Blown by the Wind

I spent an evening recently reading The Great Evangelical Disaster by Francis Schaeffer. The following quote gives you a fairly good idea of what the book is about.

"And if we hold this world view [a world view based upon the idea that the final reality is impersonal matter or energy shaped into its present form by impersonal chance] we live in a universe that is ultimately silent, with no meaning and purpose, with no basis for law and morality, with no concept of what it means to be human and of the value of human life. All is relative and arbitrary. And so modern man is left with nothing to fill the void but hedonism or materialism or whatever other "ism" may be blowing in the wind."
(Francis A. Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster, Ch. 1)

More quotes from the book: here

One quote especially has stuck in my mind.

"Truth demands confrontation. It must be loving confrontation, but there must be confrontation nonetheless."

This one has been sitting in my head for a few days now. I'm wrestling with it as I try to formulate what I really think about it. These days it seems as if I'm constantly trying to balance on a small tightrope between two extremes: Truth without Love(characterized by self-righteousness, which I can't stand) and Love without Truth(characterized by accommodation, which is many times motivated by my fear of confrontation and offending). Embracing either extreme brings forth neither Love or Truth. My tendency is to wish Jesus would have just accommodated once and a while. But I really don't think he did.