Tuesday, April 10, 2012
I was a challenging child for many fine people at Immanuel. God knew to give me to parents who were sufficiently respected church-wide that I was allowed to survive to adulthood. I wasn't a BAD kid; I just questioned and challenged everything I was taught. I needed more than the what; I needed the why, too. This attitude drove most of my Sunday School teachers and Pioneer Girl and youth group leaders a little bonkers -- until I finally graduated from high school and moved into Dick Smith's college-age Sunday School class. Finally! A teacher who thought the same way I did! He insisted that we know precisely what we believed and exactly why we believed it. Nothing made him shake his head or roll his eyes except the position, "because that's what I was always taught, so that's what I believe." Dick challenged us to dig deep into the Word and find God's positions on a whole range of topics. He encouraged us to become Biblical scholars and critical thinkers. He would have us articulate a belief or position, and he would then back us down through all the layers of thought, supposition and conclusion until we reached our basic premise. Then he'd challenge the premise. Nothing made him grin more widely than a sound, Bible-based justification of that premise. Dick Smith was such an inspiration, and he was a rousing good lot of fun, too. I know Jesus has welcomed him home with a loud, "Well done!"
