by Johnny Kerr
As a high school photography teacher, I am tasked with teaching teenagers how to operate sophisticated modern digital SLR cameras and create artistic images. A decent student will, over the course of a year, learn how to intentionally apply ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed settings to achieve correct exposure. A good student will go beyond these basic techniques and begin to make reliable predictions, creatively executing these concepts to advance the artistry of their images. A great student will, at times, knowingly break the very rules I’ve taught them in service of intentional artistic expression. An exceptional student will do all of the above, and then invite me into their process of reflection and critique. Exceptional students, despite all their hard work and excellent achievements, maintain a teachable posture.
Rules and guidelines are useful constraints for a novice. They create a structured environment where some variables are eliminated so we can successfully navigate scenarios that would otherwise confound us. They provide a consistent framework in which we deepen our experience and develop instincts. It seems, however, that a time comes when a committed learner outgrows these constructs and needs something beyond knowledge to continue growing. Some of the rules that served us well in the past may need breaking, bending, or expanding. We may even receive backlash from our peers or critics for doing so. If knowledge can’t ultimately free us, then what?
Kingdom 101
We live in an age where facts, logic, and reason are held in high esteem. This is not a bad thing, but it has the potential to be. It seems to me that there are times when Truth transcends both fact and reason. After all, as the apostle, Paul asserts “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (1 Corinthians).” If you have any doubts about this, a quick montage sequence of our scriptural narrative should provide plenty of case studies.
In the beginning, God emphasized relationship with humanity over and above legalism. Adam and Eve, we read in Genesis, were given great freedom and access to God, but only one rule: “...you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...” Instead of giving humankind a laundry list of do’s and don’ts, God merely asked for our trust and dependence. Fast-forward back to the apostle’s day, and we see that Israel not only had volumes upon volumes of law code but also felt separated, even abandoned by God. What was responsible for this grotesque reversal of the relationship-to-legalism ratio? The culprit was the alternative “wisdom” offered by the serpent and our subsequent shift from trusting God to trusting worldly reason. Sure, it sounded logical and conceivable, but look where it got us.
Nevertheless, God kept pursuing us. Through Moses God delivered Israel from the bondage their rebellion had gotten them into. God miraculously sustained their bodies with manna and appeased their skepticism by appearing before them as pillars of cloud and fire throughout their Exodus journey. God gave the ten commandments, along with a system of rituals and rites that provided a framework for a healthy community under God’s rule. But before Moses could even make it off the mountain, the people had already forgotten these wonders and rebelled, turning again to the wisdom of the world and fashioning a god for themselves out of gold.
Fast-forward to the book of 1 Samuel, and we see Israel demanding that God give them a king so that they can be like the other nations of the world. God tasked the prophet with trying to reason with Israel, reminding them that God’s desire was for humanity to look to God as King and that anything less would be disastrous. Israel was stubborn and, once again, humankind rebelled, choosing worldly wisdom and breaking away from God’s desire for relationship, trust, and dependence. Israel’s knowledge of the ways of the world may have been accurate, but that knowledge still proved to be foolish.
Something Old and Something New
Fast-forward to Jesus. God entered into God’s own creation to do what no human could do; redeem humanity and establish a Kindom of God-rule on earth. God wanted us back in Eden with God in charge. Jesus did this in the most unexpected, unimaginable, and outright foolish manner; he let us humiliate and murder him. But we know that, while factual, that is not the Truth. There’s a different, truer narrative there if we put our trust in God. I love the way The Message translates it: “He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets (Colossians 2).” When the spiritual tyrants and rulers of this world thought they had Jesus exactly where they wanted him—naked and humiliated as he marched to his death in defeat—God’s Truth revealed that it was indeed the other way around.
Time and again, humanity has proven that when we rely solely on our own understanding, on the wisdom, logic, and reason of the world, we end up in hell. Even our reliance on the laws given to Israel by God seemed to, on their own, fall short. Over and again, God has asked for our trust and dependence. Over and again, God finds a way to repair the bridge to relationship with us. It seems Jesus was doing a new thing, and he was, but he was also calling us back to the beginning, inviting us into the same old trust and dependence upon God that was desired for Adam and Eve in the garden. Anything less is folly and futile. Humankind has proven that many times over.
