Those of you who have followed my blog for some time must be aware of some of my concerns, one of them being the devastating side effect of dead Christian information. The tragedy—and I am not overstating the case—has to do with an unjustifiable misunderstanding, or perhaps worse, with a plain evangelical fraudulence— the fraud consisting in presenting or selling yellow plastic as if it was gold
That’s right! We have been led to confuse dead Christian information with living Christian knowledge and the upshot of the disaster is now affecting the evangelical masses as never before, and only time will tell what the final product will be. One thing is certain, it will not be to our liking and we shall be left with regrets and contrition.
In this present post I will once more demarcate living Christian knowledge from dead Christian information, for the sooner we realize the existing polarity the better off we will be.
Introducing the difference
Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples. And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour)” (John 1:35–39).
Here we have two disciples coming to Jesus with a question: “Rabbi, where are You staying?” Usually when someone asks a question he expects an answer. Of course the answer can be true or false, but here I will focus on true answers since they are the ones befitting the point I want to make.
True answers can be divided in two subgroups, namely, passive and active answers. Once we understand the respective legacies of these two subgroups we realize the wide gulf dividing Christian information from Christian knowledge.
Passive answers
Let us begin with passive answers. The amazing thing about them is that they can be received in a static state, for they require no participation other than intellectual. Therefore they can enter our head while we sit on the couch drinking a coffee. In a sense they are easy answers.
Now, as we are about to see, this sort of answers can only communicate information. I am not saying the information so received is absolutely useless. I am only saying it falls very short of experimental knowledge or knowledge acquired through revelation, because by itself it can have no direct impact on our life. Actually we can view information as being the mere shadow of knowledge, for there is no substance in it.
Active answers
In contrast, the active answers require our participation. As a matter of fact they might go as far as to demand our surrender. And it is so because they will not come to us. They will ask us to go to them. And if we refuse we will be left without an answer, or worse, without knowledge. That is why there is so much ignorance today. We prefer the easy answers. So we go to Bible Schools; fill our head with information; and walk out with a diploma. Don’t misunderstand me; there is nothing wrong with the diploma per se as long as we understand its little worth. But this is precisely where the problem lies, we overvalue it, put it on a pedestal, extol it as a god of old, and cause it to open doors of opportunities to people who know little of the School of Christ (Ephesians 4:20,21). This is indeed a tragedy.
It might seem a contradiction in terms, but in an age in which diplomas abound, ignorance is rampant; therefore the words reported by Hosea are still relevant today: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Obviously this is deleterious, but the misfortune is being aggravated by the fact that most evangelicals believe we are immersed in a sea of knowledge as never before. All this and more is leading us to a time of spiritual Dark Ages, an age that is already encroaching on us at military pace.
Jesus’ answer
As we have seen, the disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, where are You staying?” Jesus could have given them His address or His coordinates; this would have been a passive answer, i.e., it would have left them with mere information. But He wanted to give them more than that, so He gave them an answer carrying knowledge in its wings, i.e., an active answer. He told them, “come and see”.
At the end of the day they knew where Jesus lived, for they had yielded to the demands of knowledge. They knew the color of the house and what it was made of. They knew what you see when looking out of the window. They had also ascertained if it was orderly, well lit or dark. They even knew the specific smell of the house and how the front door looks like. They had seen it, touched it, entered in it, sat in it, in brief, experienced it. They knew how to get there and how to return. We can say, and say truly, THEY KNEW where Jesus dwelled.
Now, as we all understand, a passive answer could not have provided all these things. But somehow a large group of evangelicals prefer the cheap passive answers and value them as fine gold. They seek them, pay for them, write them down; and there they go, all happy, as if nothing is really missing. This is a heartbreaking catastrophe, and believe me, it is gloomier that it may appear.
Confirmations upon confirmations
On my next post I will present more examples to substantiate the point I am making. Meanwhile, you might want to read in my post entitled: “About Knowledge” what comes under the subtitle, “Christian knowledge versus Christian information”, as well as: “The need of Revelation”, posted the 19th of April, 2015.
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