Two events, a report, and some good questions …

1. This Friday and Saturday, if you live anywhere near Darien CT, this event deserves your attention…
2. It’s been too long since Tony Jones and I had a chance to work together (although we did at least cross paths briefly last week in Raleigh) – but we’ll be speaking at Gloria Dei November 13 in the Philly area. Hope you can join us – Information here … (We’ll also be working together in Dallas in early December. Details should be available on my calendar soon.)
3. Here’s a report many readers of this blog will be interested in …
4. A PhD student writes …

Q:

I keep seeing books “challenging” emergent and blogs “challenging”
your work. Question: Have these critics not considered that many of
their own heroes throughout church history were ALSO viewed in a
similar fashion? Do they not realize that as the church reforms, each
generation brings new ideas, then new “heretics,” who will go on to
create new orthodoxy? Have they not learned anything from history?

A. Good question(s). I think a lot of folks are simply trying to defend the community that they love and to which they belong, and they perceive all calls for change as attacks to be warded off. They’re playing the role of loyalist, which is an honorable thing to do, even though it can hurt their beloved community in the long run.
I also think we all, at some stages in life, divide the world into good guys and bad guys. Their heroes were good guys who stood up to the bad guys. Now, all the followers of those heroes are the good guys, so anyone who stands up to those followers can only be bad guys.
A big dimension of maturity, I think, is realizing that the line between good and bad doesn’t run between people but through each individual’s hearts. Our heroes have flaws, our good guys can make mistakes, and the bad guys can be right sometimes. When you see things that way, it becomes harder to judge others as you used to.