Stages & Phases, part 5
The Knowledge Phase
Oh – this is wonderful. I love learning. I love to study and glean things from God’s word! I love to try new things. It makes my life interesting and exciting. The Bible has many, many verses that exhort us to grow in our knowledge of Him, in wisdom.
There are also many warnings about not having knowledge or wisdom. So, I have to say. . . not everybody goes through this phase because they may not be seeking knowledge or wisdom – and that’s NOT a good thing.
But we have SO much to learn, don’t we? And if we don’t learn from God’s word, where will we learn from?
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge . . .” (Proverbs 1:7a)
That must mean that without fear of the Lord, knowledge doesn’t really even begin! So – get knowledge! Get wisdom – very important.
BUT – We also have a WARNING about knowledge:
“. . . Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1)
As we increase in knowledge, we sometimes value our knowledge over the virtue of love. We can get proud and conceited, thinking we “know a lot” and we “have it all figured out.” This is why there are so many denominations and factions and splinter groups in the body of Christ (BTW – there really is only ONE body of Christ!). But we have a tendency to cling to our pet doctrines, arguing with each other about them, pushing our own opinions and ideas onto unsuspecting bystanders. “Hey – are you a pre, mid, or post-tribulation rapturist?“ Are you Calvinist or Armenian? Are you reformed or charismatic? If you want to see a lot of this – just go to Facebook! Yuck! I mean really – do we NEED all these labels?
Paul writes to the Corinthian church about this very thing because they were becoming arrogant, “I follow this guy’s teaching,” “I follow that guys’ teaching,” etc… Paul rebuked them saying, “Is Christ divided? Was this guy crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of that other guy?” (I Cor 1:12-14)
You know what I’ve learned over the years? – “Compared to God – I don’t know very much!” You know what else I’ve learned? – most people don’t care about our pet doctrines! As a matter of fact, it turns them right OFF! Then they don’t want to have anything to do with us. And if they don’t want to have anything to do with us, who is going to be the salt & light & love that they need? Aren’t we, then, hindering them from seeing Christ in us? He really is in there! We just need to get ourselves out of the way!
So, by all means, get knowledge. Learn all you can! But be careful that you don’t get arrogant about what you know. Because the Lord has a great way of humbling us if we get too proud!
To view the rest of the Stages and Phases series, follow the links:
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