.jpg)
Jerry Bridges is a very nice man. Soft spoken, eloquent, a listener. But you are not surprised, are you? It comes through every page of his writing. As you read through the interview you will see that his answers are frank and direct, and biblically based. He does not mince words but he is kind in his assessments and observations.
The interview will have to be in two parts. There is simply too much for me to type in this sitting. His answers in blue are almost word for word and my comments are in grey.
Interview with Mr. Jerry Bridges
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
How did you come up with the idea to write Respectable Sins?
My perception as I travel around is that I felt there was a lot of self-righteousness in the Christian community… a lot of focusing on the big sins but ignoring the subtle sins. I, myself, identified and looked at my own life, finding the same to be true. The big-name people in the Christian community concentrated on the big sins.
How did you come up with the title?
In collaboration with my editor. The original title was The Acceptable Sins of the Saints. All publishers have a title committee and the committee felt the perception in the Christian community would be to identify the ‘saints’ as the Catholic saints, which as you know from Chapter 1, was far from my intention.
As you apply Scripture to a subtle sin, how do you begin to know when you have made progress or the power of the sin is lessened in your life?
Can you tell if you are making progress? Yes! But, progress is incremental. For instance, with physical growth, or taking a course in school, or in the area of sports. With a sport it is hard to see progress from one day to the next, almost impossible really, but over the course of time one should be able to see change. One day you wake up and say, ‘Yes, I have made progress with that.’
Mr. Bridges gave the example of his grandchildren who have marks on the wall denoting their height. Their growth is not observed daily but when they stand against the wall from year to year they have grown significantly.
He also used anger as an example. We might notice over a period of time that we’re not as angry. He warned that at first, it may seem as if the sin gets worse before it gets better. It is not that we are worse, only our perception of the sin is heightened and we feel worse.
Is it ever gone completely?
No. We never get to the place where we do not have that sin. Danger: if we check it off our list it will come back to bite you. This is guerrilla warfare. Just when you think you have the enemy subdued, he sneaks up on you and blindsides you. And God keeps raising the bar.
Mr. Bridges gave the personal example of working on sins of the tongue. At one point he was congratulating himself for not saying the derogatory remarks regarding a past associate. God convicted him of thinking the thoughts. He realized he needed to work on not only the words, but even the thoughts behind the words.
How in the world can we ever live with ourselves with all this sin in our hearts?
We all have been overwhelmed by our sin. Go back to the gospel…
Mr. Bridges spent a lot of time on this question. He understood perfectly what it is like to experience the feeling of burden or being overwhelmed with our sin - the getting worse before it gets better. I’ll pick up here on Monday.
Needless to say, we did not get through all my questions, but it was a blessed time and I enjoyed listening to his wisdom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Wow! What have I MISSED!!!???!
We've been in CA visitng "grandchildren" and our son and his wife. I didn't have access to a computer that I could "linger" over, so I didn't check the blog while we were away. HOW FANTASTIC! God is soooo soooo goooooddd to have arranged this interview. As I've read the chapters, occasionally, I would glance at Mr. Bridges' picture on the back jacket cover. Now, to "hear" his comments on these fabulous questions just makes his book and God's Words in the book all the more powerful to me - MORE REAL!
I had resolved that after this book study is over, I'm going to study it AGAIN. I even wrote at the end of the last chapter, "Read this book again - study it - every six months." The questions and answers about "making progress" and "is that particular sin ever gone" are so encouraging and reassuring to me. They are DIFFICULT for me to grasp, being a list-maker and doer. Perhaps God is showing me how to be content in this sin-filled world. Funny I should say that, I am just about to read chapter 20 - Worldliness. I'm so glad to be a part of this blog - even though I am physically miles away from you all. Next time you are at Starbuck's - remember, my favorite is - a Vanilla Steamer :~)
Hi Sylvia!! Remember me? Shay (Sharon) Brannon?? So good to read your comments because I could have written what you wrote about this book! Study it and then study it AGIAN. And then to have his interview to go along with it is so precious. I think his answer of "Go back to the gospel" is the answer to most everything, if not everything, in life. Is it not?? Can't wait to "hear" the second part of the interview. Go Suzanne!!
This birthday of mine(64)is full of blessings!
What better way to study this book than with the comments of the author. His guidance will mean so much each time we read through his book.
I plan to spend the hot part of tomorrow reading and adding to my lists of faults and the scripture to teach me more about myself.
Thank you, Suzanne, for this gift.
How AWESOME is OUR GOD! He truly is the ONLY GOD! I am bursting with praise over this second set of questions and answers. I have to comment, before I go off to work.
1) "Go back to the gospel.." this is the foundation of intimacy with THE triune God.
2) Mr. Bridges' illustrations are so practical and simple - reminded me of how Christ teaches in His Word.
3) The question - "In your 55 years of ministry..." When I read his example of the pregnant senior being removed from school, and the fact that in today's culture that kind of thing would be accepted; I asked God, "Why? Why do we accept such things today?" The thoughts the Holy Spirit put upon my heart were - "Is it because - one, we try to love and accept people because we are all sinners and we're trying not to "judge" others; and/or two, is it because people "accept" what they believe to be the true definition of a scripture without following the Holy Spirit to dig deeper and deeper into the WHOLE Bible study, until the TRUTH is revealed to us by God?
and lastly,
3) I'm with Suzanne on this one, "preach the gospel to myself everyday"! What a powerful phrase! If I am able to "preach the gospel to myself everyday," I just might get to the point of being able to "go and preach the gospel to all the world."
God, I thank you for Suzanne and how she is obedient to your leading and instruction and how YOU have blessed me with Your teaching through this Book Club.
Shannon, OF COURSE I REMEMBER YOU! Honey Girl, you assigned a ceramic "angle" to watch over me. Memories of you are alive in my database! :)
Thank you, all for your comments.
May we honor God today in everyway!
Suzanne, what a privilege to get to speak to him! I love that you did this. I confess I am a little stuck in the book right now, feeling a little burdened by the weight of all my own sin, and this interview has encouraged me. I like that he reminds us that we will never get it right, that if we think we have, the bar just raises higher. These respectable sins are the ones we have to be so wary of because they are so tolerated in our society and so woven into our everyday thinking. It is good to have it all in perspective.
My favorite part is your description of him: "his answers are frank and direct, and biblically based. He does not mince words but he is kind in his assessments and observations." Ah, that I could be the same!
Post a Comment