A Blessed Advantage

Whenever I have ambiguity regarding a theological notion, I have a blessed advantage.

I can talk to my sons.

Both have post-graduate degrees in theology. Additionally, one has the seasoning of almost 14 years in church ministry, with almost eight of them as a pastor. The other, after earning his PhD, has been teaching theology at the university level for five years.

If that’s not a resource pool of religious thought, I don’t know what is.

I have “tapped” this resource pool often in the past 15 years. Gregg and Doug are always gracious and willing to engage their father, even at times with rather elementary or even naïve inquiries.

They’ve helped me to formulate a good number of beliefs in which I now have a greater degree of confidence. One thing I’ve always appreciated: they never tell me what I should think; they simply help identify what the options are, based on their vastly superior knowledge base.

One thing has emerged for sure. And someone smarter than me has said it better than me. That is, the more we know, the more we realize we don’t know.

Some of the recent conversations with my sons have included topics such as: a) the distinctions (and mutualities) of salvation and baptism, b) what it means to “present our bodies a living sacrifice” (to God) from Romans 12:1, c) the history and denominational lineages of the Christian church, and d) the recent film on the “discovery” of the supposed tomb of Jesus’ “family”.

In fact, flies have been vying for position on the walls at our recent family dinner discussions. Thankfully, there have only been a few.