Being Knowledgeable

Slice it any way you wish; ignorance is not bliss. Dress it in whatever garb you please; ignorance is not attractive. Neither is it the mark of humility nor the path to spirituality. It certainly is not the companion of wisdom.

On the contrary, ignorance is the breeding ground for fear, prejudice, and superstition . . . the feeding trough for unthinking animals . . . the training field for slaves. It is blind and naked (Tennyson), the mother of impudence (Spurgeon); it brings despairing darkness (Shakespeare), never settles a question (Disraeli), nor promotes innocence (Browning). And yet it remains the favourite plea of the guilty, the excuse of the lazy, even the Christian’s rationalisation for immaturity.

We dare not fall into that trap! Our spiritual fathers didn’t. Trace your heritage back to Moses, and you’ll find that the people were given the Truth of God in written form that they might know and that their children might know the right path to follow. In Samuel’s day, there was established a “school of the prophets” to dispel ignorance among the people. This philosophy carried into the New Testament as Jesus frequently rebuked His listeners for not reading, for not knowing the underlying principles for living. How often Paul expressed similar convictions with such strong words as, I “do not want you to be ignorant” (Romans 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:1; 15:34; 1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIV). Dr Luke recorded great commendation for the church at Berea because they were “examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Most nations have seen the need for being knowledgeable . . . for perpetuating an educated, well-trained body of godly people who could proclaim God’s message with intelligence, authority, and conviction. The oldest institutions of higher learning in the many parts of the world were established for such a purpose. Think of Oxford and Cambridge, the Sorbonne in Paris; they were established to dispel ignorance. Even in the New World the importance of sound thinking was of paramount importance. You can still see, etched in stone near an iron gate that opens to the campus of Harvard University:

After God had carried us safe to New England
and wee had builded our houses
provided necessaries for our liveli hood
reard convenient places for God’s worship
and setled the civill government
one of the next things we longed for
and looked after was to advance learning
and perpetuate it to posterity
dreading to leave an illiterate ministery
to the churches when our present ministers
shall lie in the dust
New England’s First Fruits

Over time though, the subtle narcotic of humanism began to paralyse the nerve centres of theological thought and weaken educational philosophy. Doubt and despair replaced certainty and hope. Mental discipline, honed on the wheel of exacting academic requirements and intellectual integrity, began to lag. Permissiveness became the order of the day. This has evolved into a postmodern mentality that now considers a commitment to truth and a thorough study of God’s Word a joke. Thank God, there are some exceptions. But they are precious few . . . especially precious among clear-thinking saints.

To be sure, there are dangers connected with being knowledgeable. Solomon warned us of the worst in Ecclesiastes—PRIDE—the wearying, futile pursuit of knowledge, a flesh trip that can cause a head to outgrow a heart. Mere intellectualism can be only “striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:17).

Our ministry is purposely named Insight for Living because that’s what knowledge is to be used for—for practical, life application. I urge you to pray for our various ministries. Each area of ministry addresses a wide array of real needs . . . and how they meet these needs head-on with practical knowledge from God’s Word.

By the way, may I personally urge you to become a better student of your Bible? Familiarise yourself with its content. Filter today’s difficult times through its grid. The better you know the Word of God, the more quickly you will recognise the path to help you find your way through the fog of our postmodern mist.
My single desire is to support the premise that knowledge, rather than being an enemy of the faith, is an ally . . . perhaps one of our strongest. Rest assured; we will forever remain committed to excellence in communicating biblical truth . . . and its application. That is the ministry of Insight for Living.

Copyright © 2012 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc.

Posted in Bible, Theology and tagged , , , , .

Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading programme in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.

పాస్టర్ చార్లెస్ ఆర్. స్విండాల్ దేవుని వాక్యాన్ని నిర్దిష్టంగా, ఆచరణాత్మకంగా బోధించడానికి మరియు అన్వయించడానికి తన జీవితాన్ని అంకితం చేశారు. ఆయన టెక్సాస్‌లోని ఫ్రిస్కోలోని స్టోన్‌బ్రయర్ కమ్యూనిటీ చర్చి వ్యవస్థాపక కాపరియై ఉన్నారు, అయితే చక్ యొక్క శ్రోతలు స్థానిక సంఘ పరిధి దాటి వ్యాపించి ఉన్నారు. 1979 నుండి క్రైస్తవ ప్రసరణలో ప్రముఖ కార్యక్రమంగా, ఇన్‌సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ ప్రపంచవ్యాప్తంగా ప్రసారమవుతోంది. డల్లాస్ థియోలాజికల్ సెమినరీకి ప్రెసిడెంటుగా, అలాగే ఇప్పుడు ఛాన్సిలర్ ఎమెరిటస్‌గా చక్ యొక్క నాయకత్వం క్రొత్త తరం స్త్రీపురుషులను పరిచర్య కొరకు సిద్ధపరచడంలో సహాయపడింది.