, especially in learning how to communicate with each another.

There’s a stripped-down Myers-Briggs based personality test online that only takes about 5 minutes to complete. If you want, you can take it on the Humanmetrics web site for free. Apparently I’m a “Champion Idealist”, although I’m borderline on some of the traits. The report said I am +11% extroverted (vs. introverted), +50% intuitive (vs. sensing), +62% feeling (vs. thinking), and +22% perceiving (vs. judging). So what are you? Go take the test and leave a comment. I’m interested to find out what it says some of you are. ;)Also: Keep posting comments on the last post so we can continue discussing…

-T

Recently I read Brandon’s blog post entitled ‘My Mormon Friends’, which is about several conversations he has had with Mormon missionaries. At one point in the post he says: “Now I only tell you this story because my heart hurts for Mormons. But not for the reasons that you might think. I hurt for them because of how Christians (or people professing to be such) treat them.” I have actually heard Christians boasting about the arguments they have won and the times they have made Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses look foolish. I shudder to think how many arguments have been won at the cost of driving a person further away from following Jesus Christ. I am certainly not saying that we should avoid discussions about points of disagreement, nor am I saying that “traditional Christian apologetics” (which attempt to show through logical arguments that Christian beliefs are true) have no place. I am saying two things, the first of which I’ll address in this post, with the second to follow later.

Love Is The Point

Thing One: The best argument in the world, without love, is not effective in helping people come to follow Jesus and is not pleasing to Him. I may have the ability to argue in the tongues of men and angels, but if I do not have love, my argument is only useless noise (see 1 Corinthians 13:1). Ephesians 4:11-16 specifically addresses the way in which we speak truth:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (ESV).

We want everyone to grow to maturity in Christ—including people who do not yet know Him—instead of being blown around by human cunning, so we must speak the truth in love. Withholding the truth is unloving, but so is speaking truth harshly or from selfish motivation.

Incompatible Goals

While argument and debate can be effective tools for communication in certain situations, they both tend to be combative/competative—the goal is winning. (When I use the word “argument” here, I mean championing an idea and attempting to convince someone who holds a different idea that their idea is wrong and yours is right.) I recognize that winning might not be the only goal; for instance, a concurrent motivation might be to correct a misperception you believe will harm the other person. Usually, however, winning is a prerequisite for any of those other goals to be met.

There are some situations where argumentation is appropriate and beneficial, such as in the academic and political realms, but I don’t think evangelism is one of those contexts. The dialogue and discussion that happen along the path of helping someone come to follow Jesus are focused on answering questions that arise in the journey. The goal, radically different from winning, is that the person will come to love who we love; first, because we love God, who is worthy to be worshiped by everyone, and second, because God’s love for that person flows to them through us.

Thoughts?

---

EDIT

Thanks to Aaron for his comment which shows me I should clarify a few things. I’ll post here some of what I posted in response to him:

First, when I talk about the apologetics of love and speaking the truth in love, I am not talking about coming at Christianity from an emotional standpoint and talking only about things that make people feel warm and fuzzy. I think that often critical truth is ignored in that approach; therefore, I don’t think it’s very loving. I mean the full agape sense of the word love, 1 Cor 13 love in all its depth. That’s a far cry from warm fuzzies. That love is strong and sacrificial and often speaks difficult truth.

Second, I am not suggesting that we chuck logical reasoning in evangelism. Rather, I am suggesting that “argument” as I have defined it in the post (see paragraph 1 under “Incompatible Goals”) is not a beneficial method of communication in evangelism. I think that addressing people’s misperceptions about Christianity (it’s irrational, no evidential basis in reality, etc.) is part of “the dialogue and discussion… focused on… answering questions that arise in the journey,” which I mentioned at the end of the post. Some people will probably think I’m splitting hairs to say that “dialogue and discussion” are different from “argumentation,” but again, I think there is a critical difference in: 1) goals and motivations and 2) the verbal and nonverbal communication that occurs during the discussion. One difference (among many, in my opinion) is that “argumentation” as I have defined it says “Here are three reasons why your viewpoint is wrong,” whereas a discipleship-oriented discussion says, “Here are some reasons and some evidence that have helped me to overcome the same objections I hear you voicing – perhaps they will help you, too.”

