Seeking Knowledge, Finding Jesus – Andrew Wilkes
Do we forget Jesus as we study Jesus? There are times when the allure of knowledge can lead us to sideline the King of Kings. As we discover the untapped realms of understanding that await us, we can get quite carried away. Learning how we received the Word of God, how to better study it and all of the implications of Bible history, culture, etc. delight (some of) us to no end. New theological terms, church history and a greater ability to understand how to defend our faith truly are exciting! Learning who a gospel was originally written to unlocks a lot of meaning and why Jesus did some of the things he did in his Jewish culture is intriguing as well. It can all build together to give greater depth to our personal lives and even ministry.
However important these things may be, they can never replace the simple joy, delight, and depths of an ever-increasing intimacy with Christ. How did Jesus feel when he was rejected by his family repeatedly during his ministry on earth? How did it feel to be told to leave a town where he had just cast out a demon? He didn’t fight, he turned around and got back into a boat and went to the other side of the lake. He was non-stop ministering, loving, healing, teaching, preaching and serving. Do we miss these things? Do we forget that Jesus was God and man? Do we forget the emotion he held as he lived his life on earth? Do we forget Jesus as we study Jesus? Does he become merely a historical figure whose words are more interesting to us than the person himself? Oh God forbid! May we never set aside Christ for facts.
In our quest for knowledge (a Biblical command), may we not boil down the faith to a few theological classes that, once passed, make us feel as if we really know God now and can really serve him now. Many times, the “ignorant” know Christ more than the learned. B.H. Clendennen used to say, “we do not put a premium on ignorance.” He meant that we don’t glorify the fact that we don’t know a Christian creed, church history or what eschatology means, as if that makes us holy and spiritual. It could just mean that we’re lazy! We also don’t glorify these things as the end goal either. This just means that we’re proud! Neither ignorance nor learning in themselves are virtues that lead us closer to Christ.
Regarding learning, Proverbs 18:15 says:
An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
Jesus himself rebuked the religious leaders of his day for withholding the knowledge of God from the people declaring:
Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.” (Luke 11:52)
Paul said in Philippians 3:8-10 what the end of this pursuit of knowledge was for him; a person:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death
Paul never threw away his learning. In fact, it was turned from head knowledge to life as he learned what it spoke about the living Christ. Rightly understood, his learning led to deeper intimacy as he was taught by the Spirit of God the person of Jesus. Paul did not simply seek knowledge, he sought Jesus. So, you and I dear believer must not become entangled with over-learning and famish our souls. We must learn less if we cannot keep our eyes on Jesus. Let us make biographies take a back seat to the beauty of Christ’s biographies (the Gospels). Let us place theology where it belongs, an extremely useful tool to keep us from error and help us think deeply about God. But let us never confuse the acquiring of knowledge as equal to the acquiring of Christ. This is only done by revelation and experience. Knowledge of God tells me what is true about Jesus and what can be. Personal revelation and experience are those things transformed into personal reality.
You may be seeking knowledge of Christ, and I applaud you if it is being led by and yielded to God. But in your seeking knowledge, seek the knowledge of a person, the man Christ Jesus. Let him be your goal and you will never lack for anything. Your spiritual table will be full, and you will not only be well fed yourself, but you will be able to nourish both the lost and the saved with the Savior.
God bless you!