Young Life has recently adopted Dr. Paul Louis Metzger’s new book Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths as the principle text for their Apologetics course. Dr. Metzger has also had the opportunity to teach Relational-Incarnational Apologetics to Young Life employees through a course offered at Multnomah Biblical Seminary. We recently recorded a couple videos for the course in which Dr. Metzger further unpacks what he means by “relational-incarnational apologetics” and engages our current culture of post-modernity.
Cyber Bullying
NEW: Listen to me read “Cyber Bullying”.
This piece was originally published at Patheos on December 6, 2012.
Social media isn’t always so social. In fact, it can be downright anti-social. Of course, much of this has to do with how people use it. But there is also something built in to various forms of media that shape us in certain ways.
For one, there is often an undue sense of immediacy and familiarity with social media. People feel comfortable barging ito other people’s lives (especially those they don’t know) on their Facebook pages and in other spaces and forums on the internet in ways they wouldn’t do going to their houses and walking right in through the front door without knocking or ringing the bell. They feel they have the right to accuse, taunt, and threaten, and at any moment. All it takes is a few clicks on a keyboard. No one ever has the right to make false accusations, insult, taunt, and threaten, whether in person or online. Still, some think they can do it, especially online; perhaps they think they can say what they want because they believe they really know someone, even someone they have never met because they have access to certain profile features and other details, many of them superficial. One fear I have with this form of online familiarity that breeds contempt is that at some point people fail to make the distinction between virtual and actual: they may eventually move from attacking with words to attacking with fists and sticks and stones, when they actually do meet those they’ve bullied online.
There is also a false sense of anonymity with various forms of social media. People can hide behind aliases and take shots in virtual space behind cover. Or even if they use their real names, you can’t see them. They may even hide their identity through non-descript pictures that do not include them. Often people fail to recognize that everything they post is permanent, even if they delete it. It might hurt their chances at getting jobs or getting dates or getting on after the damage has been done. Their sense of anonymity is as false as the aliases they use.
Some people gain a sense of superiority over others. As one teenager told me in reflecting on the problem, people are much tougher behind their keyboards than in person. They feel that they can hide behind their computer screens. They also rely on a vast network of their friends to back them up instantly online. Such actions on their part coupled with their sense of superiority do not come across like courage and security, but as cowardice and inadequacy to me.
Don’t get me wrong. I love social media. I use Facebook and Twitter and engage in other forums online. Still, we need to guard against abuses and do our part to protect people from harm when social media turns ugly. The tragic story of Amanda Todd is so disturbing. If only people had come around her to defend her from those who attacked her online. We all need to do our part to make sure that social media truly is social. Some steps are already being taken. What parts can you and I play? How shall we proceed?
Guest speaking: Dr. Paul Louis Metzger at Estacada First Baptist
On Sunday, November 25, 2012, Dr. Paul Louis Metzger gave a guest sermon at Estacada First Baptist. Dr. Metzger spoke on bearing witness to Christ in today’s pluralistic culture as part of a sermon series on Colossians emphasizing CHRIST + NOTHING = EVERYTHING.
Interview: Rick James
Dr. Paul Louis Metzger interviews Rick James of CruPress about his new book, A Million Ways to Die: Only One Way to Live. They discuss evangelism and relational-incarnational apologetics (as Dr. Metzger writes about in Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths).
Warren Buffett to the Rescue: Follow His Lead and Invest in Character
This piece was originally published at Patheos on December 3, 2012.
It’s hard to argue with success, especially when the financially successful person is saying to the effect: “Tax me more. It won’t hurt me or the economy. It will only help us all”. Warren Buffett is a refreshing and most welcome voice, especially at a time when our country is at the edge of a fiscal cliff, where lawmakers are pondering what steps to take to guard against a financial downturn.
Buffett’s optimism on America’s future and his wit also complement his sagely investment wisdom to make his advice on taxing America’s most wealthy come off well. While there will no doubt always be critics, and not simply of the school of Grover Norquist, I am struck by Buffett the American. I am no economist, but as a theologian, I am interested in the common good which entails consideration of sound economic policies.
Mr. Buffett’s recent New York Times op-ed tells me something about Buffett the American. He is troubled by those lobbyists who are “warriors for the wealthy” and those loopholes that make it possible for the rich to avoid paying higher taxes: “Above all, we should not postpone these changes in the name of ‘reforming’ the tax code. True, changes are badly needed. We need to get rid of arrangements like ‘carried interest’ that enable income from labor to be magically converted into capital gains. And it’s sickening that a Cayman Islands mail drop can be central to tax maneuvering by wealthy individuals and corporations.” To me, Buffett sounds like a prophet, not simply like an investor trying to make a profit. And for those who are concerned that the rich won’t invest if they will be taxed more as a result, Buffett has this to say in the same op-ed, “Maybe you’ll run into someone with a terrific investment idea, who won’t go forward with it because of the tax he would owe when it succeeds. Send him my way. Let me unburden him.” Not only is Buffett a profitable investor and prophet for our current economic climate; he also comes across sounding like a sound therapist.
In Whatever Became of Sin?, psychiatrist Karl Menninger wrote that the rich who came to him for treatment for maladies that were bound up with their wealth would applaud his counsel that they should give generously to charities. Still, according to Menninger, they never did it. I don’t know how much Mr. Buffett gives to charities, but his willingness to be taxed more for his great riches is, from his vantage point, a means to benefit the country as a whole, not just himself. I am sure he feels good about it. I do, too.
We need more Warren Buffetts in America today. We could all learn a thing or two from him, not simply from his business skills. His concern for the common good not only makes common sense for the economy in terms of the deficit but also it should make all of us feel good in terms of his common decency. Far beyond investing in making capital gains, Buffett is investing in making gains in character for our country concerning the tax structure. The rest of us should follow suit and invest now.