Dipping your colors

When I was a young preacher in my 20s I attended a Bible Conference at a city community center, sponsored by a church in that city. The speakers were mostly older well-established preachers. One such preacher pressed for orthodoxy, and stressed that he had always remained firm in the faith, never dipped his colors, never changed what he believed. Stable. Never changing. That sounds great when aptly woven into the advancement of orthodoxy -- designed to encourage young preachers to keep the faith. But is it true? Should we never change? I recognized there was something wrong with that idea. Through experience I have learned when we are wrong we must change!

Those who never change either...

• already know everything
• are not learning anything
• are lying

Since the first possibility is only theoretical (to cover all so-called bases), the two real options seem to be that those who never change either are not learning anything or are lying -- unless the person making the assertion is just plain crazy.

We should not be unstable, tossed about with every wind of doctrine. But there is no shame in changing our theology when our theology conflicts with the theology of the Bible!

* To dip the colors is a nautical/naval expression meaning to lower the colors (flag) and return them to place -- a form of naval salute or deference. In this sermon it probably meant striking the colors -- lowering the flag as a condition of submission or surrender.