A friend of mine who works in the business world observes: “It’s not what you don’t know that gets you. It’s what you don’t know that you don’t know that gets you.”
That’s true in the spiritual world as well. The assumptions that we make about God, the purpose of life, the character of prayer — and a long list of other matters — all powerfully shape the way that we live whether we know it or not.
WYDKTYDK is where you acquired the assumptions that you make about God. They could be things you were taught, but they could be things you have caught. It is not uncommon, for example, to project our early experiences of our parents onto God. That might not be all that bad if your parents were kind and nurturing. It is not all that good if your parents were abusive or cruel.
WYDKTYDK is how little our ideas have to do with what other people really believe. Being a priest, some people can’t resist telling me that they don’t believe in God. Fair enough… but when people say that they reject Christianity, I often find that what they have rejected isn’t anything like what Christians actually believe about God. There is nothing wrong with rejecting bad ideas about God, but what if the bad ideas are the only ones you’ve been taught?
“It’s not what you don’t know that gets you. It’s what you don’t know that you don’t know that gets you.”
For my experience I would have been turned away from Christianity or religion found in churches if I had not been through so much before I encountered Jesus Christ. For the most part even up to today most people sitting in churches have not had their minds and hearts illuminated through the power of the Holy Spirit and thus only know Jesus through precepts passed down to them and have absolutely no concept of what it means to be in relationship with our Lord where the relationship is rich, dynamic and constant. They know nothing of His presence. Why? They have not experienced the Holy Spirit baptism. It is true that every believer is given the Holy Spirit at the moment of belief in Jesus and when baptized in water but there is a baptism of the Holy Spirit both by water and fire which takes a believer more into an intimate contact with Jesus. The Holy Spirit will not speak of Himself but teaches and uplifts Jesus. What fools we are to think we can know Jesus without the Holy Spirit or to be in a personal relationship with Him. The church has miserably failed their members mainly because the leaders know nothing of Holy Spirit baptism. It is essential to be empowered by the Holy Spirit both to understand and to do the Lord’s work. Without the Holy Spirit the holy Word of God is dead on the pages but with the Holy Spirit they are truly life and spirit.
Let us all pray for the latter rain which is promised in Scripture! It is true that what we don’t know can truly damage us. Let those who are ignorant be ignorant still is a statement found in Revelation. Jesus wants all to come to Him and will refuse none who do so. But if one wants a vital and living relationship with the Lord there is much more to it than attending church, Bible studies, rituals, and traditions. Jesus is alive and wants to be to us everything. Are we willing to be everything to Him?