{"id":37502,"date":"2016-02-14T20:04:47","date_gmt":"2016-02-14T18:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kernbeisser.ch\/my-people-perish-for-lack-of-knowledge\/"},"modified":"2023-08-24T12:00:56","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T10:00:56","slug":"my-people-perish-for-lack-of-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kernbeisser.ch\/en\/my-people-perish-for-lack-of-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"My people perish for lack of knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text text_lead=”yes” uncode_shortcode_id=”117140″]A healthy cognition is important for a healthy faith. This has always been the case. It has also always been a challenge to establish this in communities, to promote it and use it for building. You can learn something from past experiences.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”917621″]<\/p>\n

The lack of knowledge<\/h3>\n

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

“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.<\/strong> 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.”<\/em>
\nHos 4:1-6<\/p>\n

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<\/em> ting adultery,” and “acts of blood”<\/em> 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”<\/em> and it “withers everyone who dwells in it.”<\/em> The whole country<\/a> goes in – along with its inhabitants.<\/p>\n

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”<\/em>. 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.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”148761″]<\/p>\n

The erosion of the spiritual life<\/h3>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n