I have been thinking alot about knowledge lately.  Sometime it seems we try to use knowledge as a weapon or as something to hold over someone else.  I know people that can’t seem to wait to get the inside scoop on a situation just so they can say they know about it.  Or to act as if somehow they know more about it than anyone else.  Some people even seek out to know more then others to the point of gossip because they have to know what is going on in a situation.  Interestingly enough these people never gain complete knowledge of a situation they merely gain what they want to know and hurl and cast their judgments from ignorance rathe than knowledge which seems odd when knowledge was apparently what they were seeking in the first place.  Not sure if this makes sense to anyone.  

This has become especially true over my circumstances in the recent weeks.  Though I have been through alot as well as my family I am amazed about what people think they know about my situation only because they heard something from someone else.  In reality these people know very little because they are acting on limited knowledge or in many cases ignorance.  Some even casting judgments or having preconceived thoughts without really knowing all of what has happened.

Tonight I read

1 Corinthians 8:1-3 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.  If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.

These verse are primarily dealing with christian liberty.  The Corinthians were faced with a huge dilemma and in reality they needed help.  Not much different then us they lived in the middle of a sinful and pleasure filled society so how were they to act.  The Corinthians needed guidance from the Apostle Paul could they eat meat offered to idol and what about social function what were they to do?  What restraints were put on the Christians liberty or freedom?  Could the Christian do whatever they wanted to do?  Is there a difference between the Christians behavior and the worlds?  It is with that backdrop that Paul is writing here in 1 Corinthians 8.  What I wan to talk about is this knowledge that Paul is talking about in the first 3 verses.

It seems to me what Paul is saying is to judge according to love not according to knowledge.  This strikes me as different because we usually do the opposite.  Paul states in the very first verse that “we all have knowledge”.  I am sure that some of the Corinthian believers were stressing the importance of using the intellect to determine right from wrong.  There are three very important points Paul gives us concerning knowledge in these verses.

1.  Knowledge makes arrogant but love edifies.  

I think the point is clear.  Just because one can reason through the facts and clearly see something gives them no right to be arrogant about it.  Yet our quest for knowledge about circumstances and the like often is done so we can know more than another believer or so we can set someone straight.  The root of this is arrogance.  This is the very thing Paul is coming against.  

Paul is making it clear that the rule of all Christians is to be love not knowledge.  It is love that builds others up and helps them to grow not knowledge. The Christian is not to run around stressing their superiority because they know more than someone else.  We are to love and control our lives from love.  

2.  Paul tells us that knowledge is only partial.  

Here is the kicker no matter what someone thinks they know it is always incomplete.  We are totally incapable of knowing anything in its fullness or its totality.  Of course we like to think we know things but in reality we do not.  We often like to try to think rationally but the truth of the matter is to be rational is often weak especially when compared to thinking through things with love instead of rationally.  So the next time we think we know something or we think we know the whole story I would encourage you to stop and think again and react and be motivated from love rather than knowledge.

3.  Love unites us to God.

If someone loves God then that person is known by Him.  Did you notice that we are not known by God because we are always thinking rationally.  It also does not say that we are known by God based on our knowledge.  It is based on one thing and that is our love.  God know us because we love Him.  The person that decides to base their life on love rather than knowledge that person is loved by God.  

“But if anyone loves God, he is known by Him” (1 Corinthians 8:3)

I give this challenge the next time you seek knowledge about a circumstance or a situation try to seek love instead.  See if it makes a difference.  To often our knowledge leads to arrogance.  So much could be accomplished if we only sought love.