THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY
If I...understand all mysteries and all knowledge...but have not love, I am nothing. 1 Cor. 13:2, R.S.V.
I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but when I would see him coming toward me from across the campus I would quickly find a pressing appointment that would justifiably steer me in another direction. It's not that I was afraid of him; he was really quite harmless. He was simply an obnoxious know-it-all. With a keen mind, a photographic memory, and a voracious appetite for books and technical magazines, he seemed to know at least something about almost everything. And every encounter gave him an opportunity to tell you more than you really cared to know about whatever was on his mind.
For most of us common mortals, who still puzzle over the instructions for our new pocket calculator, know-it-alls are often quite intimidating. And if we feel this way about people with vast information about historical or technical matters, we are even more put off by people with all the religious answers. Perhaps this is because it exposes our own confusion in this vital area that is so close to home--which should serve as a caution to all Christians bound to share their faith (their vast knowledge of truth) to any listener.
How easy it is to feel that people who "have all knowledge" have accumulated it more that they might impress others than that they might help others. Hurting people need more to be loved than to be overwhelmed. More than having their ignorance exposed, they need their tender self-esteem sheltered by sensitive, caring arms.
Paul understood how easy it is, even for Christians, to become caught up in the self-congratulations of the knowledge they have gained--even though it is true knowledge. He cautioned Christians not to become known in the world as a group of pious know-it-alls, because Christians are going forth to reveal One who really does know it all! Bruised sinners, who could be so easily crushed by the Omniscient One, need first to be assured that He is loving.
James assures us that people can come to the One who really does know it all and ask Him for whatever insights they need without Him "making them feel guilty" (James 1:5, Phillips). His first commitment to His people is to calm their fears, for only then can He teach them. That certainly is the more excellent way.
If I...understand all mysteries and all knowledge...but have not love, I am nothing. 1 Cor. 13:2, R.S.V.
I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but when I would see him coming toward me from across the campus I would quickly find a pressing appointment that would justifiably steer me in another direction. It's not that I was afraid of him; he was really quite harmless. He was simply an obnoxious know-it-all. With a keen mind, a photographic memory, and a voracious appetite for books and technical magazines, he seemed to know at least something about almost everything. And every encounter gave him an opportunity to tell you more than you really cared to know about whatever was on his mind.
For most of us common mortals, who still puzzle over the instructions for our new pocket calculator, know-it-alls are often quite intimidating. And if we feel this way about people with vast information about historical or technical matters, we are even more put off by people with all the religious answers. Perhaps this is because it exposes our own confusion in this vital area that is so close to home--which should serve as a caution to all Christians bound to share their faith (their vast knowledge of truth) to any listener.
How easy it is to feel that people who "have all knowledge" have accumulated it more that they might impress others than that they might help others. Hurting people need more to be loved than to be overwhelmed. More than having their ignorance exposed, they need their tender self-esteem sheltered by sensitive, caring arms.
Paul understood how easy it is, even for Christians, to become caught up in the self-congratulations of the knowledge they have gained--even though it is true knowledge. He cautioned Christians not to become known in the world as a group of pious know-it-alls, because Christians are going forth to reveal One who really does know it all! Bruised sinners, who could be so easily crushed by the Omniscient One, need first to be assured that He is loving.
James assures us that people can come to the One who really does know it all and ask Him for whatever insights they need without Him "making them feel guilty" (James 1:5, Phillips). His first commitment to His people is to calm their fears, for only then can He teach them. That certainly is the more excellent way.
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