Abilene Christian University has been hosting its Summit this week. Besides getting to teach two classes on the work in Cuba, I’ve been able to spend some time talking with church leaders from different places.

Some of us were discussing the common tendency to bash one’s upbringing. Seems to happen a lot in church circles. Those of us present acknowledged that some people had had horrible experiences in churches of Christ, yet each of us had had very positive ones. As always, it seems dangerous to paint with too broad a brush when discussing any religious group.

We also talked about the tendency to say, “I never heard about _____ when I was growing up in the church.” As I thought about it, I remembered teaching some lessons when I was in my twenties that led one of my old teachers to say, “Tim, I don’t feel convicted by this.” What he was saying, I now see, was that he had taught about these new discoveries I had; I just hadn’t heard it.

So maybe that’s an appropriate saying. Instead of saying, “My church never taught ____,” it seems much better to say, “Growing up, I never heard ____.” Maybe it was taught, and I just didn’t hear it.

I didn’t get to hear Mark Hamilton last night, but someone posted on Facebook a quote from Mark’s talk: “We will not be held accountable for what our grandparents think the Bible means. We will be held accountable for what we think the Bible means and what we do about it.”

Seems to be a good attitude to have. Not worry so much about what others have said or haven’t said. Spend our time figuring out what the Bible says, and do our best to live it.