Knowledge Is Costly
Knowledge is costly. It takes time and effort. Other ways of using the time are lost. In addition, genuine knowledge requires an experiential component. We must ponder what we have learned, let that understanding mature, and seek to discern what is correct and what isn’t based on our experience or the experiences of credible others. Even more, we must pray for the ability to properly understand experiential knowledge and book knowledge. Grace is important so we may make appropriate inferences on what we are reading or experiencing or hearing. His grace is also needed to enable us to focus on what is vital.
In his classic book, The City of God, Saint Augustine spoke of how certain types of demons could affect Christians in a particularly dramatic way. Though the biblical evidence was not absolutely clear, and while Augustine himself had not encountered this specific kind of demonic attack, he stated that there were so many credible witnesses to it that it would be ‘impudent’ to deny it. Consequently, he had knowledge about this area because he correctly discerned that the Scripture allowed such a view and accepted the testimony of reliable witnesses about the matter. Since our range of experience will necessarily be limited, this is normally what we have to do. Indeed, one person’s lack of experience cannot mean that others might not have had such an experience. So, we go with the experience when it is biblically viable and other interpretations of what happened don’t make as much sense.
We are to grow in the grace and experiential knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). The two always go together. May God be gracious to us to grant us greater knowledge of Him and of what is true.
Comforting others is costly but worth it.