July 11, 2009
A strange thing happened. My last blog entry and a link to my blog were posted by someone on a message board for a Christian college. So, of course, I read through the thread to see what these strangers who stumbled upon my blog had to say about me and my blog entry. I was a little taken aback by some of the responses. And I felt that all-too-human urge rise up inside of me to register, log in, and comment in defense of myself. To these strangers. Who cares what they think?! Very odd.
Some said I missed the point of MacArthur’s article. Ironically, it seems they missed the point of my blog entry. My comments were concerned with the use of language, not MacArthur’s exegesis. (Of course, these strangers have no idea that I study and teach language for a living.)
But I re-realized something through this strange, unexpected occurrence. Because of my academic pursuits and personal experience, I occupy a unique position from which I am able to speak to the interplay of multiple social realities: race, religion, and language. And at the end of the day, not everyone will be willing and able to stand at those intersections with me and look in all directions. May God be glorified and humanity edified as each of us use our gifts by the grace of God.
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: Christianity, John MacArthur, language, message boards, race, religion, spiritual gifts.
1.
Marianne Lordi | July 12, 2009 at 1:36 am
Hi Dana, I understand what you say because the roots of African-Americans were steeped in slavery and it is painful to hear that word and not react. Your point is well taken.
Being a Christian, it is still difficult to understand fully that we are bondservants or slaves of Christ. Yet when we understand that if we are not slaves of Christ then we are slaves to the enemy it puts it in perspective. It is not until we give up all of our ‘rights” to Christ that we become free! It is hard for the unsaved to discern that truth but for believers, it is the power that transforms us.
There is a poem I read in the book, BORN CRUCIFIED, by L.E. Maxwell that says:
Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword and I shall conqueror be.
My will is not my own, til Thou hast made it Thine.
If it should reach the Monarch’s throne, it must its crown
resign.
I can’t be free and have all that Christ wants for me unless I turn it all over to him.
May you have blessings and peace, Dana!
2.
Dana | July 12, 2009 at 9:10 am
Marianne,
Thanks for your comment! Well-said.