I am not very eloquent. What is that to you? Read someone who is more stylish. If I do not translate the Greek into Latin in a proper way, then either read the Greek authors yourself if you know the language or if you know only Latin do not make judgments on a service freely given or, as the common proverb says, do not look a gift horse in the mouth.
-Jerome, Commentary on Ephesians (about 387 ad)1
I do not claim to be more eloquent than Jerome.2 But I am going to suggest the exact opposite of his advice. When it comes, not only to this Substack channel but to any claim that directly affects your life, you should look those gift horses in the mouth.
In the days when horses were the standard mode of transport, a simple way to tell the age and health of the horse you were considering for purchase was to take its snout in hand, gently push back its lips, and look at its teeth. However, if the horse was given as a gift the best plan was to accept it as is.
Our political leaders want us to accept them as a gift. They would like us to vote for them based on their public persona rather than the validity of their policies. But their leadership is not a gift from them to us. It is a gift from us to them. In a democracy, we have the freedom, power, and responsibility to look them “in the mouth,” choose the best leader for our lives, and gift that person our vote. The\is proverb reminds us that what is unnecessary and even rude in one situation is wise and necessary in another.
I want you to “look the horse in the mouth” before agreeing with what I say. This requires me to do two things that many marketers, including politicians, do not do. I will (1) state our claims clearly and concisely and (2) test them with you in a transparent way to see if they are in fact true.
We are beginning this process in earnest by posting the first lists of claims. I urge you to look them “in the mouth.” Which ones make sense to you? Which ones do you doubt or cause you concern? Let me know in the comment space below.
I look forward to reading what you share!
-Randy
The First Nine Claims of MakeGoodHappen with Randy Lovejoy
Christianity is progress for humankind.
The Christian life is animated by enjoying and glorifying God forever.
Institutional religion is optional for Christianity, community is essential.
Christianity works like a flywheel3 in human history.
The Western Church has served its purpose.
The Western Church is dying.
The non-Western Church is emerging as the new center of Christianity.
There is a different spiritual journey for those of us in the West…and that journey is outside the church.
The future Western church will be found outside the present Western church.
So, what do you think?
St Jerome, Prologus commentariorum in Epistolam ad Ephesios, PL 26 469A
Jerome of Stridon’s translation of the Bible into Latin is commonly known at the Vulgate.
Flywheel: a heavy revolving wheel in a machine that is used to increase the machine's momentum and thereby provide greater stability or a reserve of available power during interruptions in the delivery of power to the machine. (See Jim Collins for a business application of the concept.)