Today's Expositor's Quote is from John Piper:
Can controversial teachings nurture Christlikeness? Before you answer this question, ask another one: Are there any significant biblical teachigs that have not been controversial? I cannot think of even one, let alone the number we all need for the daily nurture of faith. If this is true, then we have no choice but to seek our food in the markets of controversy. We need not stay there. We can go home and feast if the day has been well spent. But we must buy there. As much as we would like it, we do not have the luxury of living in a world where the most nourishing truths are unopposed. If we think we can suspend judgment on all that is controversial and feed our souls only on what is left, we are living in a dreamworld. There is nothing left. The reason any of us thinks that we can stand alone on truths that are noncontroversial is because we do not know our history or the diversity of the professing church. Besides that, would we really want to give to the devil the right to determine our spiritual menu by refusing to eat any teaching over which he can cause controversy?
John Piper, The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God's Delight in Being God, Revised and Expanded Edition (Multnomah, 2000), p. 121-22.
[Lord, give us the courage to preach on matters that are controversial, the love that extends to those who disagree, and the wisdom to understand Your revelation to us, so that we may nurture Christlikeness in Your flock, and You may be glorified as we preach the whole counsel of Your Word -- Coty]