​Quote of the Day: “I’m ready for the old Rachel to come back.” – Dan Evans

So today is the last day of my week without opinions, and honestly, midnight could not come soon enough!  Even Dan, who seemed to really enjoy the first few days of my fast, seems to have grown tired of all the silence around the house. I think we both realized this week that my propensity for self-expression can have both negative, hurtful l effects and positive, life-giving effects. As the famous Proverb states, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”

My hope is that, after this week, I will continue to exercise more control over my tongue,  that I will get into the habit of humbling myself and listening better, that I will have more patience and peace with ideas I do not like, and that I will prioritize love, servanthood, and friendship over points, counterpoints, and opinions. My hope is that I will continue to learn how to harness the power of my opinions so that they build up and not tear down.

Though I’m already looking ahead, I still have a few more opinion-less items to report.

First of all, I often use weekend posts to provide links to articles I liked on the Web. But, in the spirit of the fast, today I thought I’d include the perspectives of folks I wouldn’t normally agree with.  (As you will notice, these links relate to the subjects I covered during the week.)

Ron Paul argues that healthcare is a good, not a right. John Piper shares a few thoughts on free will.  And John Starke of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood weighs in on the gender debate. 

Also this week, I pledged to read an entire Mark Driscoll book. I chose The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out (Zondervan, 2004), which I finished this morning. I tried to read with an open mind, looking for insights from which I could learn.  I found this quote particularly convicting:

…Deconstruction is easier than construction, and deconstruction with without a rebuilding plan leads to homelessness…This sense of homelessness pervades those who have undertaken to deconstruct God, Scripture, gender, sin, the meaning of life, and anything else they can find...Christians, especially young Christian leaders, are often so influenced by all this postmodern whining that their faith becomes, in large part, defined by what they are against rather than what they are for…Many of the critiques of modern Christianity are legitimate and desperately needed. Every movement of God to redeem a culture begins with frustration and as a reaction. But those reactions and frustrations are seasons that must be quickly passed through, like puberty, so that maturity, vision, mission, and the hope of the gospel can become the primary issue for God’s people on reformission. We must remember to do more than critique the work of others; we must help cultivate a kingdom counterculture where we live.(p. 169-170)

Ten more hours to go!

So, what did you think of this experiment? Did you take a break from opinions this week? How did it go? Got any links to share about healthcare, gender roles, or Calvinism? What do you think of Mark Driscoll’s quote?

Those of you who have always wanted to give me an earful should proceed now, before it’s too late!  (Believe me, I’ve gotten one or two of those this week already!) :-)