It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know
Some may find this to be a frustrating truth. When you're seeking a scholarship or a job, you can have all the qualifications, all the drive, all that you need (seemingly) to be the perfect fit, but someone "knows a guy," and you're edged out. I'm sure people have received positions and promotions from the beginning of time, because of their connections.
In Spanish there are two words for "to know." Saber is to know a fact or information about something; conocer is to be acquainted with a person, place or object. Both are important. But ultimately in life (though not always in seeking jobs etc.), relationship is more important than knowledge. 1 Corinthians 8:1b-3 says, "... But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes." The New International Version of the Bible says, "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."
It's just like us as humans to take a good thing like knowledge a bit too far, and make it about us. We gain knowledge and suddenly we are arrogant, thinking we know more than others and thus, we are more valuable. Or we gain knowledge and assume that's all there is to know, so we stop seeking and listening because we have "arrived." Focusing on this type of knowledge is easier for us because we think we can master it. And who doesn't like being the Master? Jesus criticized the Pharisees because they were so into all the rules and requirements, managing the people and judging the people, that they were arrogant. They couldn't see past their power and their check-lists to realize that the Messiah had come.
Relational knowledge is messy. In my relationship with God and with others, there are factors I cannot control or grasp, and there are mysteries. That is more challenging. It requires me to be okay with an incomplete understanding, and figure out a way to deal with that. To alleviate that discomfort, some will just stop when they get to the hard part. "We grew apart," in relationships with people; "I don't believe that part of the Bible," or, "I interpret that as (fill-in the blank with something you can handle)," in our relationship with God.
So how do we catapult over that obstacle in our path? That question which must remain unanswered, that thing about another person that we find so conflicting with our own ways that it's offensive or annoying?
"...it is love that strengthens the church...the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes."
The Message says, "...sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all."
This says two things, love and humility, are key. When we approach people from a place of love for who they are (a child of God), and because of our love for who HE is, not for what they know or how they do life or make decisions or whatever, there is more room for a relationship to grow. When we approach others with humility, we realize that guess what? We may not have it all right, and our ways may be as foreign or annoying to them as theirs are to us.
When we approach God with love for who He is, our Creator, Sustainer, the Author of our Salvation, we can more easily accept that we will have unanswered questions and mysteries. He'll continue to teach us, and He will answer our questions when He chooses. You know how 5 year olds ask so many questions, and you finally say, "just because" or "I don't know," just to make it stop? Well, maybe sometimes that's us. Maybe we can't handle the answer just yet. Accept that with humility, and trust Him. Trust that He will continue to give you the understanding and wisdom that you need where you are, and He will continue to do so as you seek Him, as only He knows you can learn.
In Spanish there are two words for "to know." Saber is to know a fact or information about something; conocer is to be acquainted with a person, place or object. Both are important. But ultimately in life (though not always in seeking jobs etc.), relationship is more important than knowledge. 1 Corinthians 8:1b-3 says, "... But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn't really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes." The New International Version of the Bible says, "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up."
It's just like us as humans to take a good thing like knowledge a bit too far, and make it about us. We gain knowledge and suddenly we are arrogant, thinking we know more than others and thus, we are more valuable. Or we gain knowledge and assume that's all there is to know, so we stop seeking and listening because we have "arrived." Focusing on this type of knowledge is easier for us because we think we can master it. And who doesn't like being the Master? Jesus criticized the Pharisees because they were so into all the rules and requirements, managing the people and judging the people, that they were arrogant. They couldn't see past their power and their check-lists to realize that the Messiah had come.
Relational knowledge is messy. In my relationship with God and with others, there are factors I cannot control or grasp, and there are mysteries. That is more challenging. It requires me to be okay with an incomplete understanding, and figure out a way to deal with that. To alleviate that discomfort, some will just stop when they get to the hard part. "We grew apart," in relationships with people; "I don't believe that part of the Bible," or, "I interpret that as (fill-in the blank with something you can handle)," in our relationship with God.
So how do we catapult over that obstacle in our path? That question which must remain unanswered, that thing about another person that we find so conflicting with our own ways that it's offensive or annoying?
"...it is love that strengthens the church...the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes."
The Message says, "...sometimes our humble hearts can help us more than our proud minds. We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all."
This says two things, love and humility, are key. When we approach people from a place of love for who they are (a child of God), and because of our love for who HE is, not for what they know or how they do life or make decisions or whatever, there is more room for a relationship to grow. When we approach others with humility, we realize that guess what? We may not have it all right, and our ways may be as foreign or annoying to them as theirs are to us.
When we approach God with love for who He is, our Creator, Sustainer, the Author of our Salvation, we can more easily accept that we will have unanswered questions and mysteries. He'll continue to teach us, and He will answer our questions when He chooses. You know how 5 year olds ask so many questions, and you finally say, "just because" or "I don't know," just to make it stop? Well, maybe sometimes that's us. Maybe we can't handle the answer just yet. Accept that with humility, and trust Him. Trust that He will continue to give you the understanding and wisdom that you need where you are, and He will continue to do so as you seek Him, as only He knows you can learn.
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| Photo by 🇨🇭 Claudio Schwarz | @purzlbaum on Unsplash |
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