7–13 June 2015.
Augustine, one of the great fathers of the church, taught us that the root of all evil is pride. In the church, pride is certainly a danger for many Christians. This is especially so when we talk about knowing God. It is very tempting for us to think that we know everything there is to know about God, and that we have all the answers. But this is a proud and dangerous practice.
God certainly gave us minds and wisdom, and the task to know him. But we must always do this in a humble way, knowing that God and his truth will always be greater than us. We are limited, sinful human beings; there is no way for us to completely understand all of God’s mysteries.
That’s why it’s so important for us to set aside foolish pride and come to God in humility, in patience, and with trust. We need to come to God in humility, depending on God, trusting him, knowing that we can never stand as God’s equal. Nor are we scientists who can put God under a microscope and investigate him like an insect. We come before the glorious God as his tiny creatures, with our sinful lives and limited minds unable to know him completely.
This type of humbleness offends some Christians because in their pride they want to be greater, they want to strip away all of God’s mysteries and have people praise them for being so smart. But this is never an option for us.
In all things, and especially in the church, humility is the true sign of wisdom. Psalm 131 reminds us of this. We must be humble with God, like a child who accepts that there are some things it can never understand.
But how wonderful it is to be like a child! Children don’t need to understand everything, they just need to know that they can climb into mum’s lap and rest safely in her arms. In the same way, in quietness and peace we too don’t need to know everything. But we can still rest in God’s arms, knowing that he accepts us and always loves us.
Pastor Stephen Lakkis
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