While I've thoroughly enjoyed this series thus far, this post here made the whole journey worth it. You have absolutely nailed an articulation of why Peterson has resonated so deeply with so many: he's giving advice in to a moral vacuum.
And your assessment of how the church has moved away from such advice giving--ESPECIALLY, I would suggest, in the more progressive, post/ex evangelicals spaces--really hits the nail. I feel that in my own body... that resistance to tell people what they ought do.
Who am I?
What do I know? Know about YOU, or YOUR life, situation, context?
Giving advice feels like a recipe for disaster... you'll come back later and tell me how it didn't work... or, you'll inspect my life and decide that I'm a fraud if I ever slip on my own advice-giving ways.
Far safer to avoid the advice-giving enterprise altogether.
Far safer to shrug my post-modern shoulders and say, "I dunno, man, you do you..."
Far safer to keep my opinions... my ADVICE... to myself.
And yet, as I type that out, I'm immediately struck by aaaallll these appeals to what is "safe."
Don't think Jesus would've been all that appealing, nor his messages about the Kingdom, if he were similarly driven by "doing what is safe."
While I've thoroughly enjoyed this series thus far, this post here made the whole journey worth it. You have absolutely nailed an articulation of why Peterson has resonated so deeply with so many: he's giving advice in to a moral vacuum.
And your assessment of how the church has moved away from such advice giving--ESPECIALLY, I would suggest, in the more progressive, post/ex evangelicals spaces--really hits the nail. I feel that in my own body... that resistance to tell people what they ought do.
Who am I?
What do I know? Know about YOU, or YOUR life, situation, context?
Giving advice feels like a recipe for disaster... you'll come back later and tell me how it didn't work... or, you'll inspect my life and decide that I'm a fraud if I ever slip on my own advice-giving ways.
Far safer to avoid the advice-giving enterprise altogether.
Far safer to shrug my post-modern shoulders and say, "I dunno, man, you do you..."
Far safer to keep my opinions... my ADVICE... to myself.
And yet, as I type that out, I'm immediately struck by aaaallll these appeals to what is "safe."
Don't think Jesus would've been all that appealing, nor his messages about the Kingdom, if he were similarly driven by "doing what is safe."
Ugh... thanks for messing me up today, Richard.