I am finally posting on my blog again after a long period of undue neglect. As I was reading in 1 Corinthians 8 this morning, I was struck by verse 2: “And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.” Of course that verse is in the context of knowledge according to the liberty of a mature conscience, however, the principle there goes much deeper. Even in that context, Paul also says, “knowledge puffs up.”
Paul states that the key to possessing knowledge is doing so with a proper view to loving and edifying other believers for in the previous verse Paul says, “Love edifies.” And then a few chapters later, Paul goes on to say, “Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up” (1 Cor. 13:4b). The theme that Paul is emphasizing is love for other brothers and sisters in Christ.
As I thought about those things in the context of college life, it occurred to me how easy it is to allow the knowledge that I acquire here to puff me up. How is it that I, a junior in college, have attained to so great a knowledge of Scripture and theology while other men have devoted their entire lives to such study only to confess their own shortcomings? It is a sobering thought for me especially as I begin to wade into the deep seas of ministry, wondering where in that sea God will have me to go.
