What Mr. "Know it All" Doesn't Know (By Erik Raymond)

I recently asked one of our younger children to do a job that required some detailed clean-up. In the course of explaining the job as well as the steps to complete the job, I was interrupted. "I know. Dad, I know." Everything I said was punctuated with "I know." It was like a Baptist church hitting you with Amen's after everything. Then I let them do it. It was a disaster. Things didn't get put away, they actually got misplaced. Instead of the table being cleaned the floor became messy. Upon coming back to check on the situation I asked, "What happened here?" The answer, not surprisingly, "I don't know how to do that." 
 In the church we have a lot of impediments to growth in godliness. We live in a sinful world, have imperfect preachers, have trials and tribulations, and a relentless enemy who endeavors to be the stick in our spokes at every turn. But there is one great impediment to growth, this is the impediment of thinking that we already know everything. Let's call this person "Mr. Know-it-All". 
 Mr. Know-it-All does not really think that they have to learn anything. They are already there. They are, in effect, unteachable. 
 When you put a word like "unteachable" next to this I am sure you can see the problem. Christians, when thinking biblically, operate out of the realization that they actually do not know everything that they need to know. We have things to learn both intellectually and empircally. The design of the church is to provide a context where we can grow in godliness or Christian maturity. Consider Ephesians 4: 
 "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ," (Ephesians 4:11-15) 
 Some quick observations on these verses: a) God provides teachers, b) teachers are to teach Scripture, c) saints need to be equipped to serve so the church is built up, d) this must go on until we all grow into Christlikeness, e) maturity is the goal that we are after. 
 In light of clarity of the goal (Christian Maturity), the specificity of what this is (Christlikenss), and the means by which it is attained (hearing, learning, & applying the Bible) we all (everyone, every single Christian this side of heaven) need to hear and heed the Bible. 
 See, what Mr. Know it all doesn't know, is that he doesn't know it all. And this is a big problem-for him and the church where he fellowships. 
 Why is this such a problem? Well, in short he is not going to benefit from the ministry of the word and he is going to, by his obvious attitude, diminish its prominence in the life of the church. 
 In my 10 years of full-time pastoral ministry I have met Mr. Know-it-all many times. I have seen him in the pulpit as well as the pew. He has different faces but he acts and looks the same. Here are some of the characteristics and consequences of an unteachable person: 
 - They are critical rather than constructive. It is almost like they thrive in finding out someone's "wrong view" about something. Instead of seeing the church as a place to grow they see it as a place to show what they know. Mr. Know-it-All excels in pointing out others wrongs while doing a very poor job at (ever) pointing out what is right. 
 - They are often short-tempered rather than long-suffering. Grace is ethereal. Because they are right and know everything they have little patience with others. You won't often see this guy in a discipling relationship with others because they simply do not have the patience for people who are not like them. Further, when they do correct others they are harsh, belittling, and lacking gentleness. 
 - Talk a lot and don't listen very much. This would make sense-why not talk (if you know it all) and why listen (if they don't)? 
 - They like to fight and squabble about little things. Because they have moved into the center, the gospel gets relocated to the periphery. They will squabble with people about all kinds of things that would seem to be of secondary (or even lesser) importance. 
 - They are unsympathetic. Having no perceived weakness of their own, they cannot relate to others who are weak and struggling. Often times they devolve into harshness or disengagement with the weak. 
 - They like to talk about people. This is divisive to unity in the body. Instead of prizing unity, Christlikeness, maturity and fame of Christ, they delight in knocking others down, disrupting unity, and building themselves up. As a result, their conversations with other Christians devolve into stories of how much they know and how much others do not. 
 - They don't value preaching. Unaware of any need to grow, the sermon becomes a formality. Tragically unmoved by the ministry of the word, he is likely gathering bullets to shoot at leaders. He sits quietly during the sermons and teachings only to pick apart everything like a Monday morning quarterback. Sermons become the fodder for "gnat-straining" to find something to impugn the pastor with. 
 - They won't listen to the Bible. When confronted with an ungodly attitude and string of selfishness they simply will not listen. It is impossible for them to be wrong. It is a startling thing to see someone who seems mature refuse to respond to what God's Word says. 
 Ironically, Mr. Know-it-all only seems to have a lot of biblical knowledge. He can drop the 30 lb. words and effectively argue his point. Very often he is quite involved and appears to have things together. However, the fact that he is unteachable makes him dangerous in the local church and a detriment to his own spiritual health. 
 In contrast to Mr. Know-it-all are those who realize that they don't know everything. They are humble and hungry. They need God's Word and God's church. They may not have the ability to lift the 50 lb. theological words, but they will. It's ironic that these spiritual neophytes actually know much more and, in the long run will lap Mr. Know-it-all if he/she does not repent (thankfully, I have seen such repentance on several occasions). 
 Perhaps you're not a full-fledged Mr. Know-it-All, but if you find attitudes and actions reflected above, you may may working on a degree program that you were not aware of. It's a good time for all of us to return to the threshold of the church and look in the mirror. We don't know everything-and won't this side of glory. 

