I was cruising the bookstores last week (exciting stuff, but I needed an idea for this column) and was amazed at all the Dummy books on the shelves. There’s DOS for Dummies, WordPerfect for Dummies, The Internet for Dummies, Golf for Dummies and Business Management for Dummies, to name a few. (How many Dummy books are out there? Glad you asked. One of my favorite Austin booksellers had 747 book titles in their computer with the word dummy in them.)

    At first I was surprised the dummy books would sell at all. Hey, to buy the book is to admit you are a...well...a dummy. Who wants to admit to that? I’ve always thought if I needed one of those computer-related dummy books I’d con a friend to go in and buy it for me. On the other hand, if I had to buy it myself I’d be strongly tempted to say, “This isn’t for me, it’s for my uncle Jack and he’s middle-aged and boy is he computer illiterate and you know how those older folks are about computers and the Internet and stuff and I’m sure this Dummy book will help me...uh...I mean him, a lot.”

    Then I think, why should I worry? Dummies have come out of the closet in droves. There’s no social stigma now on the ignorant. Now it’s okay to be a dummy. May even be commendable. Therefore the remainder of this column is devoted to.....

THE PRAISE OF IGNORANCE

    Sacha Guitry said, “What little I know, I owe to my ignorance.” If necessity is the mother of invention, then ignorance—simply not knowing—is the mother of learning. It’s this feeling of inadequacy that drives us to the Bible, books or to life’s experiences with an eye toward learning.

    The toughest, most resistant student is the one who thinks he or she already knows it all and feels no need to pursue his or her studies any further. Maybe it’s this attitude that moved a friend of mine to assert (with his tongue in his cheek, sort of), that preachers should quit_retire, get out of the business_ at age forty. Did he write this because—with a degree and about twenty years of study under our hats—we feel we have everything figured out and have all the answers to deep theological questions and life problems tucked away in our cerebral hard drives? Probably. One of the occupational hazards of preaching (and I can say this because I are one) is that “a little learning” may take the edge off our intellectual hunger. In some cases intellectual anorexia is spiritually fatal.

“What little I know, I owe to my ignorance.”

    Jesus said, “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Jesus didn’t promise to bless the satisfied. He said, “I came not to call the righteous (those who think they are spiritually okay) but the sinner (those who know they need a Savior).” Only the needy have their minds set to receive.

    Paul wrote about some people who were “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (II Timothy 3:7) This squares with a later remark made by William James. He said, “A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.” Had James sat in some of our Bible study groups?

    I know this sounds crazy but most of Jesus’ confrontations were with religious people who “knew” too much. First there were the Pharisees. They knew they had completely mastered God’s law. They knew all their little dos and don’ts were God’s will. These proud, spiritually elite folks had God in a box and their biases chiseled in stone. Even Jesus couldn’t move them.

    Then there were the Sadducees. They “knew” there was no resurrection. As far as they were concerned, spirits or angels didn’t exist, either. Many of the things Jesus taught went right over their heads.

    Even Jesus’ closest disciples “knew” Jesus didn’t have time for children. But he gently rebuked them as he said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” And speaking of children, did Jesus bless children—in spite of their immature selfishness—because they are natural learners? I believe so. Children know they don’t know and aren’t ashamed of it. The endless questions they ask reflect their wide-eyed wonder and hungry minds on the cutting edge of learning.

    Here’s my point: Christians who want truth and spiritual life can’t afford the I-have-arrived attitude. So don’t put the lid on your mind. Continue to search the Scriptures and be ready to change your mind and behavior whenever you discover or rediscover some truth of God.

    No doubt about it, ignorance isn’t half bad if you know how to use it. Thank God if you are aware of gaps in your knowledge—you’re ready to learn. At best, spiritual self-satisfaction closes the mind to future spiritual growth and learning. Or worse yet, as one man put it, “He that is not aware of his ignorance will only be misled by his knowledge.”

What to do if you think you’re a Spiritual Dummy: Admit it. Confess. There’s no shame to it. One philosopher (or was it my uncle Jack?) said that we are all ignorant—just about different things. Pray about it. Don’t you know that God can’t wait to honor your desire to know more about him and the life he wants you to live? Read the Bible. It’s God’s word to us. Buy a good Bible translation you can understand and do some serious reading every day. Don’t think that God is going to elbow his way into your life. Like every other discipline, to lose the dummies you must learn. Learning takes time and patience. You may even discover yourself taking three steps forward and two back at times. That’s okay. Just stay with it. Get help. It’s just around the corner. Get with a Bible study group. Learn together. Ask questions. If the group is authentic the members will admit they are looking to know more of God themselves and that they haven’t arrived either. You’ll find yourself in good company. If all else fails, e-mail me and we’ll talk. After several years of ministry I’m about half-way through Preaching and Ministry for Dummies and still learning. We can learn together. You can remain anonymous and I’ll never blow your cover.