...For a living dog is better than a dead lion. Ecclesiastes 9:4
I could have said Luther or Calvin, so why didn't I?
Let me tell you about a tv interview I saw a long time ago. Victor Borge was being interviewed (I think it was by Diane Sawyer), and she asked, "What is the difference between you and...?" She named a pianist of the past.
Victor responded immediately. "He is dead."
So, I choose you over any number of theologians of the past, and a whole bunch of ones still living. Am I trying to flatter you? Yes, in a way. You are so much more important than the others, because you are alive and available to your family, spouse, or church. One who studies or reads can easily instruct those who do not.
One of my all-time favorite people was Ruth Stout, the Quaker and super gardener. She described taking beginning piano lessons and then teaching another child. People were horrified at her audacity. She replied that, though she could not yet play well, she could show others what she did know.
Same with theology of both the experts and general church goers. Though they seem to be well dressed, they are wearing hand-me-downs--ideas and creeds that they inherited. You can, like a beginning piano student, show what you do know, especially by using your home Bible library.
By my introductory scripture, I did not just want to refer to you as any dog. But maybe to an Irish Setter. They are good at tracking things down, and sniffing things out.
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