Confessions of a Church: Ignorance

The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. I said to myself, “Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge.” And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

This is the word of the LORD.

Ever heard the expression "ignorance is bliss"? It means that were one to lack knowledge of something, to be unaware of happenings, to be void of any understanding of circumstances, to essentially be like the proverbial ostrich with its head in the sand, that person would be in a position of not having any moral compunction or responsibility, to anything. Thus, an ignorant person could live a carefree life without the messy strings of obligation. In a nutshell, this view declares that a know-nothing life is a happy, pain and hassle free life. Is this true?

As Christians, we sometimes live as if it's true. A glaring example I can think of is the Christian I will refer to as the "Perpetual Baby-Christian". The "Perpetual Baby-Christian" is one who floats through life, for years, perhaps their entire life, content with the milk of God's Word, never wanting the meat. They are the ones who say things like "all that talk of doctrine wearies me" and "theology is for the professional theologians, I like to focus instead on my relationship with Jesus". A favorite of mine that I heard one time is "you do all your studying and book reading, I'll just sit at Jesus's feet". These proclamations of willful ignorance sound enlightened and pious, but fall far short of the Christians imperative to be:

Filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.
Colossians 1:9-12

The command of Scripture is to get wisdom, yet not just any wisdom. The wisdom of the world is demonic foolishness which leaves one in despair with no hope. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy (James 3:17).

So, to circle back around, is ignorance bliss? Well, yes, in one sense. But no, in another. We are called to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil (Romans 16:19). Pursuing the wisdom of the world will lead to a knowledge which robs God of glory and leaves you hopeless and full of much pain and sorrow from which there is never any peace. Ignorance of that type of wisdom is bliss. However, pursuing the wisdom of God, found in Christ, will reveal your sin, the futility of striving after the things of this world, that a hope built upon anything other than Christ is foolishness, and will necessarily point you back to the source of hope, Christ. The last verse of our passage today makes it clear that "in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain". Yet, as Christians we are not called to a life of absolute ignorance of all things, but rather to dwell on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise" -Philippians 4:8

Jesus is the eternal logos, the storehouse in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge reside, and Scripture tells us He was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. So if Jesus has all wisdom and knowledge, and dealt with sorrow and pain, as His students, it is a foregone conclusion that as we pursue that wisdom from above there will be pain.

Is there pain for you?
Is there sorrow and grieving?
Pain over your sin against Almighty God?
Sorrow over those who are lost and on a trajectory for hell?
Grief regarding this world full of image bearers having God's wrath poured out upon them as we speak?
Or, are you floating along? Are you blissfully ignorant of sin and all its ramifications in your life and the world around you, because frankly, you have a cold, dead, stony heart which doesn't have time to be bothered by such things.
Repent, lest you likewise perish.

If you are able, please kneel as we cry out for mercy from the One Who is the source of all grace and truth.

Heavenly Father,
You are wise beyond measure, and we are mere men.
In our desire to avoid pain at all cost we oftentimes seek to move through life in a bubble of ignorance, avoiding the knowledge which brings us a godly sorrow, in favor of that which leaves us with no hope.
Like sheep, we wander from the path tread by our Good Shepherd, thinking that we know a better, less painful way. We wind up caught in thorns and snares, cast down, with no hope as we strive for a painless existence doing things our way rather than the Savior's.
Father, please forgive us for our pride.
Forgive us for thinking there is a path to peace apart from the One carved out by Your Son.
Forgive us for thinking that You didn't really mean for us to take up a cross and follow after Your Son.
Please forgive us for striving in our own strength and wisdom, and help us to see that apart from faith in Jesus and His finished work, all is vain.
In His name we pray, Amen.

Please stand and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:

John 15:1-11 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

(From the 05/23/2021 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)

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