Sober Minded?

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All of us, I presume, change our minds from time to time. We know that we err, and we know that we grow in grace. At least part of that growth happens when we no longer believe the errors we once believed. Sometimes we add new information to what we believe. Sometimes we jettison old information. And sometimes we do both.  Paul commands that elders be sober-minded. I suspect that many of us give precious little thought to this command. Too many of us dismiss all of Paul’s qualifications. However, even if we try to apply them we often slide right over this one. We may assume “sober-minded” means the same thing as “not given to much wine.”  To be sober-minded, however, is to treat truth seriously and to have a healthy doubt as to our own understanding of truth.  A sober-minded person should think through the challenges of the incarnation. A sober-minded person ought to contemplate the law of God. But there are two things a sober-minded person doesn’t do.  He doesn’t practice experimental theology right in front of people, and he certainly doesn’t veer from this bedrock position to that one, dragging his sheep behind him. Indeed if he finds himself questioning some fundamentals, a sober-minded man will grow frightened rather than excited, will grow more careful rather than more reckless, and will encourage the faithful to look away, not to draw near.  When he gives in to the biblical weight of Calvinism, a sober-minded man doesn’t crusade for it just as he once crusaded against it.  If you are following someone who gives you intellectual whiplash, you would be wise to get off that bus. If your local guru is telling you about all the exciting things he saw on the other side of the Tiber, walk away. He leads sheep to slaughter, not to green pastures. It makes no difference whether it be sensual or intellectual delights. Only fools heed the call of the seductress. Her paths lead to death. Wisdom, on the other hand, is sober and steady. Heed her.