Be Gracious Already!!!!!!!!!

The title is more meant for me than anything else, of which, is a contradictory imperative.

One of the most influential paragraphs in my theological and exegetical development is: "It was indeed unfortunate that our Christian 'thinkings,' ... did not teach and preach with a clear grasp of presuppositions. Had they done this, they would not have been taken by surprise...The really foolish thing is that even now, many Christians still do not know what is happening. And this is because they are still not being taught the importance of thinking in terms of presuppositions, especially concerning truth." (Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who is There, 7).

A second influential one, of less impact because I have re-interpreted some of its original intent is: "Younger scholars, with their orthodox theological commitment and philosophical sophistication, are in a position to avoid the theological errors into which philosophically untrained biblical scholars too often fall...Unless either philosophers become biblical exegetes in our schools or those who we now call biblical exegetes take to the pursuit of philosophy seriously and adequately, and there is a conjunction these two things, biblical exegesis and philosophical intelligence, there can be no cessation of theological troubles for our schools, nor I fancy for the Christian Church either." (Norman Geisler, "Beware of Philosophy" JETS 42, no. 1 (March 1999): 18-9).

Yes there is an appeal for preachers and teachers to teach and critique adversarial positions through means of evaluating presuppositions. Yet, the appeal to understand philosophy is only from observing the embracing of Enlightenment philosophy by the Evangelical world. But moreover, how tragic is it for the preacher/teacher not to use and embrace argumentation and well constructed logic in our explanation of Scripture. Too many Christian exegetes, teachers, theologians, etc. embrace great conclusions with faulty logic.

But the problem presents itself when we, as the shepherds, begin to apply these same criterion to the members of our church. The longer you hear a member of your church (assuming a bible believing Christian) talk and discuss issues, the more you begin to evaluate their presuppositions and faulty logic to conclude: rarely do church members think biblically.

In my ministry, we are currently teaching through the book of Job. One principle arises rather quickly is the tragic counsel his friends offer. They are more righteous, the longer they stay quiet (Job 2.11-13). Furthermore, the Proverbs are filled with communication principles of "timely spoken words."

All of this to ask a simple question: When hearing the travesty of experiences Church members are in or in hearing them talk about everyday life, the amount of wrong biblical thinking manifests itself. What are the principles you men use to evaluate these situations and speak up or stay silent without being the "Theological-Police" yet maintaining healthy-biblical thinking?

My presuppositions: (1) If they are not under my direct preaching ministry, love on them and pray for on opportunity to speak. (2) If they are under my direct preaching ministry, act slow in responding and see if they are growing spiritually, fighting sin, and know the gospel. (3) Attempt to assess if they are legitimately asking a question and wanting a response or if they just want to talk to you. (4) Unless something is just plain heretical, remain silent if they are growing spiritually. (5) If they are elders and other teachers, speak up about quicker and keep the dialogue open.