Reflections of a Christian..…..

When I belonged to the world, there were times when I felt the urge to have a “swallow”. On some occasions, I would move from one joint to another (sometimes estate to estate and occasionally town to town!) looking for company to help me “demolish” my wallet. It was of course very possible to take a table or bar stool and proceed to cause the financial (and other) damage when entirely alone. But the unholy spirit that reigns among imbibers is that “it doesn't go down well when taken while alone”.

(Luke 15:13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living).

This got me thinking! How many times since I became part of the Kingdom have I PURPOSELY gone out of my way to look for somebody to “help” me enjoy (this time not demolish) the blessings God has bestowed on me freely!

If when I belonged to the world I could go looking for undeserving people to help me in destroying/annihilating my loot, how much more should I now as a born again Christian actively go out and search for brethren who are in need and bless them just like God has blessed me!

Father, make me a giver I pray.

(Gal 6:9-10 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith).

My personal testimony for this last year (Robert Chaffart)

The Defective Heart.

Late Summer 2014, I was diagnosed by a specialist as having an abnormality in my heart.  No wonder I could hardly do any exercise. I couldn't play sports any longer, as it made my brain spin, and at times, even walking would make me so dizzy that I had to stop in my tracks.  Going up stairs was slow, just one step at a time!  I had become an old man.

The reality of it hit me head on while I was in Edinburgh, Scotland, on August 2nd, 2014.  We were heading for Tattoo, a famous music festival for all those who used to be or are still part of Great Britain.  We had to take the bus, and one was coming a bit too fast.  As we weren't yet at the bus stop, I started to run.  Within seconds, I almost blacked out.  I was confused and completely dizzy.

Once back home, my first stop was to see a cardiologist, the best in the region, and the news was grim: My heart was enlarged, and worse, I had two parts to the aortic valve leading into my heart chamber instead of the normal three parts.  I remembered back to when I was sixteen.  I was diagnosed at the time with a heart murmur, probably as a result of these two flaps to my heart valve.  Now, with time working against me, I would have to slow down, and it was recommended that I start taking beta-blockers.  After praying about it and researching the beta-blocks, I became convinced that these beta-blockers would not be for my benefit, so I didn't take them.  I decided to trust my Heavenly Dad instead.  At the same time, however, I began to prepare myself for my possible demise.  I began putting together instructions on how to continue our online ministry if something were to happen to me.

My wife and my children prayed for me, and I prayed that I would continue to live so that I could be an encouragement to others at all times.  As the former cardiologist had no bedside manner, I requested a referral to another cardiologist, one who was the exact opposite of the former one in mannerisms.  He was friendly and encouraging, and he wanted me to do more tests.

Amidst a tumultuous time at work, one day I woke up completely refreshed, assured that I was healed.  I experienced no more dizziness after this.  I was able to run up the stairs and play sports with my students without problems.  I knew in my heart that I was healed.

Just yesterday, 5 months later, I had an appointment with my cardiologist, and he told me that at times it is hard to discern all the flaps of the heart valve with an ultrasound.  However in the latest ultrasound, it was clear that I had 3 flaps.  My heart valve was completely normal.

Doctors always have to look for reasonable explanations.  Instead of concurring I asked my Father what His take was on this, and His answer was clear: "Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  'I am willing,' he said.  'Be clean!' Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured."  (Mark 1:41-42, NIV) God had healed me completely.  What else could explain that the dizziness had evaporated in the blink of an eye?  Despite the fact that I had had this condition all my life, I was now as good as new.  God gave me another flap to my heart valve so that I could continue with ministry.

Right now I long in my heart to bring the Church back to the first century standards where the word was not only spoken, but was also backed up with healings and miracles.  In other words, taking back what the evil one had stolen from us.  I have discovered that even now-a-days, some Christians live as in the first century, relying solely on our Father to share the Good News and backing it up with incredible miracles.  What happened to me will happen to others as well.

Do we believe truly?

Robert Chaffart is the Diretor and Founder of Answer2 prayer Ministries)www.answers2prayer.org)

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