Fools

I've spent the better part of my life trying to not be a fool, and I leave it to others to determine how successful I've been. The verse that caught my eye today was Proverbs 18:2:

Fools find no pleasure in understanding
   but delight in airing their own opinions. 

We all know these people, the people who'd rather flap their lips than understand a subject. I strive hard to not be that person, which is why I (hopefully) keep my opinions to myself unless specifically asked. I work under the assumption that no one is interested in what I think, and it's worked pretty well.

Unbelievers very much delight in airing their opinions on God, and I would argue that the absolute WORST thing that can be done when discussing God with these people  would be to introduce Scripture--why would they accept anything from a source for which they have no respect or understanding? I don't argue with these people as much as explain why I believe what I believe. If a person is truly interested in understanding Christianity, the Holy Spirit will open their hearts and provide me or whomever with the proper message at the proper time. If I waste my time trying to bludgeon an unbeliever with the Bible, am I looking for understanding or airing my own opinion. The correctness of my message doesn't give me carte blanche to be boorish in presenting it.

A mild irony is that blogs such as this give me great freedom to delight in airing my own opinions, and it is a fine line. In this case, my input has been solicited, and no one is compelling anyone to read it. Part of the implicit deal I have with the readers is to keep my content interesting and grounded in augmenting our daily readings--anything more is likely beyond the scope of what this blog should be. In journalism, there are two broad categories--reporters who report the news (and don't comment on it) and commentators who will give their opinion on events. It seems that the line between the two (and I consider it to be a very important line) is being blurred. Personally, I tend more toward reporting--I can reach conclusions on my own and don't need to be told what to think. That's what I'm attempting to do in my posts--reporting on what we read, adding additional facts, information or context as I can and leaving you to reach your own conclusions. When you meet him, God's not going to ask you what Scott thought or did, which is why I don't tell you what to think--I'm just walking down the same road with you having a (mostly one-way) conversation.

I hope you'll keep walking with Pastor Fay, Dr. Pratt and me.

Scott