"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)
"And he said, 'How can I, unless someone guides me?' " (Acts 8:31)
In John Bunyan's famous allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and Hopeful are joined on their journey by another traveler as they were descending the Delectable Mountains. This newcomer had come from the Country of Conceit. Unlike the other pilgrims, he had taken a different path that had bypassed the Wicket Gate and the Cross. He didn't go to the Interpretor and learn from him, he figured that he already knew everything he needed to know and his works were enough to gain him entry to the Celestial City.
He actually made it to the gate of the Celestial City when it was discovered that he didn't have a certificate which he should have gotten when he entered through the Wicket Gate and came to the Cross. He got across the dark river by being given a ride by Vain-hope who had a boat and ferried him to the other side. When he got to the gate of the city he was asked for his certificate but he had none. The Shining Ones who had guided Christian and Hopeful into the Celestial City were then commanded by the King to bind him and cast him away.
"Then they took him up, and carried him through the air to the door in the side of the hill and put him in there. Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven as well as from the City of Destruction."
The name of this traveler is Ignorance.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)
This allegory mirrors what Jesus said in the parable about the wedding feast in Matthew 22:11-14.
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
In the story, this man had made it all the way to the wedding feast itself before he was cast into outer darkness. So Bunyan's description of the end fate of Ignorance follows the Sacred Scripture's teaching.
One of the most terrifying and sobering thoughts is that a person can undertake the journey of the Christian and make it all the way to the end and find that their journey only led to eternal judgment. Rightly, Bunyan calls this man by the name of Ignorance. It was all because of ignorance of the gospel that this individual was lost to hell.
It is imperative that a Christian study the Scriptures.
Now some will say we only need to read the Bible. I recently had a pastor tell me that he pretty much only reads the Bible. Paul seems to disagree with the idea that all you need to do is read the Bible to increase in the knowledge and wisdom of God since the Bible is God's innerant Word to us. There is explicit information about how knowledge and wisdom is imparted to followers of Christ.
"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:11)
The fact is, God has gifted certain individuals to have these different abilities to teach and exhort in order to build up the body. If all you need to do is read the Bible then we don't need the five-fold ministry of leaders clearly delineated in Ephesians.
If one is completely honest, just reading the Bible will put you in the position of the Ethiopian eunuch in the above referenced verse found in Acts chapter 8. Philip asked the man who was reading from Isaiah if he understood what he was reading and he replied;
"How can I, unless someone guides me?"
Teachers are important. We need them.
In an earlier blog I wrote about my experience in the Worldwide Church of God, I told about how Herbert W. Armstrong said he went on an exhaustive study to prove that the Bible taught that we should observe Sunday. He learned, correctly, that the Bible does not teach Sunday worship but he mistakenly came to the conclusion that we are to observe the Sabbath on Saturday and that was a command for all time for all people. He never consulted with an actual Bible teacher, he never sought counsel, he just assumed from his own study that the seventh day sabbath was the sign of God's true church, and so a cult was born.
Proverbs 11:14 tells us:
"Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety."
But knowledge puffs up.
We all knew that kid in school who, every time the teacher would ask a question, his hand would shoot up and he would say, "Oh I know, I know, pick me, pick me!" In all fairness about 95% of the time he did know the answer. The funny thing was in my experience, that kid was not the top student in the class. The top student very rarely raised his hand unless he had a question. He wasn't trying to impress anyone by his superior knowledge. He was too busy learning.
A major characteristic about gifted teachers is that they are gifted learners. Generally gifted learners don't think of themselves as having that much knowledge. That is the very fuel that powers the engine of learning -- they feel like they don't know enough.
Contrast this to Ignorance in Pilgrim's Progress who thought he knew it all but really knew nothing.
Some say knowledge puffs up using 1 Corinthians 8:1.
Reading the Bible is essential for wisdom and understanding, but we must always consider the context. The context in 1 Corinthians 8 was meat offered to idols. Some were using their knowledge to say that it didn't matter where the meat came from causing a stumbling block to new believers. Also, the verse doesn't say all knowledge puffs up. It refers to a specific type of knowledge.
"Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that 'all of us possess knowledge." It was the knowledge about food offered to idols that puffs up, not general knowledge.
All knowledge ultimately comes from God.
Knowledge may puff up but ignorance will kill you. The only way to avoid deception is to gain knowledge. Knowledge is never a bad thing. The more you know the better prepared you are.
Regarding pastors who say you only need to read your Bible. I have noticed that they seem to expect you to listen to their preaching. They just don't want you to listen to anyone or anything else.
Back to my days in the cult, Mr Armstrong frequently would say, "Don't believe me, blow the dust off your Bible and read it for yourself!" However, we were discouraged from reading anything else. Had we read some of the other respected theologians, we might have realized that we were listening to a heretic.
God gave some to be teachers. Many have written down their teachings and many who have gone on before did as well and we have them today. Many books are available. Take advantage of their teachings!
Read R.C. Sproul and A.W Tozer!
Study the sermons of George Whitefield and C.H. Spurgeon! Then try and cut your teeth on Jonathon Edwards!
Read about church history!
Read John Calvin's Instututes!
Read the Puritans!
Read The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan!
Always read them as the Bereans did in Acts 17 and search the scriptures to see if they are true. Their words are not infallible but they have much to teach us and they can help us avoid being deceived.
People who are not actively gaining knowledge are easily deceived. That is how cults are born. The best defense an individual has against false doctrine is knowledge. A pastor worth his salt will encourage his congregation to study at the feet of others and not just him.
Be a learner!
