Knowlege and Mac&Cheese
Kinkos was a perfect place to study in seminary because of its late hours and convenient vending machine, of which I took advantage on one particularly strenuous week of studying. It was mid-term testing and I needed to know a lot of Colossians for a Greek class, so I studied God’s Word in the original language for hours up at Kinkos that week, just me and my vending machine.
I did fairly well on the written test that Thursday, but I failed another type of test that week. It was the test on “The Goal of Knowledge.” See, I finished the test with a lot in my head and a little in my heart. My head had been saturated with the original language of one of the richest books of the Bible, but my heart had been drained. I was as spiritually dry as ever that week.
Strange isn’t it? Maybe so, but not so rare. Paul told the Church in 1 Corinthians 8, “The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.”
The lesson? Knowledge may or may not lead us to God. Even the Devil knows all truth is God’s. Any knowledge we attain must lead to an awakening of love for God. Our hearts were created to respond to our head, just as a hand responds to a bee sting. Our heart must respond to what we know.
Our tradition is rich in knowledge. Tim delivers as wonderful and rich truth on Sundays as Neysa delivers food at potlucks. That delicious food was not meant to be chewed up and spit out, but rather devoured to nourish the body. Yet do we do this with knowledge? As one pastor said:
“knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God.”
This “awakening” of desire and delight in God is no doubt a gift from God. But oh may we long for them and ask God for this rich knowledge to lead our hearts to the rich love of God… just as we long for (and ask for) that oh so famous mac & cheese.
I did fairly well on the written test that Thursday, but I failed another type of test that week. It was the test on “The Goal of Knowledge.” See, I finished the test with a lot in my head and a little in my heart. My head had been saturated with the original language of one of the richest books of the Bible, but my heart had been drained. I was as spiritually dry as ever that week.
Strange isn’t it? Maybe so, but not so rare. Paul told the Church in 1 Corinthians 8, “The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God.”
The lesson? Knowledge may or may not lead us to God. Even the Devil knows all truth is God’s. Any knowledge we attain must lead to an awakening of love for God. Our hearts were created to respond to our head, just as a hand responds to a bee sting. Our heart must respond to what we know.
Our tradition is rich in knowledge. Tim delivers as wonderful and rich truth on Sundays as Neysa delivers food at potlucks. That delicious food was not meant to be chewed up and spit out, but rather devoured to nourish the body. Yet do we do this with knowledge? As one pastor said:
“knowing truth and knowing it as God’s truth is not a virtue until it awakens desire and delight in us for the God of truth. And that desire and delight are not complete until they give rise to words or actions that display the worth of God.”
This “awakening” of desire and delight in God is no doubt a gift from God. But oh may we long for them and ask God for this rich knowledge to lead our hearts to the rich love of God… just as we long for (and ask for) that oh so famous mac & cheese.
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Lacey June 3, 2009
Thank you for setting up this great website and for your open and honest communication with the church!