WHAT WE DON’T KNOW

The humility to admit that we do not know it all, that we do not have all the answers, requires a certain kind of courage. “While knowledge may make us feel important,” Paul wrote, “it is love that really builds up the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much” (1 Corinthians 8:1, 2, NLT).

To some, this might seem a denial of certainty and hope.

But even Paul, for all his learning and insight, admitted his limitations—and his hope. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). To be able to admit, “I don’t know”—or, at least, “I don’t know it all”—means we do not have to force our limited knowledge and understandings to answer questions much larger than those for which they are fitted. It is an expression of intellectual, faith-filled honesty and humility that opens us to fresh possibilities of learning and living. As Paul suggested, the more we learn, the more we discover we don’t know. But this should not be grounds for loss of faith, or discouragement or despair. The awesome vastness and wonder of the word, world, and ways of God are our greatest evidence of who we believe Him to be. A God merely like us, understandable by us, managed by us, is ultimately of little use to us. Instead of roadblocks to faith, the challenges of explaining God and His ways are the starting points for wonder, worship, and further exploration. So, do not be afraid to not know it all, urged Paul. “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).