Tag: knowledge

  • RESPECT

    Let all the earth fear the Lord;

        let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him!

    – Psalm 33:8

    Sometimes I wonder if the church is too accommodating. You’re just fine the you are. Late, no problem, go right in. Busy this Sunday with (you fill in the blank), no problem, we understand, we’re all busy. We don’t use words that offend like Hell or sin or accountability. Make yourself… comfortable.

    Have we lowered our expectations so much that we are in danger of offending God?

    After all, a seeker sensitive mentality means the customer is always right. Ahhhhh, I think we are on to something here. We have mistakenly interchanged church ministry with a business model. Instead of desiring people to engage with Christ we look to fill seats. Instead of discipleship being a measure of growth we look at the financial health to gauge how the church is doing. To what are these standards compared and to whom are we seeking adoration from? Hard questions in a society that uses competition to push a worldly sense of success.

    All this has to come down to the basic realization of the essence of the Church. The Church exists for three fundamental reasons. To exalt the Lord, to edify the body and to evangelize the world. If a church trades or substitutes any of these assignments is it really a church? 

    Notice that the responsibilities of the local church are also not dependent on human rational or worldly principles. For a church to be a church, factors like building space or location, finances, audio and visual technologies, free coffee or an established budget are not a requirement. Might these things help and be beneficial in ministry? Only if they are used to complement those imperative things that are held to the highest degree. Things like the proclamation that Jesus is Lord, the Son of God. Things like solid Bible teachings and a strict stance on the authority and importance of Scripture. Things like welcoming everyone in, but not freely accepting their sinful behavior or lifestyle. Things like discipleship and creating a culture that operates within the Truth and Love of Christ. 

    Let us also remember that the Body of Christ is made up of individual believers. That means these hard questions cannot only be asked about the church, but also about ourselves. Questions like, do I actually have a respect, a reverence and an awe of the Lord? Do we even know how that should look? That’s a hard one and ultimately, if we are honest, heartwrenching. Here’s another one, do I treat my faith like I can pick and choose how I live it out? This includes who I believe Jesus to be, the authority of the Father, the severity of my sin and what worship is. Also a hard and convincing question. But without the questions how can we ever come to the answers? 

    When Jesus walked this earth, though He was 100% human, but He remained 100% divine. That means He possessed all knowledge and wisdom from eternity past to eternity future. And yet, He was always asking those around Him questions. From those that He was closest to like Peter, James and John, to those He had a more brief interaction with, to the religious leaders that opposed Him, Jesus asked questions. Why? It wasn’t because He didn’t know the answer, but so those He was interacting with could be guided to the Truth. 

    In our churches and in our personal lives how willing are we to forego the worldly standard, the busyness, the distractions and the acceptable justifications to simply move to a place of respect, reverence and awe of the Lord? What are we willing to sacrifice and what are we needing to embrace to build our faith in a Christ consuming way?

    Jason Metz, lead Pastor

  • INFORMATION OVERLOAD

    My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

    – Ecclesiastes 12:12

    Is too much information a problem? Can too much study actually bring weariness? There is an important distinction to establish here. It is the one between God and His living Word and the world and its destruction. We know the value of Bible study and pondering upon the words and principles of our Lord. But do we understand the dangers of information overload when it’s based in corruptible mankind?  

    Information can, should and many times bring knowledge. Unlike ever before on this earth, we are bombarded with an unprecedented amount of information and because of technology, it is readily available at our fingertips. However, a dilemma has also evolved alongside our age of information. Somewhere along the way, the line between factual information and opinion has been blurred almost to the point of obscurity. The problem with so much information at our fingertips is the subjective nature of that information. Anyone with the smallest amount of tech savvy can quite easily disseminate information. Within seconds, through social media and other platforms, it is available throughout the globe. To an even greater degree, A.I. will now efficiently package all this information into a nice little pill that’s definitely too easy to swallow. We would have to be naive to think every piece of information we are exposed to on a daily basis is factual and therefore trustworthy, but I fear that is exactly the case. 

    We know that knowledge is different from wisdom. But where does false knowledge fit into the process? If we understand knowledge as being the accumulation of facts, truths and information, then wisdom is the effect that comes through the application of this knowledge. For example, I can be taught that a hot stove is dangerous to touch. That knowledge is factual, true and informative. However, it is when I actually touch the stove that wisdom comes through a painful yet memorable experience. Knowledge is easily debated or forgotten, but because wisdom is tied to a personal experience, the effect is much deeper. The biggest difference is seen in someone who has a knowledge of Christ versus someone who has a relationship, an experience with Christ. 

    The danger we live in with all our technologically advanced information options is the lack of moving from knowledge to wisdom. Bad or false knowledge is exposed for what it is when we go through the application process. Because there is so much information out there, much of which can contradict itself, we are able to accept what fits our desires way too easily. We have lost the initiative to test the information overload we are bombarded with. Rather, we simply scroll to the next tidbit. In doing so, we lose the opportunity to gain wisdom, either by confirming or denying that information. This is especially dangerous when it comes to the myriad of Bible experts out there purveying their opinions and disguising it as knowledge. Our cyber-overloaded world inundates us with so much information and when we simply accept it all, we are unable to properly process it.

    1 Thessalonians 5:21 instructs us to test everything, to hold fast to what is good. Proverbs 9:10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. 

    It’s time to slow down, to take time to process all the information, to personally seek the Lord and experience His wisdom and yes, touch the stove if necessary.

    Jason Metz, lead Pastor