Have you ever been told by anyone that you are ignorant? If your answer is yes, how did that make you feel? Have you ever said it to anyone? If your answer is yes, what was your reason for telling the person so? Well, the fact is, in some way and to some degree, we are all ignorant. We all have knowledge of some things, but are ignorant in other things. However, being ignorant is costly. It can be detrimental both physically and eternally.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” When a person is ignorant, that person gets easily brainwashed because he or she doesn’t know the truth and the reality. That person also tends to follow others who have knowledge, or think they have knowledge. When there is a group of ignorant people, anyone can control and brainwash them because they don’t know anything.
The Webster’s Dictionary defines ignorant as:
a) Lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified.
b) Resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence.
c) Being unaware and uninformed.
Hence to combat ignorance we need to be well informed. Knowledge is power. When a person is knowledgeable about things, he or she is better able to make informed decisions. Being willfully ignorant is also very detrimental. Oftentimes people know the facts but prefer not to acknowledge them, but rather prefer to act in blindness. Rick Riordan puts it this way, “Humans see what they want to see.” Søren Kierkegaard puts it bluntly. He says, “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
There are many things in life and especially in God’s Word – The Bible – that we should never be ignorant about. Paul warned the people of his day not to be ignorant. Therefore it is important for us as well to heed the same warning.
The most serious thing that we should never be ignorant about is spiritual ignorance. Are you ignorant about spiritual things? If so, why? Ignorance is something we can do something about. Becoming aware of one’s own ignorance is the first step towards getting rid of it. You see, the worst ignorance of all is to be ignorant about God’s Word because it can lead to our spiritual demise and eternal damnation. Time after time we go to church but are still ignorant of the things that are really important for us to live vibrant and effective spiritual lives.
We must begin to take full responsibility for our spiritual development. Just going to church is not enough and will not work anymore. Church going cannot just be out of habit any longer. There are too many tough issues facing us. We need to educate ourselves and others around us so as to be able to grapple with the many tough issues which are confronting us these days.
In early times the primary work of the church was intended to edify and equip the saints. The purpose of the church still remains unchanged – that is – to join people of different backgrounds and talents and provide them training and opportunities for God’s work. The church must accomplish this mission both internally, within the body, and externally, in the world. Scripture points out that “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV). Sound teaching will lead to spiritual maturity which in turn will lead to the building up of the body of Christ.
The purpose of the church is to be the believer’s spiritual family. It is through the church that God takes people with different personalities and gifts, unifies them as a single body, and equips them to care for each other and reach the world. We were not meant to live the Christian life alone, but, surrounded by the biblical teaching and loving community of the church, together we find our own purpose in life. This is solely where the emphasis of the church should lie. The emphasis of the church should not be on money or on numbers. The church needs to take its rightful place in the society and in the world.
A good teacher would always make sure that his students have a sound foundation and a good general would never dream of sending his troops into battle without first giving them at least a minimum of training, with one of the most important points of that training being – how to recognize and neutralize the enemy. Hence, it is of dire importance that followers of Christ are well equipped, armed and ready at all times to do battle, rather than being sent out to fight the original “unconventional war” without a real clue as to the stated aims and strategies of the evil one.
There are numerous things that the Bible admonishes us not to be ignorant about. Here are a few of them:
1. Don’t be ignorant about the deceased. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 states, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”
2. Don’t be ignorant of the Rapture and End time prophecies. 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18: “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words”.
3. Don’t be ignorant about the resurrection. I Corinthians 15:3-8: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
4. Don’t be ignorant about the return of Christ. Philippians 3:20 talks about the Second Coming when it says, “We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
5. Don’t be ignorant about Spiritual Warfare. Every Christian is in a real war – a desperate, life-and-death struggle with a vicious enemy. The war is on for every Christian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You are engaged in spiritual warfare whether you know it or not. The Bible states it categorically in Ephesians 6:10-18. “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…” That’s a warning cry from the Bible for each of us! Be on the alert at all times. Be strong. Get your armor on… You’re in a raging war! And the attack is not coming from people – but from unseen beings.
6. Don’t be ignorant of Satan’s Devices – 2 Corinthians 2:11 – Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. Paul was keenly aware of the unseen spiritual battle raging around him, which is the reason why he kept on telling those to whom he wrote that they must not be ignorant.
7. Don’t be ignorant concerning Spiritual Gifts – 1 Corinthians 12:1- “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant”.
8. Don’t be ignorant about the different types of Spirits. 1 John 4:1 – Test the Spirits. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world”.
9. Don’t be ignorant of the work of the Holy Spirit. Recognize that without the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will never know victory, we will never know joy and we will never know peace. John 14:26 states, “ But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you”.
My friend, ignorant is a polite word for stupid. No one likes to hear those words. Today, let us pay attention to the past. We study the past every time we open the Bible. Scriptures contain writings from thousands of years ago. Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Do not be ignorant about the past. Do not be ignorant about what is happening around us and in the world. Let us pay attention to what is happening at home and abroad.
Pay attention to media accounts of disasters, the passage of laws, to diseases, to gobal warming, but most importantly pay attention to the written Word of God. The Lord reminds us – in Hosea 4:6 – “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”. Proverbs 22:3 also states, “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it”.
Friends, let us not be ignorant anymore. One reason why people do not really know what they believe, or what the Bible teaches, is that they have not taken time to read and study what God has said. The Lord Jesus Christ said, in John 5:39, “Search the Scriptures.” This is a very fundamental injunction put to us by the Lord. If we are to search the Scriptures, it will demand effort and it will require application of our mental energies. We will have to take time. We should endeavour to learn what the Bible teaches. Let us not operate in willful ignorance anymore.
Remember: To be ignorant of one’s ignorance is the malady of the ignorant (Amos Bronson Alcott).
About the Author: Mrs. Marilyn Hodge owns and operates the Wellness Centre in The Farrington, Anguilla. The Centre offers Counselling Services by Appointment Only. Contact information: 476-3517 or email: marilynb@anguillanet.com.
