Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
Knowing All the Right Answers is Not Enough
Knowing All the Right Answers is Not Enough
There is a profound difference between knowledge and submission, between knowing and bowing. We can see this reality in many skeptics who know a lot of biblical facts, but don’t know God and subsequently don’t bow the knee. The question for us is, can we see this disconnection and familial disfunction as believers who know who Jesus is, think we know Jesus in baptism, but don’t “know” Jesus as transforming us daily?
This is mostly profoundly seen in how demons possessing men possess a lot of knowledge, such as Legion in Mark 5:1-20. The demons did know and bow, asking permission to be cast into the swine herd. But they didn’t really do so seeking change. They might have cried out, but they weren’t crying in repentance.
What did these demons know?
1. Demons knew who Jesus is.
2. Demons knew Jesus has power over them.
3. Demons knew they have a future punishment.
4. Demons knew there is a herd of pigs.
5. Demons knew Jesus could help them.
What do we know according to this event?
1. Jesus is in Gentile territory.
2. Pigs are considered unclean.
3. Demon possession in Mark is usually called an unclean spirit.
4. One of the ensignas of the Roman army/legion stationed in the area was a pig.
5. The town was more concerned about their livelihood than for the man/men liberated.
If this fill-in-the-blank knowledge is all we get from this event during Jesus’s walk on this earth, knowing all the facts is not enough.
Being a believer, disciple, follower of Jesus, is more than being “a member of the church”. Too many are fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, class member Christians. Just as classes are filled with such “knowledge”, so are their lives empty of what’s important because they are satisfied with being filled with superficial answers. They are, please excuse the bluntness, HBRCB church of christers.
I guarantee you, to again paraphrase James 2:19, “even the demons know the right answers, and they shudder”.
Knowing all the right answers is not enough. Being transformed comes from knowing the Divine in submission, tears, love; and still and always knowing your part is never enough.
Comments