Some people might say, “That sounds weak! You have the Truth. You’re right and they’re wrong, so tell it like it is.” To which I would respond, “You have the Truth. It doesn’t need to be laced with rhetorical arrogance. Be humble and allow the Spirit to work.”

So I’m all for logical reasoning. I just think it needs to be full of agape, correctly motivated, and employed at the right time.

Currently listening:

Bobby Watson & Curtis Lundy – Beatitudes – Great jazz combo. I bought this album for the hauntingly beautiful minor jazz waltz “Orange Blossom” and was pleasantly surprised to find that all the other songs are good, too.

In other news, scientists in Taiwan have managed to engineer a neon green porker. Supposedly this is beneficial to stem-cell research. My guess, on the other hand, is that someone lost a bet: “You’re on, but if I win, you have to turn a pig flourescent green and publish the results worldwide.” So much for “the other white meat.” Also check out what the scientist says at the end of the article: “There are partially fluorescent green pigs elsewhere, but ours are the only ones in the world that are green from inside out.” Essentially, “My pig is greener than your pig.” What is science coming to?

The full article is here. Photo props to Jay Cheng / Reuters.

EDIT 01/17 6:52PM
Props to Lisa: “That would be a good shade for an Easter ham.”  [approximate quote, of course]  This started me thinking… the real advance here is not in stem-cell research.  My friends, we are alive to experience an historic moment.  We now have the ability to produce real Green Eggs and Ham.  The legacy of Dr. Seuss lives on.

Currently listening:

Scott Phillips with Chris Hennig – Love And The Like – My friend Chris played piano on this album. I could listen to it all day… quality songs in a laid-back living-room session style.

Something I came across today:

Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God. And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.” Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord, the God of Israel.
(Joshua 14:6-14, ESV)

The people have victoriously driven out most of the tribes living in the land, just as God told them to. There are only a few left, including some of those who were most feared from the beginning—when ten of the twelve spies returned full of despair and bearing news of “giants” who could squash them like bugs, they were talking about the Anakim (Numbers 13:33). Only Caleb and Joshua believed that God would give them victory. Now, forty-five years later, having walked with God his entire life, Caleb asks Joshua to give him the hill country where the giants live. Everyone else is feeling safe and smug, ready to receive their land and settle down. When I first started reading, I thought Caleb was requesting the same thing: “It’s my eighty-fifth birthday and I’ve been the man, so give me what I’ve got coming to me, and I’m gonna live it up.” But then he states his reason, and it’s the exact opposite: He wants that land so he can try to drive out the giants. Caleb knew the people hadn’t completely obeyed God’s command. The work wasn’t done and he wasn’t dead, so he wasn’t about to quit.

That made my day. I hope I’m that passionate for God’s glory when I’m eighty-five. I want to be like that now.

Currently eating:

Teriyaki chicken salad, split pea soup, a boiled egg.

Currently listening:

Switchfoot – Nothing Is Sound – Enjoying this album. Well-written, well-mixed, well-played, and other applicable hyphenated adjectives. Anyone else think the drums sound exceptionally well-miked and processed, or is it just me? Yeah, I recognize that I’m a freak. Thanks.

HEY, I’m back. Our holiday services at Christ Community went well. We had two Christmas Eve services and one Christmas Day service. Sharon and I spent most of Christmas Day with some friends from church, and then on the 26^th we drove to Pennsylvania and spent a week visiting friends and family in the Lancaster/Hanover area. Drove back on Jan 2^nd, swang through Columbus, OH to see Joel & Sharon Estes, then it was back to work, trying to accomplish the things I forced myself to ignore during vacation and prepare for Sunday. Then a day trip to Indianapolis for my dear friend Kari’s wedding (string quartet. ice sculptures. radiant bride.), where I saw friends from Cedarville I have greatly missed. Finally, today I led worship in the morning, crashed at Pastor Fred’s house for lunch, helped set up for and lead the first time of worship led by our fledgling youth band (which, by the way, shows promise of knowing how to rock), and hung out with the youth group for the rest of the night. Great times, but I have to say I’m tired. Sharon is in Tennessee visiting family, so for the next several days I plan on being alone and quiet… reading, sleeping, thinking, listening, writing, examining. I wish you the same in the naissance of this new year.