Joshua Gibbs

If Restaurants Were Run As Badly As Airlines

Scenario One. Man: The reservation is under the name O’Leary for 7:30. Maître d: Your table is actually not going to be ready until 7:45. Man: That’s fine. Maître d: Actually, it’s going to be 8:00. Man: 8:00? Maître d: Actually, 9:30. Man: What? Maître d: I’m sorry, the 9:30 table is already booked, butContinue reading “If Restaurants Were Run As Badly As Airlines”

For All Of Us, Really

Dad: It’s been a while since we had a family meeting and I thought it would be helpful for us to talk about how things are going. If you ask me, things are going well. Really well. The raise I got in November has enabled us to purchase a new car, buy a small vacationContinue reading “For All Of Us, Really”

The Rise and Fall of (Ministry Name Here)

The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill often missed the point, but it was occasionally compelling. Anyone older than forty came of age in a time when Christian ministries fell because the charismatic leaders in charge slept with their secretaries or embezzled millions to fund luxury lifestyles. The story of Mars Hill in Seattle, however,Continue reading “The Rise and Fall of (Ministry Name Here)”

A Subtle But Important Difference

The man who often looks at his hands appears thoughtful, whereas the man who often looks at his fingers appears moronic.

A Thousand Ways To Do This

“Hey, cool tattoo! Is that Kermit the Frog?” “What? It’s Satan. From Dore’s illustrations of Paradise Lost. See how the–“ “Neat, hey, that’s cool too.”

A High School Boy Explains Why He Keeps Untucking His Uniform Shirt

“No doubt, you people have wondered why it’s necessary to tell me eight or nine times a week, ‘Trent, tuck in your shirt.’ You must complain about it in the breakroom. One of you probably says something like, ‘I had to remind Trent to tuck in his shirt again today,’ and then someone else says, ‘So didContinue reading “A High School Boy Explains Why He Keeps Untucking His Uniform Shirt”

Ethics In Fiction

The standards we keep for fictional heroes are kept quite separate from the standards we hold for real people. For example, in The Two Towers, Gandalf refers to Grima as “Wormtongue,” even though “Wormtongue” is an abusive nickname assigned to Grima by all the people in Theoden’s court. While most Christian readers take deep satisfactionContinue reading “Ethics In Fiction”

Why Things Aren’t Very Good Right Now

Most Christians honestly believe that it is sinfully inappropriate, highly offensive, and worthy of full cancellation for one Christian man to say to another, “Grow a pair,” even if the man hearing these words is weak, cowardly, and his incompetence is bringing many, many other decent men to suffer. Nonetheless, there has never been anContinue reading “Why Things Aren’t Very Good Right Now”

Proverbs For A Sentimental Age

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but friendly reminders will drive it away.

Against Servant Leadership

“While I am all in favor of serving others, the expression “servant leadership” is passive-aggressive virtue signaling which coyly suggests there’s something broken in the classic understanding of “leadership” that can be fixed with the help of egalitarian philosophy and LinkedIn business jargon. Imagine asking a fellow in his twenties if he was married andContinue reading “Against Servant Leadership”