We know lots about lots. Or rather, we get lots of data about lots of things. A tsunami of information comes at us via TV, radio, newspapers, email, Facebook and twitter, and if there’s anything we don’t know, we just jump onto Google and find it. So much of everything is available right at our fingertips.
This can be very helpful, but dealing with lots of information has a downside. We can’t possibly do something with all the things that come across our screens. To stop ourselves from drowning in data, we have to ‘let go’ of the vast majority of info we receive. To survive, our default position becomes doing nothing with most of the things we know.
A problem with this response is that we break the link between knowing and doing. When Jesus washed his disciple’s feet, he encouraged them to show this same sort of love and humble service to one another. He followed this by saying: “Now that you KNOW these things, you will be blessed if you DO them” John 13:17
The blessing did not come with the knowing; it came with the doing.
Online bible commentaries and studies, and YouTube sermons and Facebook communications with other believers can teach us a lot about God and how to follow Jesus. But the blessing does not come with the knowing; it comes with the doing.
In our cultural climate of knowing without doing, we need to take care that we don’t fool ourselves into thinking we’re in better shape than we really are. Knowing what to do is not enough—doing what we know is what’s needed.
Glen Morris
National Director