This summer a friend and I were talking about Jonathan Edwards's resolutions and ended up talking about what it would have been like if his wife, Sarah, had written a book about him. Jonathan (not Edwards) suggested the title, My Life with a Difficult Man.
Given the extreme tenor of the resolutions, it's easy to picture Sarah's life as just that.
I've often found myself thinking that family and extreme devotion to evangelistic/missionary work can rarely (if ever) co-exist harmoniously. Something's got to give. At the same time, though, this always bothers me because it seems like one of the first callings of a Christian is to display the character of Christ in family relations.
So how do you "hate" your mother/father/spouse/children, but love them with the kind of love that makes a man give his life for his friends? The kind of love that takes the world by surprise?
So, that to say that this article from Mars Hill Church about Jonathan Edwards and his family was a kind of breath of fresh air. It's a good read, especially if any of these same questions have ever bothered you.
(I'd be happier about the whole thing if his grandson hadn't killed Alexander Hamilton, but I think I need to get over that already.)
2 comments:
Actually, there is such a book. I recall it being mostly about Sarah, but it's been a long time since I read it . . .
http://www.visionforum.com/booksandmedia/productdetail.aspx?productid=76532&categoryid=126
Somehow this makes that whole conversation make a lot more sense in my memory. I guess I could try listening more closely. :-]
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