Willful Ignorance

“Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.” (Joh 8:43 AV)

 

This is pretty blunt.  Ignorance of the word of God is placed squarely at the feet of those who reject Him.  The word of God is not written as a large book of puzzles and mysteries wherein only those who have the special key can unlock its truths.  The word of God, as far as the simplicity of the gospel can be understood by all.  The attributes of God, although in quantity and quality may still be a bit of a mystery, factually they are not.  Anyone can understand that God is perfect and without error.  The deeper things of God take much prayer and study.  But there is enough truth open to all by which they can come to Christ in repentance and faith.  If the lost wish to remain so, it is not because God has blinded their eyes.  They have with the assistance of the devil.  This principle of willful ignorance is not limited to the lost.  The saint can do the same.  There are many hard truths in the word of God that some would rather not see.  Marriage, divorce, and remarriage are examples.  There is separation and sanctification.  There is the veracity of the word of God.  There are many truths that professing believers choose to see as a preference rather than a solid and absolute truth.  We cannot understand what the Bible says because we have a built-in bias that blinds us to that what we need to see.

Willful ignorance has many causes.  There is bias.  Biases are those ideas or foundations that shape how and what we learn.   Some call this a worldview.  These biases are formed by information shaped by reason and experience.  A bias is an angle at which we see something.  If we are convinced of foundational truth, then we will see all other relevant truths from that point of view.  There is also pride.  Pride has a way of causing ignorance.  Pride in our own abilities.  Pride in desiring to be one’s own authority.  Truth becomes subjective.  Truth is what we think it is or what we have reasoned it out to be.  Willful ignorance can also come by way of an apathetic heart.   We simply do not care enough about the truth to seek it out and apply it.  Life marches on and we suffer for our ignorance.  But we have calloused ourselves against the circumstances which came from our apathy and learn to live with it.  Willful ignorance can be a result of laziness.  We simply are not motivated to work at it.  The Bible commands us to study, yet doing so takes time and work.  Willful ignorance can also come by way of misplaced priorities.  To us, there are more important things to do than to learn and apply God’s word.  We are motivated by disasters that force us to re-align our priorities so that the word of God becomes important again.  I am sure there are many other causes.

As one of my previous pastors used to say, “God is infinitely concerned that you find His will for your life than You’ll ever be.”  If we cannot understand the word of God, it is not God’s fault.  The Pharisees could not understand what Jesus was trying to teach them because they didn’t want to see it.  He spoke plainly.  Others who were not so learned understood and believed.  They did not.  If we need wisdom from the word of God, which we always do, then we need to maintain a teachable heart.  This means we must entertain the possibility that we do not know everything and no matter how right we think we are, we may be wrong.  The word of God must be approached with a sense of dependency.  We must see it as something we cannot live without.  It alone has the keys to life.  If we cannot see it, it might be because we truly do not want to see it.