#doncarson

                I had the pleasure of hearing Don Carson at two different sessions. His first was an expository plenary: “The Biblical Basis for Missions: Treasure in Jars of Clay (2 Cor. 4:1-12)”. His second was a workshop on “The Intolerance of Tolerance”. One issue: I was a little too engulfed in his workshop to take a lot of notes. I bought Carson’s book of the same title after he was done speaking, though. Maybe I’ll write a blog entry when I’m finished reading the book.

         Just a couple of quotes from Carson’s expository plenary before we dive into the workshop:

Gospel ministry demands unqualified integrity. Backbone is needed.

We have to herald the Gospel, even though no one sees.

The Good News is not belief or turning over a new leaf. It’s Jesus and what He did for us.

Gospel Ministry is characterized by a paradox of death to self and a life full of Christ.

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         The notion of tolerance has changed over the years. It used to be a parasitic virtue. Now it’s a virtue of the current society.

       Carson told us a story about an acquaintance of his. Word got out at the place where she works that she’s Christian. A coworker, whom she didn’t know, approached her, and the dialogue went something like this:        Him: So I heard you’re Christian.        Her: … Yes.        Him: So does that mean you hate me because I’m a homosexual?        Her: No. I don’t even know you. I don’t care if you get married. I don’t hate you.

       The coworker went to HR and told her that he felt threatened by Carson’s acquaintance because she was a "homophobe". The acquaintance was fired the next day. They say that Christians are being intolerant towards gay people, but it seems like gay people are the ones being intolerant towards Christians (not all gay people are the same nor are all Christians the same). Those who disagree with you are not demons. Don’t hate them.

       (Just to be clear, Carson’s workshop wasn’t on the tolerance on homosexuals).

       To make the tolerance decline over the years more “understandable”, look at it this way: the language and attitude that kids and teenagers have nowadays are being tolerated by the parents and everyone else (otherwise, they wouldn’t they wouldn’t have such terrible attitudes). Back in the day, if a teen talked rudely to his/her parents, that kid would not see the light of day.