Wretched Man
Puritan Board Freshman
Jocko Willink is a former Navy SEAL who has become a self-made celebrity through his philosophical and motivational speaking via podcasts, Twitter, books, speeches, and other means. One of his shticks is waking up at 4:30 AM every morning to workout and "prepare for the day" while others are asleep. And he will post pictures of his watch at that time on Twitter to inspire others to do the same and be "productive". A hallmark expression of his is "Good", in which he encourages people to face every difficulty in life with an optimistic and proactive lens. "Didn't get promoted? Good, more time to get better. Unexpected problems? Good, we have the opportunity to find a solution."
While he evidently is not Christian, I have to admit he was inspiring to me a couple years ago, particularly as I approached theology and studying the Bible seriously for the first time in my life. I actually benefited from following his suit in waking up at 4:30 to read the Bible (without the distractions of my family who are asleep at that time - cf. 1 Corinthians 7:32-33) which I still do to this day.
At work a while ago, I shared the aforementioned "Good" clip with a (unbelieving) coworker who was struggling to appease his overbearing boss. Then I wrestled with whether that was really appropriate and if maybe I missed an opportunity to encourage him in a better manner with possible roads to the Gospel.
He certainly has a "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality, which generally contradicts the monergistic message of the true Gospel and his motivation for dealing with affliction is certainly self-serving (Jonathoco just posted a quote from Spurgeon on affliction with a completely contrasting view for why we should embrace it).
I'm curious if any of you have any thoughts on him? Is he dangerous to listen to or refer others to?
While he evidently is not Christian, I have to admit he was inspiring to me a couple years ago, particularly as I approached theology and studying the Bible seriously for the first time in my life. I actually benefited from following his suit in waking up at 4:30 to read the Bible (without the distractions of my family who are asleep at that time - cf. 1 Corinthians 7:32-33) which I still do to this day.
At work a while ago, I shared the aforementioned "Good" clip with a (unbelieving) coworker who was struggling to appease his overbearing boss. Then I wrestled with whether that was really appropriate and if maybe I missed an opportunity to encourage him in a better manner with possible roads to the Gospel.
He certainly has a "pick yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality, which generally contradicts the monergistic message of the true Gospel and his motivation for dealing with affliction is certainly self-serving (Jonathoco just posted a quote from Spurgeon on affliction with a completely contrasting view for why we should embrace it).
I'm curious if any of you have any thoughts on him? Is he dangerous to listen to or refer others to?