Aug
22
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Filed under Biblical Womanhood | 52home
My friend Kristin is a friend of Diane Schreiner‘s and she sent me this post last night, written by another young woman who has been greatly influenced by Diane. This is a wonderful glimpse into Diane’s life and why she is so loved and admired by so many. Reading this, I couldn’t help but think she is the kind of woman Paul must have had in his mind’s eye when he penned Titus chapter two.
Here’s an excerpt:
Let me tell you about this incomparable woman. Aside from her unwavering devotion to Christ, this woman loves her family more than anything else in the world. This is the woman who, after being married for I’m assuming at least 30 years, still skips to her cell phone when she hears her husband’s Johnny Cash ring tone and answers with a flirty, “Hi, Tommy!”- to which Mary Ellen and I consistently laugh out loud- to which she always grins back. This is the woman who has raised her children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and couldn’t be happier with the godly wives that all three of her sons have chosen. This is the woman who can’t talk about her daughter without grinning from ear to ear with pride. This is the woman who truly loves her neighbors and knows their names, as she intentionally seeks to meet them during regular walks. This is the woman who smiles with embarrassment when she is late to her meetings, but it’s only because she has been painting the toe nails of sweet, blind, elderly women. (Read more…)
Kristin said it well: “May God make us like this as we grow up!” Amen.
Please, may we ask you to join us in continuing to pray for Diane’s full and complete recovery? I know you will. Thank you.
Last week, while we were talking about the temptation to compare ourselves to others when using Facebook or Twitter, Elizabeth Bernstein of the Wall Street Journal was examining the other side of the social media coin—the rise in online bragging and how we respond:
“Clearly, the Internet has given us a global audience for our bombast, and social media sites encourage it. We’re all expected to be perfect all the time. The result is more people carefully stage-managing their online image….
‘It’s become a phenomenon where if someone posts a status update and 500 people see it and no one objects, it must be true,’ says Jennifer Mirsky, 45, a digital content strategist in New York.
‘But could it really be that everyone else has a husband as thoughtful as the heroes of romance novels, children who combine the brilliance of Einstein with the winning charms of Shirley Temple, and jobs packed with wall-to-wall glamorous events?’ (Read More…)
As Christians, our Facebook wall should not be a boastful façade, but a true reflection of who we are in Christ. We should not present ourselves as “perfect all the time,” but as striving for holiness because our Savior was “perfect all the time.”
Instead of “stage-managing” our online image we should focus on serving others.
In other words, our Facebook feed should display humility born of the gospel.
So before you press “publish” ask yourself:
~Does this post paint a true or false picture of who I really am and what my life is like?
~Am I seeking to serve and edify, or to impress people with this tweet?
~Does this content draw attention to me, or to my Savior who has been so good to me?
Let’s not be braggarts now, or ever.
“Do nothing [on Facebook or Twitter] from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” Philippians 2:3
We just received word this afternoon that our friend Diane Schreiner, wife of Tom Schreiner, author and professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, was in a serious bike accident today. She is currently in surgery.
Only last week we were blessed to be in Diane’s home and on the receiving end of her gracious, joyful hospitality. She is a wonderful, godly, woman and we want to ask all of you to pray for God’s healing, wisdom for the doctors, and peace for the entire Schreiner family.
UPDATE, Friday Evening:
From John Kimball, pastor with Tom Schreiner at Clifton Baptist Church:
A brief, but good update on Diane. She’s out of surgery, and it went well. Post-op CT scan will be soon. Vitals are good. The next 24-72 hours are crucial to determine long-term effects. Thank you for your continued prayers!
UPDATE, Saturday Afternoon:
We covet your continued prayers for the Schreiner’s. Here is the lastest update from their family:
Diane is doing pretty well physically for which we are very thankful. The main concern is bruising in the brain which affects speech and comprehension. It is possible that it will be quite severe. They just don’t know yet, and hence your prayers would be appreciated. We believe our God reigns and are very appreciative of the outpouring of love we have received.
UPDATE, Saturday Night:
RT @pj_schreiner: Mom just woke up for the first time and seemed to recognize us. Praise the Lord! We were all weeping with joy!
“Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them…When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” John 21:20-22
Long before social media, Peter was tempted to sinfully compare. He received some disturbing news about his future martyr’s death, and his gut-reaction was to “turn”—to turn away from the Savior to look at the disciple following them. Chances are this wasn’t the first time Peter was tempted to compare his lot with John’s. After all, he can’t have failed to notice before that John was “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
But consider, if John hadn’t been following them, if Peter had been the only disciple, what would his response have been to Jesus’ announcement? John’s presence wasn’t the cause of Peter’s sin, but it sure served to expose his heart!
While John and Peter could hardly have imagined the development of Twitter and Facebook, our Savior did. Walking on the beach that post-resurrection day, He not only sought to lovingly instruct Peter, he had you and me in mind as well.
And Jesus’ rebuke to Peter is more urgent than ever. For instead of one disciple, we now have a huge crowd “following” us everywhere on our smart phone or laptop. The temptations to turn from Jesus and sinfully “see” others have multiplied a hundred-fold.
Every time we use social media we encounter people who have it better than we do (or so it seems!). And not just a few people, but many! We only have to skim our feed to observe marriages that appear stronger, children that are more lovable, women who have more friends, more talents, more money, more leisure time, more followers, more respect, more likes, more everything!
It all blurs together and soon it feels like everyone has a great life except for us. And we turn. We look away from the Savior and His call and grace and we compare our life to another disciple, or to a composite made up of a hundred others. No wonder studies show Facebook often leaves people depressed!
But our Savior, in His infinite love and wisdom, has anticipated these temptations. And he says to us, just as he did to Peter so many centuries ago, “What is that to you? You follow me!”
Social media is great because it allows us to “stay connected” with family and friends, right? Let’s reconsider that assumption for a moment: How much of your social media time is actually spent meaningfully connecting—and I’m talking about more than the occasional “like”—and how much time is spent merely looking at your feed?
Our use of social media is often more passive than we realize. I’d wager to say we do lots more looking at posts and pictures and uploads than actual connecting with others.
In this digital age, eavesdropping has gone viral. No longer is it simply the woman straining to hear the conversation at the nearby table or a coworker listening in on a phone call. Now we “listen in” on hundreds of friends, family, and friends of friends (read: strangers) around the world, no matter where we are or where they are. And this passive, detached, skimming of social media sites consumes a large percentage of our time online.
But our use of social media is also more active than we realize. While we think we are only “looking” at our feed, a whole lot more may be going on in our thoughts and hearts than we discern. For human nature is such that we almost never observe other people passively or impartially. We can’t resist bringing ourselves into the picture. In fact, we do this so automatically that we often don’t even know it’s happening.
And thus, “connecting” can quickly become sinful comparing.
