Two human traits which are most corrosive and ugly when operating together are ignorance and arrogance. People who are both ignorant and arrogant tend to assume that you are the ignorant one. They may have more respect if you have letters after your name, but not if you don’t think as they do. We need to stand our ground internally so as not to be drawn into their desire to diminish our self-respect and our confidence.
These two traits are at their worst when used against God or those who have faith in God or regard for Biblical Scripture, and unfortunately they’re just as likely to manifest within the Church as out of it.
Ignorance alone is innocent unless it’s wilful. This applies in both secular and sacred settings – when there’s an intention to ignore God and godly truth, or to present a false God and a false truth. The apostle Paul observed the problem but also the antidote to it, in his first letter to the Corinthians (1:17-31). He wrote that God did not want him to preach the gospel by attempting to appear intelligent, clever and wise, but in simplicity and humility. What people then do with that message is up to them, and how they respond reveals the true character of their heart. If they insist on being impressed only by eloquence, beauty, wisdom and knowledge, or by human expression which is devoid of God, they are missing the point entirely, because the gospel message is one of sobering simplicity, and must be accepted in humility.
God is not impressed with the knowledge of our most intelligent and knowledgeable scholars, scientists and philosophers. Instead, He chose to oppose human wisdom and bring it to nothing, partly because it’s often vacuous and godless, and partly because of its arrogant opposition to the will of God:
“God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).
Man’s wisdom, says Paul, is “foolishness” to God. What we are naturally impressed by doesn’t impress God one little bit. He made all things in heaven and on the earth: how is He going to be impressed with anything we can do or say? Not only so, but the Lord chose to make the instrument of His salvation – the sacrifice of Jesus Christ – simple and even abhorrent to human nature. Humanity requires human standards of beauty and intelligence. Humanity looks for impressive, showy things and the “wow” factor. People are impressed by complication and sophistication which has all been prepared to negate the obvious fact that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and that He has fixed standards of right and wrong. This extends to all the senses. so that what we in our fallen nature look for leads to idolatry. Instead, God appeals to the position of your heart: where are you spiritually? If you aren’t impressed by the message or the simplicity that’s in Christ, you’ve missed the point entirely.
Christ, being both God and man, died for our sins, and on the third day he rose from the dead. This is the gospel. This is the message – small, brief, and very much to the point – which is your gateway to the grace of God, to eternal life and all the meaning and potential God has for you. Once through that doorway you can find all the sophistication you could ever imagine and more. This is the narrow doorway to Life. Miss it, and you miss everything there is of lasting and real value and meaning.
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 