REJECTING KNOWLEDGE

Dallas Willard (1935-2013) professor and author wrote:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6)

The words of the ancient Israelite prophet Hosea refer to lack of knowledge at the “worldview” level. And in this case we should notice that the lack of knowledge in question comes from a rejection of something as knowledge. We can fail to know because we do not want to know—because what would be known would require us to believe and act in ways contrary to what we want. It often strikes first-time visitors to large cities, such as New York City, how the residents have taught themselves not to look at the problems surrounding them—for example, the homeless or victims of muggings. Looking makes you responsible. Avoidance is one reason for the lack of knowledge among humanity—knowledge can be and often is rejected.” (From Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge) 

Or, knowledge of the Kingdom of God, what a real church looks like, what we are doing to our water supply, fake wars and enemies, what plastic is doing to our oceans, what landfills… blah, blah, blah. If we don’t know and don’t find out we are off the hook and not responsible. That’s rejecting knowledge and it is also crazy.

“For the minds of these people have become stubborn. They do not hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might really understand what they see with their eyes and hear with their ears. They might really understand in their minds and come back to me and be healed.’” (Isaiah 6:9–10) Jesus