Become New with John Ortberg 11. Ordinary People
Aug 23, 2021
A lively dive into Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and the moral drama of Raskolnikov. Themes include embracing ordinariness, resisting the lure of feeling exceptional, and the slow work of humble virtue. Conversations touch on conscience, reform versus human nature, and a memorable detective’s probing questions.
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Choose Ordinary For A Day
- Be ordinary for a day and embrace humility instead of competing to be superior.
- John Ortberg urges listeners to relax their striving and resist cultural pressure to be richer, smarter, or more successful.
Systems Can't Fix Human Nature
- Social or systemic reform cannot alone fix what Dostoyevsky and John Ortberg call the deeper problem of human nature.
- Porfiry (the detective) argues that perfect systems still ignore personal moral choice and justification.
Sober Judgment Is A Gift
- Thinking of yourself with sober judgment is a gift of grace, not self-deprecation or arrogance.
- Ortberg cites Romans 12 to show true humility is accurate self-assessment given by grace.
