Technology, Theology, and Anything In Between

I just received another shipment of books from Christmas. This time, I bought books on developing personal spiritual habits, or maybe you could say books that help to give a new perspective on private worship.

I was reading the book A Little Exercise for Young Theologians. It is a good book, and I think the main point of the book is using restraint with the knowledge you gain in divinity school. I Corinthians 13 talks about “knowledge puffing up”, and certainly this can happen.

I’ve read the book The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers, and the story is told that he went with his friend to hear a minister speak. The minister did not speak a very eloquent sermon, as I understand it, and Mr. Rogers thought it not very good. But after church, his friend talked about how they were touched by the sermon. Mr. Rogers then decided that he would not be critical about preaching again.

This is something that I need to keep in check as well. The church I go to has preaching that is college-level just about every service, and the focus is on expository preaching. It is a big shock when I go to other churches or functions where the messages are topical, and largely aimed to be “relevant”. I have to admit I have a hard time listening to those kind of sermons. Nevertheless, I still look to see how God can speak to me through the sermon.