Knowledge and love may peacefully occupy the same heart. But one or the other will always take the lead. We must be sure that love is in the driver’s seat. True knowledge is necessary for us to live a fruitful Christian life. Once we know the truth, we must still “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). Knowledge is better than ignorance. “It is not good for a soul to be without knowledge” (Proverbs 19:2). Yet we must have more than bare knowledge; love must tincture and flavor everything if we are to please Christ. Love must drive us and our knowledge of truth forward.
When love leads it builds up, edifies, fortifies. Untempered knowledge is not so good a leader as love is. When knowledge leads the way, and our ‘knowledge’ may be inaccurate much of the time, it brings us to arrogance. Even thinking that we know more than others, we become puffed up with an honorable sort of pride (that’s how we think of it). And it happens almost instantly.
We know something someone else doesn’t and we become proud of ourselves for knowing it. We well remember a time when we, too, were ignorant. Ah, but now we ‘know’ and it feels really good to be right, even if we happen to be wrong about being right. Indeed, we could all wish that ignorance made us as humble as knowledge makes us arrogant, but it doesn’t. Truly, “If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know” (1 Corinthians 8:2).
Knowledgeable Christians, well taught in the Word, learn to apply the truths of the Bible. Their knowledge is not academic; they actually begin to live in light of what God has revealed in His Word. Their goal is to please the Lord and the Bible gives them the true way of thinking and living. But, at some point, a robust Bible-believer may become amazed (even appalled) that others who also believe have learned so little from the Word. They say they believe, but they still think like worldly people. They are superstitious instead of biblically spiritual. They are strong in legalism and judgmentalism, yet weak in their commitment to the word of grace and to gospel-driven godliness. And while these criticisms may be valid enough, they are too often laced with the poison of sinful pride.
Great love, not great knowledge, is the mark of Jesus’ disciples. It is true: some genuine Christians are woefully under-taught and unlearned, therefore, they believe far too little of what they should believe. “Not all men have this knowledge” that you have. And some, who ought already to be capable teachers of the Word, need to be taught again the first principles of the faith (see Hebrews 5:12). Still, we must not permit the knowledge we possess to make us unloving, which it tends to do. Knowledgeable believers, having been privileged to hear and learn and know the truth, must be careful not to regard those who are weak in gospel knowledge as unbelievers or as purely pathetic and unworthy of a second thought.
The Apostle teaches that we must not be unconcerned for a weak brother “for whom Christ died.” Knowledge may make us confident of the truth and bold in the exercise of our liberties, even too bold. But love will make us kinder and less likely to insist on having and using our every liberty in every situation. It was love that provoked Paul’s readiness to do without his liberty: “if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble” (1 Corinthians 8:13). To have insisted on his liberty at the expense of a weak brother’s conscience being, possibly, mortally wounded would have meant sinning against Christ. Does love for Christ, regard for His atoning death, or love for the people for whom He died have any such effect on us?
It sure is easy to let a little knowledge make us arrogant and obnoxious and unloving. It seems that all we need to know is just a little more than we used to know and we become proud of ourselves; we may then begin to think that others are shamefully ignorant and much less serious Christians than are we. It is true, “knowledge puffs up.” Love must drive us. Love must carry us and our knowledge forward and onward, everywhere we go, for “love builds up!” –TSA
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