The lack of knowledge

The prophet Hosea once wrote about Israel: “My people perish for lacking knowledge” (Hos 4:6). It describes a condition. The consequences were devastating:

“Hear the word of the LORD, you sons of Israel! For the LORD hath a controversy against the inhabitants of the land: for there is no faithfulness, neither mercy, neither knowledge of God in the land. Cursing and lying, murdering, stealing and adultery have spread, and blood deed follows blood deed. Therefore the land dries up and everyone who dwells in it withers, along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea are taken away. However, no one shall right or rebuke anyone! But with you, priest, I will wage war, so that you will fall in broad daylight. Yes, even the prophet falls with you by night. And I will let your mother perish. My people perish for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you, so that you no longer serve me as a priest. You have forgotten the law of your God, so I also forget your children.”
Hos 4:1-6

Anyone who reads this section quickly realizes that cognition does not mean an accumulation of knowledge, but a holistic cognition that has an effect in life. The lack of knowledge led to “cursing and lying, murdering, stealing and commit ting adultery,” and “acts of blood” were committed. With the right knowledge, these things would just not happen, or at least be clearly judged. However, this does not happen. The realization is missing and therefore the action after it was missing. The whole land “withers” and it “withers everyone who dwells in it.” The whole country goes in – along with its inhabitants.

Hosea specifically addresses the priests and prophets who, as spiritual leaders of the people themselves, had first rejected knowledge. It is with them that the evil begins. The priests had not performed their function. That is why the whole nation suffers. To the priests Hosea says “Because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you, that you no longer serve me as priests. You have forgotten the law of your God, so I also forget your children”. The knowledge that the priests should have passed on, they forgot. It was about the law, respectively about the word of God, which was no longer valid. They had left the core.

The erosion of the spiritual life

It seems to me that many churches and communities today feel the same way. The preaching and the construction lack depth, the congregation lacks knowledge and the consequences are devastating. Knowledge comes from the Word of God. Dilution of the proclamation leads to a lack of knowledge. Spiritual life breaks down due to the complexity of our world and the congregation, as a mere meeting place, drifts into a social cul-de-sac. Subcultures are the result, and institutionalization is advancing at the expense of intellectual vitality.

Where spiritual depth falls by the wayside, the lack is naturally felt. This manifests itself in substitute offerings, as an alternative to genuine spirituality. There are several misguided developments that can reinforce each other:

• An escape into external forms, processes, etc.
• A flight into dogmatic, rigid specifications
• An escape in activities and events
• Introduction of rituals instead of real encounters
• Lack of perspective is overplayed charismatically: “We must leave more room for the Holy Spirit”.
• A lack of perspective is ideologically masked: The dangerous game with “recipes for success
• Feeling (soul) is confused with spirit
• Lack of discussion about this development throughout the community
• Dogmatic and non-reflective opinions of important concerns
• Lack of engagement with God’s Word
• An escape into “one’s own world of faith”, be it dogmatic or in the variety of relationships
• Spiritual deepening is sought and lived outside the congregation

These developments cannot be prevented in any community, but they can always be transformed. They are very human problems. These things happen, and this is neither an oversight nor an offense. The question is rather how to deal with these developments. This is precisely the task of the gifts set by Christ in the church: apostles and prophets lay the foundation, while shepherds, teachers and evangelists continue to build on it. Compare Eph 2:20 and Eph 4:11.

Healing and rethinking

Hosea was not the only one to complain about the lack of knowledge. Several prophets have mentioned it in different ways. These stories are instructive. Isaiah writes of a similar situation:

“But the doings of the LORD they look not upon, neither see they the work of his hands. Therefore my people will go away captive for lack of knowledge.”
Isa 5,13

When many things have a place, but “the doing of the Lord” and “the work of His hands” are not seen, it is a sign of decay and lack of knowledge. What is needed here is a reversal, a renewal of thinking. Hosea speaks about this conversion as follows:

“Come and let us return to the LORD! For he hath torn, he will also heal us; he hath smitten, he will also bind us up.”
Hos 6:1

Because He heals, I can repent. I can get involved in the transformation (Rom 12:1-2). But it will have to include the Word of God so that deepening can take place, so that knowledge can grow again. Paul asks the church in Colosse to pray that “God would open a door for the word to speak about the mystery of Christ” (Col. 4:2-4).

This is – with a very general application of this word – the prerequisite for knowledge to grow again in the community and for healing to happen from within. Cognition is not an external matter. Cognition does not come without clear direction. Therefore, Paul prays specifically that believers may know God (Eph 1:17). The knowledge of God is to be promoted especially in the church.

But that is not all. In recovery, false conclusions or unfruitful paths must be exposed. What contradicts a healthy faith and what rises up against the knowledge of God must give way. Repentance has to do with our thinking. These are considerations that have led to unhealthy “bulwarks against the knowledge of God.” They are spiritual corrections that need to be made. That is why Paul is concerned with the renewal of the mind in Rom 12:1-2. Every community may always be refocused on Christ through this transformation and through this conversion.

To the church in Corinth Paul writes in this sense:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not make war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto God: to break down strongholds, when we break down reason, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God.”
2Cor 10,3-5

If you miss it, you become rigid or derailed. That’s why it’s worth standing up for community renewal.

The renewal of the community

Positive developments have the following characteristics, among others:

• The Bible centrally (instead of ideology, tradition or methods)
• Christocentric proclamation
• Grace central
• In preaching, Bible verses are not used to legitimize the idea of preaching, but the Bible itself is used as the basis for preaching
• An active learning culture (not a teaching culture)
• There is open and constructive discussion in the community about undesirable developments
• There is an open culture of conversation for the benefit of the community
• All the gifts of Ephesians 4 are exercised
• There is no separation of clergy and laity (one remains on an equal footing)
• Plurality is lived and promoted
• There are fewer and fewer taboo topics
• People are more important than structures
• Spiritual life is more important than activism
• It is clarified what spiritual life actually is
• etc.

No patent remedies

There are no patent remedies for renewal. The above perceptions are certainly incomplete and so do not apply to any particular community. However, if something has sounded, if symptoms have been recognized, then the symptoms can be used to ask about the causes. If a lack of knowledge is identified as the cause, then renewal can be started there.

Apostles, prophets, shepherds, teachers and evangelists were given to the church. They are “for the conforming of the saints to the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to the measure of the fullness of the perfecting of the Christ” (in context: Eph. 4:11-16).

The path to renewal must not be about fighting symptoms, even though symptoms may be recognized. It’s about the cause of the symptoms that needs to be leveraged. Lack of understanding of the Bible, a lack of knowledge of God Himself, of His work, is a tangible problem.

The promotion of spiritual life may and should therefore have the Bible as its center, without becoming dogmatically entangled. The uninhibited and invigorating use of God’s Word may be celebrated. We get to know Him through this. In this way we grow in knowledge and from this relationship may develop. This has nothing to do with a rigid view of the Bible, but with open-mindedness, curiosity and the joy of discovery.

What do you want to do next?