New Year, New View Pt. 4: Educated Beyond Our Obedience - 1/28/2024

Pastor John Keating New Year, New View...we live in a society that values education, it's how we learn new things. We study, we experiment, we gain knowledge in our attempt to bring greater understanding and better ourselves. Today I want to look at the idea that Christ followers are "Educated beyond our Obedience." I want to show how this is something not just present today but an idea Christ himself confronted in a few scenarios. Mark 10:17-24 (NLT) - I appreciate how Mark shares this story because as Jesus is sharing all the steps to reach Heaven, Jesus leads off his check list with the commandments. As a child, this young man would have memorized these commandments and undoubtedly, he knew them all. And for his Obedience of those things Mark shares that Jesus felt genuine love for him! - Jesus says there is just one more... and to that the man couldn't be obedient. He knew what he needed to do; he was educated on it, but he wasn't obedient. This isn't just a giving issue, Jesus had similar challenges with the most educated men in their society, their most influential voices on faith gave 10%. Matthew 23:23 (NLT) - They weren't obedient to show justice, mercy, and faith & Jesus scolds them! Matthew 23:15 (NLT) - Jesus calls out the teachers of the Law and Pharisees by saying their education hasn't changed their eternal status that they are children of hell! I get it; it's a cultural thing. I am absolutely a fan of our education system, but many degrees are designed primarily to learn information "about" something. Though this is a good thing, you don't have to be able to do any of the stuff you learn. You memorize information about it and then you're the "expert". The church can be the same. We are creating a culture of armchair quarterback Christians who are loud, opinionated "experts" shouting from the living room at their TV. They don't participate in giving to the poor, social justice, or evangelism, but they are quick to tell everyone how it should be done. Just because someone knows the right information about a topic doesn't mean they are living it out. Are you educated way beyond your level of obedience? What bothers me even more are the (you pick the metaphor) Christians who rip apart those who are trying to make a difference. Don't get me wrong, we need accurate, well-studied people, but what we need more are well read, theologically sound Christians who are living like Christ. Honestly, I think I am guilty too. I don't want to just talk about Jesus, I also want to mirror His ways in my family, church, and community. We must learn to not to just consume knowledge, but make Jesus known through our lives.