When it comes to spiritual matters, what you don't know can hurt you. Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge;
Knowing what you believe and why you believe it is the greatest protection from attacks on your faith. The difference between Knowing God vs knowing about God can be the difference in questioning your faith or standing firm when skeptics cast doubt on the character of God. If you only know what others have told you about God, you may run into trouble.
Many years ago, when I pastored a church in Florida, I had a home office and in my home office was a very ornate bong. Someone coming for counseling could have easily left and told people, "hey, that pastor has a bong in his office." This would have been true, but the reaction to this news would certainly have varied based on the level of intimacy I had with the person who heard about it.
For instance, my wife, or someone who knew me and the actual reason the bong was in my office might have responded, "yeah, isn't that cool." Someone who knew me well but didn't know why the bong was in my office would hopefully have given me the benefit of the doubt and assumed there was a perfectly good reason or even thought the person reporting this was somehow mistaken. Hopefully, my character would speak for itself.
But, what if someone did not really know me well at all? What if someone had only a passing acquaintance with me and heard I had a bong in my office? Naturally, this person would assume the worst. I would be tainted and untrustworthy to the person, whose only knowledge of me is what they had heard.
As it turns out, the bong was actually a hookah pipe from Yemen and was used as a ministry tool by American missionaries sharing the Gospel with Muslims. It was given to me as a gift by a missionary to Yemen. Very innocent, yet what someone believed about me owning a bong would be determined greatly by how well they knew me.
The same thing goes for God, obviously, on a much grander scale. If your knowledge of God and the Bible comes from a weekly regurgitation on Sunday morning, you are in great danger of falling into error. If you are a believer in Christ, why would you be satisfied with merely knowing about God when you can actually know God?
If you have any kind of social media presence and you post or tweet about your faith, chances are you have been challenged, trolled or otherwise engaged by atheists or skeptics. Many atheists claim go be former believers who have been enlightened to truth. It does not take long for skeptics to discover if you have actually studied the Bible for yourself or if you only know what you have been told about the Bible, and once they smell blood in the water, they go for the big attack.
Our spiritual lives cannot be sustained by an hour or two of church each week. What if you only ate physical food for an hour each week? What kind of shape do you think you would be in? Imagine the health issues brought on by malnourishment, imagine the lack of energy and strength. Our spiritual lives are no different. If you only supply spiritual needs for one hour each week you are spiritually starved.
Are you prepared to answer skeptics when they accuse your Father of genocide? Are you prepared to stand firm when pseudo science is presented as "evidence" against a literal 6 day creation? Are you prepared to explain the difference between living by the Law or living in grace when challenged? How do you handle the question, "doesn't the Bible say it is a sin to get tattoos?"
These are all arguments skeptics will use to derail your faith. How you stand up to attack will be determined by how well you know God and His Word.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
There is only one way to know God: spending time with Him. The amount of time you intentionally dedicate to prayer, Bible study and worship will determine how well you know the Father. "But I don't have time" is a lame excuse. Let me ask you this, when was the last time you were so busy you missed dinner? When was the last time you missed your favorite TV show because you were too busy?
Chances are, you do not miss many dinners for lack of time. Why, because dinner is important to you, because it is something you deem necessary. When you claim to not have time to invest in your spiritual life, you are really saying, "my spiritual life is not really that important." We schedule what is important.
If you are not where you need to be spiritually, allow me to encourage you to develop a healthy daily, time of prayer, Bible study and worship. Allow me to encourage you to get to know the Savior you claim to follow. It is very difficult to follow someone whom you cannot recognize.
If your spiritual life is vibrant, allow me to encourage you to encourage others. Be an example and a mentor to those who are newer to the faith and spiritually immature. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.
When you read, pray, worship and fellowship with other believers, you will grow spiritually and be equipped to stand up to attacks on your faith. By knowing God and His word you will recognize error when it is presented. There is no reason for any of us to be destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!
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