Useless Knowledge

Isn’t it amazing how much we learn over a lifetime?

We come into this world, naked and knowing nothing except that which is innate.  We have no clue how to communicate except through a simple scream that is used for anything from hunger to sickness to sleepiness to loneliness.  We don’t know why the sky is blue, why the grass is green, and why our little planet has two settings, night and day.  Our mind is a blank canvas, waiting to become a little more filled with each passing day. 

As we become older, we begin to understand why things happen.  We are educated both in and outside of the classroom about life and the surroundings that encompass us.  We learn why one plus four equals five, where animals go during the winter, why the ocean goes in and then goes out, and how a plane flies.  Some of us specialize into certain fields of study; others of us choose to have broad interests.  Gradually, over the course of our existence, we learn how to operate in this world to the best of our abilities, some seemingly better than others.

And somewhere in the mix of it all, God reveals Himself to us.  It could be through a hike in the mountains, a conversation with a complete stranger, a teaching at a church, or the death of a close friend.  For some of us, God shows Himself in such a way that we cannot ignore.  We choose to follow Him, to seek after His design for our lives.

When we decide to chase after God, many of us saturate ourselves with reading, studying, engaging in conversation, maybe even take classes to better understand this beautiful Authority under which we have placed ourselves  (Of course we are ultimately under His authority whether we want to or not).  And as we learn more about Him, the more we realize that we have yet to even scratch the surface of this complex God. 

So, off we go to learn more.

And all of this knowledge that we gain is great!  It is exciting.  It is moving.  It is important.  And while we all should continue to learn more about the God we follow, there can be a problem if all of this knowledge we gain falls to the wayside. 

While on this earth, Jesus taught his disciples for about three years before He told them to go and apply what they had learned from Him. He literally told them “Go,” leave, apply, change the world.  There was an action to be taken. 

What if the disciples decided not to “Go” but to stay?  What if they chose not share what they knew or not to apply what they had been taught.  How would our lives be different?  How would the world be different?

I write this because I often find myself, one who grew up in the church and went to a Christian school, sitting with the knowledge but lacking the application.  What good is it to know the names of the twelve disciples, to memorize scripture, or to try to learn big, theological words, but not to do what God asks of us?  I develop a relationship with Christ, but don’t tell others how they can have the same thing.  I can’t be okay with that.  God is not okay with that.  In order to impact the world, we sometimes need to put the books down and actually get into the world. 

Knowledge is useless without application.      

Though you may not be ready to get into a deep, theological discussion about your faith, you are ready to make a difference in the world.  We are all ready.  Sharing God’s love does not always require a vocabulary full of “church words;” it just requires you being willing to move, to apply what you do know.  For example, we can serve because we know that Jesus served; we can find ways to love one another because we know that Jesus

loved others.  Knowledge is transformed into action.

In the Bible, there is a teaching from Jesus that always leaves me feeling guilty.  He says that to those who have been given much, much is expected.  I believe that this applies to anything that has been given: money, relationships, knowledge, etc.  And I admit that I find myself disproportionately receiving and not giving.  And

what scares me the most is what Jesus says about those who do not produce on what they have been given:

“…Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”  Matthew 13:12     

You see, God does not place assets in a poor investment; He is not out to lose, but to gain.  He moves His assets to where they will be most productive.

I don’t want to be the one from whom God takes.  I want to be the one to whom God gives more because He sees me doing well with what he has already given me.  I want to be the one who uses the knowledge God has given me.  I want to be a good investment for God.  I want my life to make an impact on this world for Him.