A Metaphor for Your Spiritual Condition

“Too many Christians have adopted a foolish approach to automotive maintenance. ‘Don’t lift the hood if you don’t want to know.’ That’s not the way to go. It means you’re not trying to deal with the problem until it’s desperate. There are a lot of problems that can be corrected with minimal intervention—but if you put it off, put it off, put it off, then the engine freezes and everything blows up. Just change the oil now, and this won’t happen.”

Keep Your Kids, pp. 19-20

Theft Presupposes Property Rights

“I cannot commit adultery is there is no marriage. I cannot murder if there is no right to life. I cannot bear false witness if there is no truth. And, bring this to the point, I cannot steal or covet unless there is such a thing as my neighbor having a right to whatever is modified by his very own personal pronoun. To adapt the nouns from the tenth commandment—his house, his servants, his livestock, or anything else that is HIS.”

Mere Christendom, p. 24

Three Years After the Congregation Took a Vow

“But in three years, that very same child might be careening around the cookie table like a chimpanzee on meth, with both fists full of cookies. If one of our parents remembers the vow we all took back in that heartwarming moment and attempts to talk with you about your child, how easy is it to get defensive? The answer: very easy. Your heart and your mouth are full of arguments that are, on paper, good arguments. This person doesn’t know your child’s name. This person doesn’t know your child’s favorite food (it’s cookies). This person doesn’t know your child’s bedtime (they don’t have a bedtime).”

Keep Your Kids, pp. 18-19