the rest is commentary

A few years ago, I heard for the first time someone say that anyone who worked in his church had to be teachable. I thought it rather arrogant at the time, but the longer I think about it, the more I realize that it is absolutely true.

Anyone who comes to God must be teachable, no matter who he is.

That means that you are open to new things. You cannot be closed to new stuff because, when it comes down to it, all of life is growth and change. All of life is new stuff.

Those who are closed are like the Mennonites or the Amish. They have decided that humanity has gone far enough and decided to stop somewhere.

Teachable means that you remain open-minded. It means that you listen to others and their ideas, that you do not feel that you have all of the answers, that you have arrived at all of life’s completeness.

It means you listen, you question, you reject, you accept, you hear. It doesn’t mean that everyone tells you everything and you sit with a little drool coming out of your mouth saying sure, whatever you say.

It means that you are open, that you listen to others and your recognize that you do not have all the answers, that you are not the end of all human civilization in learning.

It is not easy to begin to realize that you do not have all the answers, but it has to be.

I was raised in a church that had all the answers. It was a blow to realize we didn’t, that there were other answers out there besides the ones we had.

After all, very few things are immutable. The grace of God, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the bodily resurrection, the inspiration of scripture – these are all final. But the rest is commentary.