The Dialog

Before they poured the foundation on my house, they drilled 17 piers through the Texas clay to reach bedrock. Cheap houses skip the piers, and a lot of them end up with foundation problems.

Jesus said a life works the same way: hear His words and do them, and you're building your house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). My co-host Nick Surface asked me what I mean by "principles over preferences," and this dialog is my answer.

What are core values?
The criteria you use to make decisions. You already have them. The question is whether yours are good ones.

What's the difference between a principle and a preference?
A principle is always right, always good and always true. For me, Scripture is how I measure that. A preference is how you do something. A principle is why.

Why do bands, partnerships and churches split?
Most of the time it's preferences, not principles. The Beatles agreed on the music. After Brian Epstein died, the arguments started over managers and songwriting credit.

How do you stay close to people with different preferences?
Look at the fruit. My dad and I have very different preferences, but I want the fruit of his life for my kids.

Scriptures
Matthew 7:24-27 · Matthew 7:3-5 · Jeremiah 17:9

Thinkers
Aristotle: limited goods and unlimited goods, as I use the idea here
C.S. Lewis: wickedness is the pursuit of some good in the wrong way

Chapters
0:00 Cold open and show intro
0:53 What does "principles over preferences" mean?
2:11 Core values are the criteria you use to decide
3:19 Limited goods vs. unlimited goods (Aristotle)
5:49 The house on the rock (Matthew 7)
7:00 Why my house needed 17 piers
9:48 Living by preferences is building on sand
10:30 Did Yoko Ono really break up the Beatles?
13:07 What really divides a country?
15:37 "The human heart is desperately wicked" (Jeremiah)
16:17 Compromise and the Declaration of Independence
17:49 C.S. Lewis: wickedness is good pursued the wrong way
20:12 Honor, humility, excellence, generosity
21:48 All of us are wrong on some level (the speck and the log)
24:58 Who decides what's always right, good and true?
26:37 Same principles, different preferences
27:49 Preferences are how. Principles are why.
28:23 The danger of assuming someone's motive
29:16 How where you grew up shapes your preferences
30:13 When everything becomes a principle
31:22 When principles can't be reconciled
33:04 Where to draw a line in the sand
35:14 Different preferences, same principles
35:56 Look at the fruit

Previous: 1.19 / Should Christians set goals? Process vs. outcome
Next: 1.21 / What did your opinion cost you?

New episodes most weeks.
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Go to my website / https://jkc.is

What is The Dialog?

Ancient philosophers used the dialog to find answers to life’s greatest questions. The Dialog is a search for truth in modern life through the lens of ancient philosophy, history, and theology. This podcast will challenge your assumptions, change your thinking and show you how to master modern living.