“I love relational harmony. When I’ve done something, whether I meant to or not, I just want to get back to harmony. I can short-circuit the real apology.” — Jonathan Parnell

In this roundtable discussion, David Powlison, Jonathan Parnell, and John Onwuchekwa consider the question, “What are the components of a satisfactory apology?” They start by considering some particularly unsatisfactory types of apologies.

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David Powlison (1949–2019) served as the executive director of the CCEF, senior editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling, and as a Council member of The Gospel Coalition (2010-2019). David wrote extensively on biblical counseling and on the relationship between faith and psychology and his books include Seeing with New Eyes, Speaking Truth in Love, The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context, and Good and Angry. He earned degrees at the University of Pennsylvania (PhD) and at Westminster Theological Seminary (MDiv). David and his wife, Nan, have three children.

John Onwuchekwa (MA, Dallas Theological Seminary) is a pastor at Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He’s the author of Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church. He and his wife, Shawndra, are the proud parents of one daughter, Ava.

Jonathan Parnell is the lead pastor of Cities Church in Minneapolis–St. Paul, where he lives with his wife, Melissa, and their seven children. He recently wrote Never Settle for Normal: The Proven Path to Significance and Happiness. You can follow him on Twitter.