Beyond My Realm of Knowledge

This post was originally published in February 2022.

Podcast version available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Anchor!

When I was in university, there was a running joke between my classmates and I about a clever phrase to use whenever we didn’t know how to answer a question.

To avoid the embarrassment of being called on by a professor and forced to admit that we didn’t know the correct answer… or worse! Being on a teaching placement as a teacher-in-training, and being stumped by the question of a sassy high schooler, we’d simply reply with:

That’s beyond my realm of knowledge

It’s just a pretentious way of saying: I haven’t a clue… Beats me… Or the classic: I don’t know!

Well, more than 15 years after that nugget of wisdom was born, I find myself more comfortable disclosing my intellectual limitations.

For one, I haven’t been in such a structured academic setting in a long time. So I am admittedly rusty. However, more importantly, I’m realizing what many wiser people ahead of me have come to discover as well:

The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

I don’t mean this to sound self-deprecating, so I hope that doesn’t come across. The truth is, that this applies to so much of life.

For example, before having my kids, I knew everything there was to know about being a parent. The older my kids get, the more there is to it. We’re growing and learning together. The answers were simple when they were babies, but they are becoming increasingly complex as their very lives do as well.

And so I find this to be true in my walk with Jesus too.

Answers came easy when I was young! Now? Not so much. On the one hand, life is more complex than I realized, and on the other hand, God is more complex than I realized. But that’s a good thing!

It’s comforting to know there’s so much outside my realm of knowledge. Even as I seek to understand, learn, and grow, there is so much yet to be discovered about who God is and how He works. The more I know, the more I want to know. And I hope that’s contagious.

Knowing About vs Truly Knowing

I’m reminded of James 2:19, where James tells his readers that even demons believe God exists, and they shudder at the thought. Intellectually knowing something to be true, doesn’t mean it changes you on the inside. It doesn’t equal transformation. Do you expect your knowledge of God or His Word to be enough to change your life?

The bottom line is that God is not about head knowledge!

If He was, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day would have nailed. Instead, they nailed Him to the cross because they missed the mark.

God wants us to experience Him. To fill us with His Spirit, so the fruit of the Spirit could flow out of us.

You may recall the scripture:

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

– 1 Corinthians 8:1

I absolutely love the NLT translation that says:

But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.

I mean, come on! As someone who loves to learn and teach and expand my realm of knowledge, I SO need that shift in focus.

Knowing more won’t solve all your problems. More of God in your life, the Source of love, because God IS love… that is what will strengthen His people.

I don’t know what kind of man He is.

I cannot wait to share this next bit with you. It’s recently become my absolute favourite story in the Bible. It’s found in John chapter 9 and it starts off kind of weird. Jesus spits on the ground, makes mud with the dirt and saliva, rubs it onto the eyes of a man born blind, and after telling him to wash off the mud, the man’s sight is fully restored. A miracle!

Not to gloss over the miracle of sight, but what happens next is my favourite part.

What should have been a beautifully redemptive moment of healing, turns into a scandalous controversy.

Here’s why:

• Jesus healed on the Sabbath

• This was problematic because Jesus lived during a time when religious leaders had added to Mosaic law regarding what was permissible during the Sabbath.

• What was supposed to be a day of rest, and opportunity to connect with God more deeply, had been twisted into a heavy burden of trying to avoid breaking all the countless rules that had been added to the sacred day.

• So instead of worshiping God for this miraculous healing, the Pharisees berate the man and demand answers regarding Jesus.

  
  

Before we go on, let’s help this hit closer to home.

Maybe YOU’VE encountered Jesus. Maybe God has worked miraculously in YOUR life. Maybe it wasn’t a physical miracle, but maybe He healed something deep inside you that no one and nothing had been able to fix.

And before you can even make sense of what’s happened, doubt creeps in (whether from outside or in), causing you to question everything.

Well going back to our Sabbath healing…

• The man born blind won’t have it.

• He’s annoyed at their questions, and even mocks their constant probing!

• 
  

 “Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”

– John 9:27

• The man likely knew that the Pharisees had no interest in becoming followers of Jesus.

• And perhaps you too are surrounded by similar probing questions coming from insincere hearts.

• Here is what I love most about the man’s response and what I hope to communicate today…

• 
  

The Message and The Passion translations are my favourite versions of my favourite verse in the whole story, so I’m including them both.

He replied, “I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.”

– John 9:25 MSG

The healed man replied, “I have no idea what kind of man He is. All I know is that I was blind and now I can see for the first time in my life!”

– John 9:25 TPT

Friends, so much of what I believe is, in fact, outside my realm of knowledge despite how much I love to learn and study and expand my brain. I know we’re not all built that way and we all grow differently.

But here’s the truth of it for me:

I don’t know everything about Jesus.

All I know with certainty, is what I’ve experienced.

• I was blind, and now I see.

• I was lost, and now I’m found.

• I was walking in darkness, and I’ve seen a Great Light.

• I was dead, and now I’m alive.

  
  

Maybe reading/ listening to this had you assuming I somehow had answers beyond that… I don’t always. And I’m ok with that. There’s just so much beyond my realm of knowledge. The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.

But knowing His love and what He’s done is enough. And I’ll continue to pursue knowing Him as long as I have eyes to see, ears to hear, and breath in my lungs.

What’s in the Ears

Steffany Gretzinger is a great artist for more stripped down, vocal-focused worship. This is from her new album with throwback songs from the 90s but with her own take on them. The song Knowing You couldn’t be more perfectly paired with the theme of this post.

There will always be some aspect of faith that is beyond our realms of knowledge. But may that push us to dig deeper, instead of becoming cynics or giving up altogether.I’d love to know your thoughts on this in the comments, send me a message, and share with a friend too!

Podcast version available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Anchor!