Last night in a home group (home church, cell group, life group, whatever anyone wants to call it) we were talking about "being strong and courageous" and how we could be "strong in the Word." The value of being grounded was brought up. I think this value is incredible and possibly underrated. The Bible defines someone that's not grounded as "being blown about by every wind of doctrine." I think of the character Kramer from the show Seinfeld. Every time this guy walked into the room he would emit laughter from the audience. Just looking at his crazed eyes and hair going everywhere made me laugh. His character had that "what is he up to now?" thing going on. As funny as he is, I don't think a lot of people want to be like him, known for being into something new all the time and never lasting with any one thing.
I think people value the person that is consistent. They try new things. They fail. Yet they aren't known as being "flighty" or "blown about by every wind of doctrine."
I think the keys to being "grounded in the Word" are reading the Bible and listening to/reading/sitting under a good teacher or teachers of the Word. Something about a good teacher can open up understanding of the Bible -- even some of those "difficult" parts. I know I've been excited about the Word when I was listening to teachings by James Robison, Chuck Smith, Dudley Hall, Jack Hayford, and others. Hearing someone that's excited about the Word and someone that has the ability to shed light on it is fun to listen to. The enthusiasm is contagious. And anything that'll encourage me to dig into the Word more is a benefit to me.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at August 31, 2006 08:59 AM