THE MIST

"A mist in the pulpit will result in a fog in the pew." 

This truism, attributed to Charles Spurgeon (among others), is why I don't think I would have made a very good preacher even 5 years ago. 

Now, one of the great blessings of my position as pastor at Sardinia Baptist Church is the opportunity week by week to blow away the mist in my own understanding of the Christian faith.

It gets me excited every time. 

And I'm not talking about Bible trivia - it's big picture stuff. And how everything fits together. 

I'm coming to see that over the years I've swallowed a whole lot of "biblical doctrines" without examining the Scriptural basis for myself. And then I wondered why my beliefs felt so disjointed. 

I was not alone in this. I think this is a great weakness of the modern church in general. If the pastors and teachers have never applied critical thinking skills to their own presuppositions, the congregation is going to be left in a fog.

And if a congregation is in the fog, there's not going to be a lot of forward movement for that church. 

The average church doesn't need to be berated as much as it needs to be educated.

But there's too much mist up front.