More love...

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." (1 Corinthians 8:1, NIV)

I had just flipped on the radio in the car when that verse came out of the mouth of some preacher on FM 94.3 the other day. I hadn’t thought of those words in who knows how long. I wasn’t expecting them at all when I punched preset four. But there they were and there God was, speaking his word to me. I jabbed the power button, silencing the radio, snatched up a notebook and, keeping one eye on the road, scribbled down two short sentences after the words of the verse and a partial reference.

"Enough knowledge! People need more love!"

I remembered that incident this week and, after checking the wrong notebook first, found my note on a slip of paper at the back of my planner.

"Enough knowledge!"

That’s not an anti-intellectual rant. Trust me, I believe every Jesus follower needs more knowledge of God’s word. I encourage you to study Scripture more, not less. Go to Sunday School. Join a Bible study group. Listen to faithful teachers and preachers. You need to understand what God says about creation and salvation and right living. You need God’s opinion on sin, not your own. You need his views on life, not your friend’s. You need the truth.

Ignorance is not bliss. In spiritual matters it’s dangerous. Those with little knowledge of the Bible are easily swayed by religious shysters and their bent theologies. They are readily deceived by naturalistic scientists and their hole-ridden theories. They are quickly confused by worldly philosophers and their far out teachings. They are unwittingly distracted by know-it-all celebrities and their twisted views of morality. Just because Oprah says it’s so doesn’t make so.

Know what God says. Test everything anyone else tells you against his truth. Examine the Scriptures like the Bereans did. (See Acts 17.) Make sure that what is said is true. Don’t blindly trust my words. Check out what I say.

Now you know what I don’t mean by "enough knowledge!" Let me tell you what I do mean.

I’m saying enough to the kind of knowledge that causes religious folks to smirk at the downfall of sinners. I’m denouncing the kind of knowledge that causes church people to write off their pagan neighbors as unsalvageable. I’m condemning the kind of knowledge that causes Bible-toters to think too highly of themselves. The Pharisees and teachers of the law in Jesus’ day had this kind of knowledge. They were overbearing, hateful, haughty, judgmental men. They only loved those who agreed with their views on the law 100%. Rule followers. Whistle blowers. They only hung out with those as "holier-than-thou" as themselves. Fault finders. Finger pointers. They saw the law and their manmade traditions as clubs to bludgeon miscreants with, not as shepherd’s crooks with which they could gently redirect wandering sheep.

Does your knowledge of God’s word cause you to repent of your own sin or point out the failings of your neighbor? Does your knowledge of Jesus’ teachings cause you to plead for mercy or call down fire from heaven on others? Does your knowledge of the Bible cause you to humbly kneel before God or proudly look down on the lost?

Enough!

"More love!"

Shall I start with what I’m not saying again? I believe with all my heart that Jesus’ followers must judge sin as sin. I am not encouraging you to pussy-foot around touchy issues. Gossip is an abomination. Rage is loathsome. Abortion is murder. Pride comes before destruction. Homosexuality is damnable. Idolatry, including greed, is sin. Coveting brings condemnation. I could go on, but this isn’t a message about specific sins. I just want to make sure this point is made clear: wickedness in all its various forms are not overlooked by love. Love does not cancel knowledge. Love changes its aim.

Jesus is the best example of what this love looks like. While our love will never measure up to his, we can learn from him. And trusting him for help, we can grow to be more like him. We can have more love for our families, our friends, our neighbors, even our enemies.
Watch him as our Master as he loves properly.

"At dawn [Jesus] appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.

"‘In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

"But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’

"Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

"Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

"‘No one, sir,’ she said.

"‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’" (NIV)

More love. Love confronts those who judge others, but do not deal with their own sins. Love forgives those who sin, even those who sin grievously. Love does not condemn sinners, rather it commands them to leave their sin.

"Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."

Time for another heart check. Do you love others enough to gently correct their wrongdoing? Do you love others enough to forgive them when they repent? Do you love others enough to urge them to leave their lives of sin?

I close with these words from the beginning of Galatians 6. "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." (v. 1-NIV)

That’s the proper balance between knowledge and love. Know God’s word. Restore gently. Watch yourself. Carry each other’s burdens.

To receive my once or twice weekly message via email and join the "webmessage" discussion group, send a blank email to webmessage-subscribe@associate.com. Past messages (there are well over 100) are available at www.associate.com/groups/webmessage.