We need to question not only false teaching, but false value that we have taken for granted and even adopted with a veneer of piety. Ordinary isn't equivalent to mediocre. Normal doesn't mean nominal. Slow growth in the same direction, with ups and downs along the way, is not opposed to excellence. And who knows, maybe if we discover the opportunities of the ordinary again, a fondness for the familiar and marvel at the mundane, we will be radical after all.
Have you noticed that words like “extreme” and “revolutionary” have ironically become part of our “ordinary” vocabulary, even in the world of contemporary Christianity? We’re constantly being encouraged to “transform the world,” to pursue “radical discipleship,” or simply to do “big things for Jesus.” But what is the cost of this continual use of superlatives? The hosts, with the help of Tish Harrison Warren, discuss this issue and point to a recovery of “ordinary discipleship” in a world of hype (originally aired 09-01-13).
__________
To receive our new book, 30 Years Closer: Essays for a Modern Reformation, for a gift of $50 or more, go to whitehorseinn.org/closer.
__________
Listen to our extended length series, Ordinary, for free! Just head over to whitehorseinn.org/offers.