I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.
(Rom 15:14)
Apparently, the Apostle had faith in the Roman believers as teachers, maintaining they were “competent to instruct” one another. The Greek word for “instruct” νουθετέω (noutheteō) – literally “to place in mind” – means reproof, admonish, warn. Of course, in Paul’s day the means and methods for direct, pointed discourse were either verbal, face-to-face encounters or the written word passed along in the form of letters of instruction. Today, however, there’s another method of instruction: The Christian Blogosphere.
For me, blogs are a repository of information; some useful, some not so useful. When I peruse the 40 or so Christian blogs that I follow, it’s because I’m either a) looking to be informed of something I did not know or b) seeking knowledge of or wisdom for a topic that already has my interests. In my estimation, there are many valuable things I’ve read on Christian blogs that have helped me. But this can be a distraction from what is the best use of my reading time, especially in the Word of God. Tim Challies has some insightful comments about culture and distraction. Check it out….then put your electronic device to sleep and go read your Bible!