Sharper Iron posted this morning a follow-up to yesterday's "Blogosphere Challenge on the Pope." The first portion is the first part of Bob Bixby's Sunday sermon intro linked here.
The second portion is the perspective of a close friend and co-worker of mine, Jason Wredberg. Over the past couple days I had the opportunity to see his working drafts. At some point in the process a very speculative thought occurred to me. I would not in any way proclaim to know the motivations of the evangelicals who appear on prime time talk shows to talk about the issues of the day or who write press releases concerning the death of the Pope. Maybe their moms all drilled into them the proverb, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Personally, I wish they would have followed the latter clause. But that's just me. (Ok, to be proper, "That's just I," for all you fellow editors out there.)
Back to my thought. Jason refers to John MacArthur and Bob Jones III. What might their ministries have in common that is essentially different from the commonalities of the ministries of Lucado, Warren, Dobson, and the Grahams? MacArthur and Jones have clearly and consistently repudiated any subtle hints of religious pluralism. Why would these others be reticent to do so? Is the motivation nothing more than a kindler, gentler spirit? What might they be concerned about that would cause them to measure their words to their consituencies?
Worthless speculation? Perhaps. But remember, silence was an option. These men were not obligated to speak out on the exclusivity of the gospel, the theology of the Catholic Church, or the eternal destiny of the Pope. They chose to do so (to varying degrees), and I believe their comments have been weighed on the balances and found lacking.
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