Being Unaware Does Not Equal Safety
Many people have an aversion to having their ignorance pointed out as this tends to hurt feelings. Perhaps a proper understanding of what ignorance is would help the situation. By definition, ignorance is a lack of knowledge, education or awareness. While some seem to be offended by having their ignorance identified and exposed, others seem to think ignorance provides them some insulation from obvious responsibility.
These are much like the lemming of the North, who, unaware of the danger associated with great falls from a cliff charge boldly toward and over it in migratory frenzy. This is not some sort of mass suicide as many suppose, but many of them die as a result. Does the lack of knowledge (ignorance) provide safety in this instance? Some claim that the ostrich, who most think is an “ignorant” animal, buries their head in the ground in an attempt to hide from danger. This is a myth as well, as it would not negate the danger and would likely suffocate the animal that participated in such activity. All of God’s creation instinctively knows that danger cannot be ignored. Danger in the wild must be faced and some die during the confrontation. This is just the way of nature.
Why then does man seem to think that being unaware of something shields them from responsibility? Are we any less susceptible to harm by not knowing, or being unaware of it? Can we not, as Jesus told the Sadducees, be in error by not knowing the scriptures? Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. (Matthew 22:29)
Did they even dare think they could escape the wrath of God in their disobedience, let alone “trick” the “Word” Himself? There was no safety in their position and their ignorance did not excuse it. They had been in possession of the same Word with which they challenged the Lord for many years, in fact, all their lives – yet they were unaware.
Today, it is the same. Even those self-styled “experts of the Word of God fail to acknowledge the proper “divisions” in God’s revelation to man and the resulting problem is denominations. Many adhere to the teaching of their denomination (or faction) and feel secure in that false hope that it brings. There is no excuse for misunderstanding the Word of God. When rightly divided, His Commandments are clear, His promises certain, and His reward is waiting for those who become and remain obedient to it.
Perhaps that was the “mindset” of my Father In-Law when he wrote the poem below. Read, study and strive to understand the Word of God, then follow it. Don’t allow your ignorance of the Word of God and His instructions to man in this age cost you your soul’s salvation. Dennis Strickland – Mooresville church of Christ.
Understanding the Word
I’m attempting a thing that is hard to do,
And that’s writing this poem for people like you.
Don’t misunderstand the things I shall say,
Everything in the Bible’s not for us today.
While personal pronouns appear in their places,
The context decides their “use” in such cases.
The apostles and prophets have some special spots,
Which some never knew and others forgot.
The “permanent” and “temporary” are valuable too,
While screening the evidence for what to do.
It’s true these are there in the Sacred Text,
With the temporary first and the permanent next.
To whom, about what, is often ignored,
While some certain passages and underscored.
“Generics” and “specifics” we know aren’t the same,
And the literal and figurative are seldom explained.
When “rightly divided” God’s message is plain,
He gave the commands, the expedients we name.
The “mystery’s” revealed, but, Ah, have we learned?
The question I ask: “Are we really concerned?”
So let us “divide” by the dispensations,
Patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian equations.
Re-trace the “boundaries”, re-build the “fences”,
And the Word will require no further defenses.
O.D. Wilson – deceased
