...humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all. (8:2-3)
...knowing isn't everything. If it becomes everything, some people end up as know-it-alls who treat others as know-nothings. Real knowledge isn't that insensitive. (8:7)Although the subject of this chapter is idols and food, Paul's point is relational. This is one of many sections of this practical letter leading up to the Biblical definition of love in chapter 13. Part of the preparation for the challenge to love like Christ is recognizing that whatever knowledge I have is inferior to God's knowledge. And recognizing that my knowledge is nothing if it doesn't lead me to a greater understanding of where God is at work in someone's life.
These inspired words require me to ask, am I more concerned with being right or with loving someone? Am I more focused on someone's behavior or on where they are in their relationship with Christ? Do I want to be heard more than I want to hear and understand? Is my knowledge puffed up or is it real and sensitive to a person's story?
1 comment:
I appreciate your comments, Staci. I have often been guilty of valuing the truth (as I see it) more than the person. This year, I feel like I've been on the receiving end, and God is letting me experience what it feels like. Not fun.
Eugene Peterson has a few things to say on this subject, and I like the way he put it:
"What did Paul do? He nailed the know-it-alls...The church isn't a place where we know all the right answers and insist that others do, too. If we focus only on getting right answers in church, we become stuffy and arrogant and look down on the people who don't have it straight yet. We're in the love business, not the knowledge business."
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