Dogs & Doghouses

To be ignorant about something means a person does not know about it. To be ignorant means you are lacking in knowledge. It’s nothing to be proud of and we are all, to an extent, ignorant about any number of things. For example, I do not know how to rebuild a carburetor. I’ve never even attempted to rebuild a carburetor and, aside from raising the hood of my car and looking somewhere past the air filter, I wouldn’t know how to begin. I’m not even certain I could disconnect a carburetor from the rest of the engine block. I am only guessing that the carburetor is directly connected to the engine block. For all I know there is an intermediary component between the two. I would have just as much chance of success as attempting a heart-bypass surgery (another topic that I hold very limited information about) as to attempt to “fix” a carburetor.

Perhaps a man of my age, having driven the number of vehicles I have should understand such things as a matter of practical “getting along in life” information. It’s nothing I brag to others about, that I’m a poor engine mechanic. I certainly do not think I am a better man than a good engine mechanic because he knows more on the subject than I. It would be foolish on my part to think that. If anything, in the area of engine repair, his knowledge gives him the advantage. This I must admit or show a profound egotism in my insistence that not knowing about carburetors is some sort of morally redeeming and uplifting virtue.

Now here is the problem. In God’s work I have heard a lot of sermons and expressed sentiment emphasizing the importance and value of ignorance. Many pastors and evangelists speak of their ignorance as though it is a glorious, God-given, advantage. Their ignorance is their shield and from behind it they make any number of questionable proclamations.

“I know no Greek!” they boast. “I have no seminary degree!” they exclaim. “The fewer letters a man has after his name, the better.” This is all agreed upon in certain circles, as though there is scripture to back it up. To support these claims they illustrate from any number of anecdotal experiences they have had with the “educated”; those inferior men of God who have a better education than they do. It’s this “educated” person who knows and relies upon the original Greek and Hebrew in spite of the overwhelming granite face of the KJV-onlyism. It’s the “educated” Bible scholar who contemptuously studies church history and points out contradictions based on both Protestant and Roman Catholic tradition, and not scripture. These educated ones are responsible for trying to change things. Ironically, these prophets (the oracles of not knowing) seek the best auto mechanics and heart surgeons they can find as they continue to throw the red meat of ignorance to one another.

I am reminded, according to the story, that many years ago there lived an Emperor who was fond of fine new clothes. This particular Emperor fell to two swindlers who effectually sold him nothing. On the day of the parade to show his new clothes it took the insight of a child to proclaim, “The Emperor has no clothes.” The Emperor, shaken to his core with the truth of the matter, stubbornly proceeds with the show while the rest of the village understands all too well.

God’s men, pastors standing in their pulpits proclaiming how wonderful it is to be ignorant, are certainly no more than a foolish Emperor admitting he wears nothing. For them, to rise beyond the elementary fundamentals of the original languages is foolishness. For them, the academic training and insights labored for by others holds little value. And, for them, the degrees which show at least the desire to better ones self for God’s sake, are meaningless. At least the Emperor was secretly ashamed of what had happened. Outwardly he insisted that he was wearing fine new clothing. Some of our brethren are so illogical as to hold an opposite opinion. Not only are they ignorant, but they like it that way and would have others to be ignorant with them. It would be like the Emperor insisting that others disrobe into his new style, while yet upholding the charade of the newest fashions.

I have known braggarts. I have worked with boasters whose egos could barely fit through the door of my home. These men had letters after their names, flown proudly on a snapping verbal banner for all to hear. And if I didn’t notice, they would snap the louder. These ones also proclaim notions about learning and the lack thereof from behind their pulpits. These will tell you, “I have been studying this topic for years and you will have to take my word for it because you won’t understand.” They have their own stories to tell; condescending experiences with the lesser mortals they encounter. Maybe they deserve their own essay. But the point is, pride is pride and God’s men can be proud of their ignorance just as easily as they can be of their pedigrees. And from my own experiences I note the former case is more likely than the latter.

Scripturally, I find all kinds of men being used by God. “Moses,” we read, “was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.” (Acts 7:22) His was a secular education if ever there was. Daniel was also a promising young man, “…skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and tongue of the Chaldeans.” (Daniel 1:4) We deny Paul’s brilliance as an educated man and writer at our own peril.

To those who think having no knowledge is an immediate advantage and an obvious sign of divine favor and blessing, I would only caution, let us not consider nothing as though it were something. Stop your boasting. You are drawing attention to the wrong things.