Top Ten Quotes: The Way of the Dragon or The Way of the Lamb
Recently our staff team read The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb, by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel. It is a painful read, not because of bad writing but because of a tough topic. In an age where too many of us chase after relevance and influence, Goggin and Strobel sought out humble leaders nearing the end of their earthly lives. Each chapter seemed to be a loving rebuke and a gentle reminder to seek the approval of one person…the one who embodied Kingdom power rather than earthly power.
Here are my top ten favorite quotes:
- Paradoxically, as I began to acknowledge my longing for power, another temptation appeared in my heart. I became tempted to reject power altogether. It simplifies things quite a bit if we can reject power wholesale, viewing any position of influence as intrinsically evil…[but] we must avoid the temptation of viewing power itself as bad.
- The desires of our hearts don’t simply lie dormant. They are dynamic.
- [Speaking about a new job at a university] I had learned to “wow” my students, but I never got around to really educating them. It was a one-man play that was entertaining enough for applause, but it was something done at the audience and not done with them….I had turned to the power that was most natural to me – myself.
- Human flourishing is not about self-actualization, but about discovering our life in Christ. Flourishing entails discovering our insufficiency and coming to rest in the sufficiency of his grace. The flourishing self is the abiding self, not the actualized self.
- When we grasp for control of our identity to generate value and significance, we shrink our identity.
- Hate seeks to annihilate rather than convert. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
- …we want power for control, and we are convinced that if we are not controlling something, it will probably go wrong.
- It is only in Christ that we find a foundation that can support the weight of our selves.
- It feels good to be in a place of power. It becomes addictive. I think power is a very addictive thing, and we’re just sitting ducks for it. (Eugene Peterson)
- The way from above exposes our hearts, but the exposure is an opportunity to abide in Christ and not desperately seek to create a self in our own power.
Order The Way of the Dragon or The Way of the Lamb.
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