In Defense of Knowledge
Lest we throw out the baby with the bathwater, it is worth noting that wisdom and knowledge are gifts from God. As we saw in the garden, though, leaning on our own (or the world’s) knowledge doesn’t go well for us. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to use the gift of knowledge. We are invited to use our heart, our soul, and our mind in worship of God (Deut. 6, Deut. 10, Mat. 22, Mark 12, etc.). When we surrender our knowing to God, our gift of knowledge is put to good use. When we allow knowledge to go rogue, out of service to God, it tends to cause all sorts of problems.
As previously stated, rules can be of great service to a learner. The wisdom that comes from experiencing life within the constraints of the law is a wonderful gift, so long as we remember to worship the Giver of the law and all knowledge rather than worshiping the law (or knowledge) itself. That is no different than fashioning idols from wood, stone, or precious metal to worship (i.e., worshiping creation instead of the Creator, as Jeremiah admonishes).
In complex situations, rules can potentially become a hindrance if we aren’t submitting them to Jesus. Blind adherence to the law for the sake of the law may end up causing the very harm the law was intended to avoid. Similarly, worrying about whether or not others are adhering to the law rather than checking our own hearts (see Mat. 7) is also a perversion of the loving, protective nature behind the law. We see this played out in Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees when they criticize him for healing on the sabbath.
John 5 tells the story of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath who had suffered 38 years of affliction. Rather than rejoicing over this miracle, the Jewish law-keepers despised Jesus with murderous intensity. They worshipped the law with such fervor that their hearts had hardened to the point they were unable to recognize God’s healing love expressed through Jesus. When called out for his law-breaking, Jesus establishes his authority as God’s son while also demonstrating that the law serves God, not the other way around. Jesus models for us that looking to the Father is more important than merely following rules. Our God is love, and if we “...understand all mysteries and knowledge… but have not love, [we are] nothing (1 Corinthians 13).” I deduce from scripture that, when it comes to knowledge, there are right ways of being wrong, and wrong ways of being right.
Better Than Knowing
Over the last few weeks, a student of mine has been unknowingly teaching me about the Kingdom of God. As I transitioned from teaching remotely from home during the pandemic to returning to the classroom for the first time in a year, I got to meet my students for the first time face-to-face. One particular student, Mike, was quick to notice my daily routine of following the students to the door at the end of the period and closing it behind them. I have to sanitize all surfaces between each class period, so I close and lock the door to make sure nobody enters the room before it has been sanitized.
Around the third day after returning to campus, and upon noticing my daily routine, Mike took his time walking to the door so that he would be the last student out. When he reached the door, he turned to ask, “would you like me to close the door for you, Mr. Kerr?” “Sure,” I said, “and thank you!” The next day it was the same, “Would you like me to close the door for you, Mr. Kerr?” “Yes, thanks.” We repeated this dance the following day, and the day after that...
A week passed, and Mike continued asking me every day at the end of the period if I would like him to close the door. At first, I found it odd that he wouldn’t just assume my “yes” after a week of our consistent routine, and just close the door behind him automatically. The Lord seemed to be bringing my attention to this, so I listened. I recognized the Kingdom model of humility and service Mike had been demonstrating towards me. Instead of assuming from experience that I would like the door closed, he kept checking with me each day to make sure he was still doing my will. Instead of leaning on his own knowledge, he asked for my “yes.”
Ecclesiastes tells us that, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” So, how do we discern whether we are in a “time to plant” or “a time to pluck?” Jesus told the Pharisees in John 5 that he can do nothing unless he sees the Father doing it. My student, Mike reminded me that, though my mind is capable of recognizing patterns and making logical connections, it is better to look to God rather than leaning on my own understanding, lest my knowledge be found lacking or “out of season.” I recognize in looking at God’s history with humanity that God desires surrender above all else, that righteousness is the result of surrender to God, not possessing the “right” knowledge.
Heavenly Father, I confess my sin of intellectual pride and humbly ask for your forgiveness. I thank you for this reminder from my student, Mike of Jesus’ example to “seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” May we become increasingly aware of your Presence in our daily lives, and look to you rather than worshipping worldly knowledge. May your gift of knowledge be applied by us in obedience as an act of worship, and may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Amen.