Read in Order to Love Properly - 03
Learn from Dead Teachers
Please see my request for input below…
So then, reading a lot of books from what we think to be the cleanest of puddles, with some reading from puddles we may find questionable is necessary for the young man who aspires to be an elder.
But never forget the purpose of it. The goal of much reading is to know God, yourself, and the world around you, in order to live properly. Moses taught, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” (Deuteronomy. 6:4-6) Jesus considered this love for God the most important command in all of Scripture. (Mark 12:30)
This is why we are students. We want to learn how to love God better. And we want to help others love God better. And this all takes time. But, if you aspire to this, it is a noble cause. (1 Timothy 3:1) It is the heartbeat of one who will someday be an effective elder in Christ’s church.
As Paul told Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” The church needs elders who have learned from its best teachers. And many of those teachers have been long dead, but their books carry on. So read, read, and read some more!
I need some feedback from you. I am sending these out every Monday and Thursday morning, but I want this to be something that you read. So here is my question: Are you more likely to read these, as I have currently sent them, as short (few paragraph) posts? Or do you find think they would be more helpful doubled-up (say eight to ten paragraphs per post)?
If you can comment on this post it with your preference that would be great. Also, please share this Substack with others you think might Aspire to be an Elder.
Thanks for your input Chase and Matt. My desire is to keep the posts easily readable so that people don’t put off reading them until later. I have found (for me) that “later” often never comes, and the thing I thought I would read gets buried in my inbox.
Thanks Franklin. Those are good suggestions. I actually made up a list of my top 25 books for a StoryWorth book I wrote for my kids. I will probably pepper some of those books in on future posts.