Growth Requires Correction

“Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.” (Pr 23:12 AV)

 

The word for ‘apply’ means to open up.  Solomon is encouraging his children to open their hearts to instruction.  The word for ‘instruction’ means correction.  One cannot be instructed without being corrected.  The two go hand in hand.  If the heart is not open to correction, then the ears are closed to the gaining of knowledge.  Wisdom and success are a matter of the heart.  If we have no desire to learn what it is we are doing wrong, then there will be no interest in how to do it right.  If we are not willing to be corrected, then any knowledge in that area will fall on deaf ears.  The more we are willing to correct an error, the more we gather more knowledge.  It is a shame there comes a time in the lives of some people where they stop growing.  They do not like to be corrected and therefore, shut their ears to any new knowledge.  Solomon would say this is unwise.

There is a learning curve in whatever we endeavor to learn.  Initially, we learn a lot.  Once we become proficient, then correction becomes harder to endure.  The hardest pupils to teach are those who have a working knowledge but are not at the professional level.  They have a working knowledge of a skill to get by, but not enough to be termed an expert.  The multitude of knowledge does not make an expert, either.  One can be book smart but not truly wise.  Wisdom takes correction.  Wisdom requires someone with a more thorough working knowledge of the skill set we have oversees our growth and makes observations for our betterment.  The further we advance, the more detailed those corrections become.  When we started, there were major corrections made that were obvious and resulted in dramatic changes.  The further we go into that skill set, the finer the corrections become and the less dramatic our results.  There comes a time when we have to seek the guidance of someone who may have less knowledge, but more skill.  We may think we know more simply because we have more head knowledge, but in reality, our growth is stunted because no one took the time to correct it.  Head knowledge alone can become counterproductive and even harmful if a correction does not accompany it.

In the information age, this is exactly where our churches are today.  We have a plethora of knowledge available at the click of a mouse.  We have the printed page filling our bookshelves.  There is so much data on any giving subject, anyone reading or watch videos can immediately feel as though they are an expert.  The problem is, too much knowledge with mentoring makes for a prideful theologian.  It has become an alarming trend to see the spiritual offices of the church diminished because of increased knowledge without hearts being applied to instruction.  Whatever theological bent we desire can find a guru who pushes it.  It used to be the spiritual offices of the church were where the saints would go first.  Now, they are the last.  And often they are approaches as though under trial for their profession of faith.  The correctors have become the corrected.  There is a danger in self-sufficiency.  Too much knowledge without the humility to be corrected makes for stunted spiritual growth.  Like my guitar lessons of decades past, I hit a wall with the ‘B’ family of chords was on the list.  I could see how they were formed, but I didn’t care for the discipline to make it happen.  There was knowledge, but the instruction wasn’t fun anymore.  In our walk with God, refusing correction means we cease to grow.  And that is where a good number of saints reside today.