Pneumatic Self-Inflation

Read

1 Corinthians 8:1–3 (NKJV) Now concerning things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.

What it is speaking to me:

Read this:

The apostolic pronouncement under consideration constitutes a penetratingly incisive epistemological corrective: that the mere accumulation of theologically propositional cognitive content precipitates within its possessor a disposition of insufferable self-congratulatory aggrandizement. This is not, it must be carefully disambiguated, a wholesale repudiation of intellectual endeavor per se, but rather a sobering diagnostic of the characterological pathology that supervenes upon knowledge catastrophically decoupled from its properly teleological orientation toward neighborly flourishing. The individual in possession of demonstrably correct theological conclusions is, paradoxically, rendered susceptible to a particularly insidious pneumatic self-inflation — an imperious triumphalism that systematically lacerates the communal fabric it ought instead to consolidate. The apostolic antidote is unambiguous: other-oriented affection must subordinate personal intellectual distinction to the altogether more consequential vocation of unconditionally upbuilding one's associate.

Make sense? Did you have fun reading that? That was an intentionally obfuscated(oops there I go again) way to say something quite simple and clear.

Here is what that really said:

Knowing a lot of stuff can make you feel really important. And sometimes, when people feel really important, they start acting, speaking, (and writing!) like they're better than everyone else. When Paul says knowledge "puffs up", he is describing being a smarty-pants. But Paul says love is the opposite. Love takes what you know and uses it to help people, not to make yourself look cool.

So knowing a lot? Good.

Being a know-it-all jerk about it? Not good.

Lot simpler right? Easy to understand? The first example is a (only slightly) exaggerated way that some academics and seminarians write about the Bible. The Great Apostle Paul was simpler to understand! Why do they do this? Because knowledge "puffs up". In the Greek language, it is not far from the expression "full of hot air".

Knowledge is powerful. It has the power to set us free from so many things. It helps understand things about the Bible, our faith, and allows us to teach others. But it is also a two-edged sword. It can cut both ways. Paul's point: knowledge without love is dangerous. The love of God, and love of our fellow man brings with it wisdom. Wisdom and love are what guide the correct use of the knowledge we have. Otherwise in our speech and writing we ending up taking the real power of these verses which were meant to bring freedom, and obscuring that freedom with a bunch of fancy words to impress people with how smart we are. Which in the final analysis, shows how little we really know.

What is it saying to you?

Do you try and impress people with what you know about God?

What speech patterns do you have that maybe have a little puffery in them?

Do you use a lot of insider language (Christianese) when you are around new believers? Unbelievers?

What are we going to do about it?

Communicating to impress is all about us. Communicating to connect is all about others. When you teach or explain something today, make it all about the other person.