Believing and Knowing

January 23, 2015

My Bible reading for today took me to Exodus 5, where Moses has his first encounter with Pharaoh, telling him that "the LORD, the God of Israel says, "Let my people go," to which Pharaoh counters with the words, "Who is the LORD that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go!" The choice of words here is interesting. Today, when I hear people talk about God, it's not uncommon for even the non-committed to say, "I believe in God." True, there are a few True Unbelievers, but they are truly few...and far between.  But usually these conversations revolve around the terminology of "belief" in God.

Believing has been watered down to the point where for most people, an approximate assent to the fact is all it means. "I believe in God" carries little more weight than "I believe in the Tooth Fairy," or "I believe I'll have another beer." From a robust confidence in Providence, belief has degenerated into a mere category in our minds.

Knowing someone however, is still able to heft the burden of commitment, so when Pharaoh says, "I don't know this god," he is not only stating a fact, he is standing his ground and unfortunately for him, drawing a line in the sand. Sadly, many who believe in God don't really know the God they believe in. Even those of us who are committed to our faith can only speak somewhat tentatively of knowing God. As St. Paul says, "our knowledge is incomplete." We know God by knowing Jesus Christ, but at best, even our knowledge of him is partial. I suppose it's a good thing; there is always room for growth, not only in faith, but in knowledge. I believe in God; I want to know him more, and to that end I give thanks because the Bible says God "inhabits the praises of his people," and if you want to get to know someone, spending time with them where they live is a good place to start. In Matthew 11: 27, Jesus gave us this additional insight: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son decides to reveal him."

Anyone can believe in God without having it mean much. Jesus invites us to know God by getting to know Jesus. That is doable, and something for which to give everlasting thanks.