Jesus Mobs

“Now can we all agree that these crowds, as warmly affectionate toward John the Baptist as they might have been, and as doggedly committed to the honor of the rabbi Jesus as they were, were people who had not taken on board the full import of what the Scriptures had required of them? I mean, had you gone to one of their rallies, who knows what kind of flags might have been there? And did their presence in the mix in any way discredit what Jesus was up to? Not even a little bit.”

Mere Christendom, p. 53

Only Two Destinations

“Everyone is growing up into something. No matter what the world says, our life is not static. You are either growing up into Christ, or you are growing up into Gollum—diseased, malicious, and bent. Those are the only options. You can’t just freeze the frame and say, ‘I want to stop right here and be sorry for myself forever.’”

Keep Your Kids, p. 49

The Insufficiency of Education in Virtue

“Christian virtue needs to grounded on the bedrock of grace. Education in virtue is no substitute for gospel. If all you’re offering your kids is a moral course of instruction, all you’re doing is bringing up Pharisees. You’re raising a household of moralistic prigs. You’re going to get two inches of snow on a dunghill: it looks really pretty, and it photographs well, but it is what it is. Or to use the illustration the great Puritan Thomas Watson once used, you’re treating a broken leg by putting a silk stocking on it. An external conformity to virtuous behavior is not going to cut it. Everything depends upon the new birth.”

Keep Your Kids, pp. 46-47