My Standard Disclaimer

It has come to my attention that some of the people who read and comment on my blog don’t share my worldview. This is fine; I welcome their comments and curiosity, but it does contribute to some misunderstandings. I’d like to help rectify that by stating some facts that are, in my mind, unspoken assumptions underlying all my posts.
Depending on who you are and where you are coming from philosophically, these points may either seem painfully obvious or shockingly [insert insult here: closed minded, old-fashioned, arrogant...].

Here goes:
Hubby and I believe that:

• God is sovereign over all of creation. (Psalm 33, Psalm 97)
• Our chief end is to glorify God, and in everything we do, we should strive toward that end. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
• Other goals and activities derive their value based upon their contribution toward that ultimate goal.
• Scripture is infallible and fully sufficient to teach us to serve God. Whatever we need to know about Him and His nature and requirements of us is contained either explicitly or implicitly in the Scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• There is no neutrality. All people, institutions, and ideas are either for Christ or against Christ. Education is not neutral. Law and government are not neutral. Families cannot be neutral. A blog is not neutral. (Matthew 12:30)
• Right and wrong are absolutes, and they do not change because someone feels ok about something. Sometimes there is more than one good (God honoring) option; sometimes there is not. You (or I) may feel convicted to do things a particular way – but we may still be wrong. Oops. Back to the Scriptures. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
• Unlike God, I am imperfect and fallible. Some of my statements will be unclear and ambiguous. Some of my practices and conclusions will be wrong. Forgive me for the times that I will lead others toward my own mistaken conclusions. Search the Sriptures to know when I’m wrong, and please correct me from the Scriptures. (Jeremiah 17:9, Acts 17:11)

When I state what we believe or how we do things in our house or family, I am not-not-not saying that:

• Anyone who does differently is in sin and/or going to hell. You might be in sin, and I might be so bold as to state my opinion to that effect. But don’t worry. Nobody ever went to hell for disagreeing with me. You must answer to God and His Word.
• Anyone who reads the Scriptures and comes to a different conclusion or conviction based on the Scriptures is wrong and I’m right. Again, you might be wrong and I might be right. I’ll probably think so. But your job is to make sure you are acting in accordance with Scripture, not with me.
• My generalizations cover every case imaginable. Yes, you can always think of exceptions. It is poor logic to argue the rule from the exception.
• I am perfect and have all the answers. God has called us to judge righteous judgements, so it is our duty to try to come to the right answers. I know that some of my answers will be wrong, but my own fallibility should not stop me from seeking to know and serve God better.
• Education is unimportant – indeed, it is very important because it is vital in our service to God as doctors, homemakers, business owners, authors, plumbers, ministers, and warehouse managers (hi, Honey!).
• We should never read any book but the Bible.

To sum it up: Some of what I write will deal with principles, while other material will deal with methods.

Principles are issues where there is a Biblical teaching at work: you (and I) are either right or wrong on this one. Obviously, I’ll try to stay on the right side. You might come to a different conclusion, but one of us is right and one of us is wrong.

Nancy Wilson has 2 fantastic articles that deal rather directly with the subject of sharing one’s personal methods. If you’ve read this far and still want to peek a little deeper into my brain, please take time to peruse her articles. She says it so much better than I can.

• Home Run: on methods vs. principles
• A Hedge of Courtesy: on how we should talk to one another about our methods

We draw our applications from convictions: convictions derived from Scripture. Part of what this blog is about is the idea that someone somewhere might appreciate what we are doing or be helped by understanding why we do it.
This is why I reason from Scripture – but I don’t feel as though I have the last word on Scripture. God grants us broad liberty in Christ, and Jesus’s blood covers lots of mistakes (even the big public blogging mistakes).

Expect me to occasionally put my foot in my mouth. We all do. When I realize it’s in there, I’ll try to pull it out as quickly and graciously as I can. And if you can be gracious when you tell me it’s in there, all the better.

Expect me to refer frequently to this post. Expect me to revise and tweak it as the need becomes apparent. And expect me to say things that you disagree with. After all, nobody’s perfect. Not you; not me. Just God, but He did tell us to try. (Matthew 5:48)

Related posts:

1. Vision Forum Ministries responds to the CBMW’s Double Standard