Doctrine with skin on it.

From Eugene Peterson:

"See, I'm not very enthusiastic about enthusiasm for spirituality because many times, it seems to me, they just want an easy way out. They don't want to have to deal with the truth. They don't want to have to deal with tradition, which is like paying attention to your parents. So they want some sort of shortcut.

But you know part of the reason is, the people who have taught them the doctrine haven't been living it and haven't been using it as a way to understand what you're doing. You know, Christian faith without doctrine is kind of like being a jellyfish. There's no bone structure. We need some bones. But, here's the thing: When you look at a person, you don't see the bones. And if you do, there's something wrong. You have a skeleton and it's Halloween all over again, which is kind of scary."

He also says, "... you know, we have more Bibles around the world right now and less skill in reading them then ever before. ... in spiritual reading, you're asking how can I obey? You're not trying to master the text; you're trying to let it master you, which is a very different way of approaching the Bible than what we're used to."

These are some excellent thoughts on doctrine in our day. I pray the Church would gain a hunger to read the Bible, and to read skillfully. May God have mercy on us for being so apathetic, and down right lazy with His truth, which is His Word, the sacred Writ. Amen.