HELLO!

“Jesus said, I thank you God, you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” Matthew 11:25

I have been pondering knowledge. There is a school of thought that says, “Knowledge is power and knowledge is transformative”. I am not so sure. The evidence suggests otherwise. Modernity is the experiment most of us have lived through, the bias being if we educated ourselves and others, people would make good decisions, society would experience progress. To debunk this theory, I once heard a professor say that 1940’s Germany was one of the most educated and cultured populations in world history. Knowledge is no guarantee of progress or the advancement of justice.

Post-modernity has been with us for some time. This transition brings with it the assumption there is no longer a consensus on what the truth is, there is no one set of answers to all challenges. Some of my friends celebrate this change, others “not so much”. If you believe all of us are endowed with “particular truths” to live by, including the kind of freedom we in the west typically call our own, modernity may be your ideal. But if you believe imperialism, colonialism, has brought with it the arrogance and imposition of one culture supplanting another, a sense of post-modernity, having moved beyond one set of answers, is likely your ideal.

There is a school of thought that says if we share with others knowledge, we will move society beyond its stigmas and prejudices. History has not been kind to this assumption. I would argue climate change is exhibit A. My approach to preaching and faith studies is slightly different. I am not trying to “educate” lay people, having people show up with Hilroy scribblers and write down what I have learned from Bible or theological scholars. Jesus is pretty clear the educated elites, who knew “stuff” and practiced their piety, were not inclined to love those who were living on the margins. Jesus’ approach was to move people to compassion, to look in the mirror and see our own “log in our eye” before seeing the speck in the other’s eye. My approach to preaching and studies is to share stories that reveal our deep connections, our divine differences, our need for renewal and community, and despite acknowledging pain and suffering, never lose sight of hope and resurrection. It is great to know things, knowing is medicine, the technology that makes life easier and longer, that shatters the lies of discrimination and hate. But knowledge does not necessarily help to love. Knowledge is important, love is everything.

Peace, Kevin