The Great Commission is Greater than We Bargain For: The Galli Report

It’s Not Always Time to Speak Up | [View online]( [Give Now]( Advertisement [The Galli Report]( [Home]( [Podcast]( [Subscribe]( Friday, May 4, 2018 The Great Commission is Greater than We Bargain For [D. Eric Schansberg]( , professor of economics at Indiana University Southeast, thinks [we’re not paying close enough attention to one part of the Great Commission]( , that line about “… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” [He offers a provocative comparison, based on how most churches/Christians try to accomplish this daunting task:]( Imagine that I’m supposed to “teach you everything about economics.” Here’s the plan: we’ll get together in a large lecture hall once a week, and I’ll talk at you for thirty minutes about economics. Assume that I’m a gifted lecturer who works hard to maximize the impact of our time. There are quite a few distractions in the lecture hall, but I’m able to hold your attention reasonably well. I can explain difficult concepts and apply the material effectively to examples from everyday life. With this method, how much of “everything about economics” will you learn over the next twenty years? A bit, but not much. It’s Not Always Time to Speak Up It’s been a few months since former Fuller Seminary president Richard Mouw wrote this piece, [“Why I Decline to Sign ‘Prophetic’ Declarations,”]( but it remains timely, given the temptation of so many religious leaders to speak truth to power these days. Not that this shouldn’t be done from time to time. But only from time to time, when it might really make a difference. The Hardest Thing to Hit? Galli Report reader Margaret Tooley begs to differ as to whether hitting a baseball fastball is the hardest athletic feat. I loved her argument in an email she sent me. In the GR tradition of listening to different views: Re: your baseball piece. There is a longstanding argument about whether a baseball or cricket ball is harder to hit. Baseball obviously has the smaller bat, and perhaps faster ball, but cricket has the complications of the spin ball - whether it is off-spin, leg-spin, a googly or an off-cutter (and there are more), seam bowling, swing bowling etc. The difference also comes with the state of the pitch (green, dry, scuffed etc.) which affects the bounce of the ball. Also, the ball can be altered by rubbing it etc. with the shiny side bouncing differently. There is variation both off the pitch, and through the air. As you can surmise, the physics is daunting! Hospitality Is Not for the Faint of Heart Rosaria Butterfield continues to be a feisty Christian since her conversion some years ago—the summary of which we published in CT as [“My Trainwreck Conversion.”]( Recently she did an interview with CT about hospitality, arguing that [Christian hospitality is much more radical than Southern hospitality.]( The Art of Christian Rejection Paul Simon wrote the song “50 Ways to Leave a Lover.” Comedian John Crist created a video on [“17 Christian Ways to Say No.”]( Those who have ears to hear, let them hear. [Mark Galli] [Mark Galli] [Mark Galli](mailto:GalliReport@christianitytoday.com) Editor-in-Chief, Christianity Today Advertisement More from Christianity Today [How History’s Revivals Teach Us to Pray]( Spirituality [How History’s Revivals Teach Us to Pray]( The case for communing with God in a daring and agonizing way. David R. 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