Built Up -vs- Puffed Up
Christianity is about being right, right? Someone recently implied this of me as a Christian, in a not so complimentary way. Face grim like a carved mask she said to me, “Oh, you Christians always have to be right, because of course, Christianity is always right!” I pretended it was water off a duck’s back but it wasn’t. The salvo stung. Was I giving her the smug impression that I do always have to be right? … that I am, in fact, always right? “No one knows more than me. Leave your ignorance lady and believe what I am telling you about Christianity.” But then again true Christianity is right, right? And in the end being right in spiritual matters is the most important thing of all. So being right is actually a blessing.
Make no mistake about it being right is a good thing. It helps you deal with the way things really are. And in the economy of God, by his Word, if you are not right in believing in Jesus as “the truth and the way and the life” you will be wrong forever. Simply put - this is true and right and the best blessing of all.
So again, being right is good. But being right is not always the best thing. It can actually be kind of a dangerous thing. When you were in school, did you ever sit next to a kid in class who was right all the time? How fun was it to be around this kid? Could you trust such a person to love you and get you as a friend? Perhaps you could but the know-it-alls I knew who were always right, and usually they were right, were often very wrong at friendship, love, and compassion. A really smart guy once said, “It’s actually hard to be right a lot and not hurt other people with it.”
Part of the winsomeness of holiness that Jesus lived perfectly was that he was always right but never hurt anybody with it. His words often caused discomfort, even pain, often deliberately but they were never words of a puffed-up wise guy ego who belittled people with lower IQ’s. Jesus hung out with prostitutes, children, tax collectors, children, slaves, beggars, lepers, and the uneducated and the illiterate and he never made them feel slow. He never made them feel stupid. They just were not that to him. Rather they were loved by him.
One of the main reasons real Christianity has a ring of authenticity to it is it understands the relationship between knowledge and love so deeply. The church at Corinth was chucked full of people with the smartest-guy-in the room syndrome, just like so many we see on the news these days, sometimes just like that person we see in the mirror every morning. So Paul wrote these intriguing words to them in 1 Corinthians 8:1, 2. “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2 - Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.
What Paul is saying in verse 1 is this: There is a kind of KNOWLEDGE that leads to PRIDE that leads to LOVELESSNESS that leads to DESTRUCTION. It is an imaginary knowing Paul says in the first part of verse 2, “Those who think they know…” The puffer fish, the blow hard who actually doesn’t know owns this imaginary kind of knowledge. Ole’ Rhythm Jaws Louis Armstrong loved to say: “There are some people that if they don’t know - you can’t tell ‘em.”
Paul calls these people, “Those who think they know…” And this leads to pride and lovelessness and destruction. That knowledge puffs up. You aren’t this kind of person in your knowledge of Christ, are you? Notice that Paul says, “This is not right knowing!” In the last part of verse 2 he says that they, “do not yet know as they ought to know,” because love is missing in their knowledge. My friend, there is a “knowing” that only puffs up because it lacks a love that builds up. You may be right but lacking love that builds up makes you wrong.
In Corinth the knowledge the Corinthians were using to puff up was the given that everybody knows that meat sacrificed to idols was nothing. Hence the NIV 2011 in verse 1 puts the phrase “We all possess knowledge” in quotes. It was actually a slogan in Corinth meaning “Duh, who doesn’t know meat offered to idols is just meat.” You see, the Corinthians had come out of pagan backgrounds. They once worshiped idols. They believed that meat was inhabited by demons, so they would offer the meat before their idol. The idea was that the idol would cleanse the meat of the demons, so when they consumed the meat, it would be clean and inhabited by their god rather than by demons. It was an act of worship to their idol. They had grown up doing it this way and some of them were still affected by this way of thinking.
But some of the Corinthian believers who were more knowledgeable were saying, “Idols aren’t real. Now that we’re Christians, we know that idols are a farce. Get over it. Eat the meat. It’s not a big deal.” But the weaker Christians who spent their whole lives thinking another way, having not yet reached a certain Christian maturity in thinking, were sensing in their consciences, I can’t eat that meat. It’s been offered to an idol. That’s like worshiping an idol. Meanwhile the more knowledgeable Christians were saying, “Wimp. Just eat it. There’s no such thing as an idol.” Christianity is about being right, right? So listening to this informed but unloving counsel, the consciences of the less knowledgeable were being wounded.
So Paul addresses the problem. “Yes, you’re right; the idols are not really gods. But that’s not the point. The point is that in using your knowledge, you weren’t thinking about your sister or brother. You were the puffer fish bloated and prickly to your weaker sister and brother. They didn’t yet feel right in their conscience about taking the meat, and yet you unlovingly pushed them toward it because of your knowledge. You wounded their consciences. Why would you do that? Kill your pride in being right. Seek to know in a way that edifies in love without sacrificing what is true. Be right without a knowing that puffs up but with a love that builds up.
There was a dad who was a really, really smart guy - a rocket scientist - and he had a three year old, a little boy. It was the weirdest thing. That little guy didn’t really care at all how smart his dad was. With sheer genius he built rockets that sent men to faraway places but the boy was not impressed. This dad was at Pick N’ Save one time, and the three year old was fussing and whining and super upset and obnoxious. Three year olds do this. He wouldn’t stop his tantrum.
His dad kept whispering quietly in his ear, “It’s okay, Lucas. We’ll be done soon, Lucas. You can handle this Lucas. You are dearly loved, Lucas. We don’t know what to do Lucas, but it will be okay with Jesus, Lucas.” It was beautiful, like this dad was the baby whisperer even though the tantrum continued. A lady behind him in the checkout lane was impressed. “You’re so patient and knowledgeable with your son Lucas,” and the dad said, “Oh, No! My son’s name is Wendell madam. I’m Lucas and trust me I do not know what I am doing.”
A really smart guy who got into a situation where he didn’t know what to do. Sooner or later it happens to even the smartest of us who are usually right and know it all. As Lucas mercifully makes it out into the parking lot he sings a song that he makes up to Wendell who is still wailing away in his arms. At this point in desperation it was a made up two verse dad song with made up dad words sung to the tune of “Jesus Loves Me This I know.” It went like this.
Vs. 1 - “Jesus loves you this I know. ‘Cause the Bible says it’s so. I’m so thankful he loves you. Please, stop crying before I do. Yes, Jesus loves us! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves you! And I don’t know what to do. Vs. 2 - I will never be so proud. When I get into a crowd. A little boy taught me to love. Wisdom’s good but love’s above. Yes, Jesus loves us! Yes, Jesus loves me! Yes, Jesus loves you! Help me know what to do.
Wendell gets really quiet in hearing these words sung to him. His eyes get really wide. His heart gets really calm. He listens to that wonderful song all the way to the car. He knew it was just a father’s love that was meant to build him up. His daddy puts him in the car seat in the back and then gets behind the wheel to drive off. Wendell pipes up, “Sing it to me again daddy! Sing it to me again! We all need to hear that song more often!”
Christianity is about being right. However, none of us is so bright we are always, at all times, knowing what is right to say and do. We get humbled like Lucas and yet God still loves us. God grant our humbled hearts check our prideful minds so we offer Christ’s truth with a love that builds up. And that is a song we need to hear more often.
