To hear this Morning Devotion, please click Room for improvement
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It almost seems like a contradiction.
I’m talking about how the wisest of people are the first ones to concede that they don’t know everything.
It is that humility, however, that makes them so valuable as guides toward the advice we so often need.
For when we hear a wise person say, “There are many things I don’t know, but here are some things I DO know…” we gain confidence that we’re hearing solid, tested truth that could make a real difference in our lives.
Like you, I’ve experienced the spiritual, relational and material blessings that came from listening to wise people who shared tested truth with me.
And like you, I’ve experienced the unwanted burdens that sometimes came because I didn’t listen to the advice from wise people who were trying to save me from dead-end roads.
It’s always SO much better to acknowledge our life-long need for learning. The more we do so, the wiser we become.
We all — even the most charming and most eloquent among us — need to remain in a learning mode.
I share this principle this morning because of what I read in Acts 18 regarding a man named Apollos.
He was a brilliant orator who was skilled in debate and who loved God.
Acts 18:24-25 describe Apollos as a “learned man with a thorough knowledge of the scriptures who spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately” while in Ephesus, likely on repeated occasions.
On one occasion of “speaking boldly” in the Ephesian synagogue, a mature Christian couple with the names Aquila and Priscilla heard Apollos’ message and then invited him to their home. Why? They “explained the way of God more accurately” to him regarding baptism into Christ (v. 26).
If Apollos had been unwise, he would have been offended by the couple’s efforts to help him better understand the Gospel message and to better serve the Savior who gave it.
If pride had been given free reign, Apollos would have looked for flaws in Aquila and Priscilla in order to shift the focus away from his knowledge deficits.
Or he might have been socially tactful in saying “Thanks, but no thanks,” while at the same time rejecting the call to be spiritually truthful.
It is SO good that Apollos didn’t do what too many Christians today do — put up a wall of pride to hide the void in learning. He listened to the Holy Spirit, speaking through the couple, and — by implication — was baptized into Christ
Every longtime Christian faces this learning intersection of pride and humility from time to time. We are sharing our understanding of faith and then somebody comes along and asks us to consider biblical information we had not earlier understood or embraced.
If we’re wise, we’ll give serious evaluation to what the person is sharing, comparing it with the scriptures and modifying our message appropriately.
If we’re unwise, we’ll blow the person off as ill-informed and trying to skew our beliefs to imitate theirs.
I have no idea what facets of your faith are in need of sharpening to display “the way of God more accurately.” But you can be sure that God does and that He’ll eventually send somebody to humbly point you toward a greater understanding of the Gospel.
When that happens, please reject the lure of prideful self-contentment with what you know. Instead, display the pattern of Apollos and allow the Holy Spirit to sharpen your faith as you sharpen the Sword of Truth, your knowledge of scripture.
As always, I love you
Martin
Thank’s for the message God bless you