What Do I Know?

When I came to know Jesus as my Savior, I had the benefit of being raised in church and having a little knowledge of Jesus, and many Bible stories. Yet, what I didn’t know was that it wasn’t what I knew that saved me, but Who I knew. In my early teens, I finally came to know Jesus as my Savior. I came to know Jesus as Lord of all.

There are steps for all of us as followers of Jesus. We sit under pastors who teach us. We may even attend a small group where there is great bible teaching and opportunities for discussions that challenge and stretch us. These are the ways that we are going to grow, but for what purpose? Do we do these things just to have more knowledge about God’s word? What are we supposed to do with all these truths that we gain?

The answer to that question is we are supposed to pass those truths on to others, to teach, and disciple those who we have led to Christ. Now I know that many hear these words and begin to quake with the thought of having to teach something from the bible to someone. We worry we don’t know enough about the bible, or what if someone asks me a question that I don’t understand?

The Apostle Paul had a different concern. He had great knowledge because he came from being a pharisee, one who had great Old Testament biblical knowledge and had been taught by Jesus Himself. When Paul taught his education was far above those of early Christians. Here is how Paul handled this situation in I Corinthians 2:1-5, “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Paul was not trying to impress people with his great biblical knowledge. He just wanted them to grasp this one thing, “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” All the history, all the prophecies, all of the Jewish traditions paled in comparison to one truth, Jesus is the Christ. He died and on the third day rose again for the forgiveness of all sin. Now, if that worked for Paul so that he wouldn’t overwhelm people, wouldn’t the same mindset work for us when it comes to sharing our faith? We don’t have to be biblical scholars, and we sure do not have to impress anyone. All we have to know is that Jesus is the Christ and He died and rose from the grave for the forgiveness of all sin. You and I can do that, in fact, we should do that. Sure, we should grow in knowledge, but at the end of the day, Jesus is all we need to know.