Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12
Put another way, the verse above says that if you think you know it all, you've already blown it all! It is one of my favorite verses, because it captures one of the great mysteries of godliness.
Often when we offer a tract to a churchy, they say, "No thank you, I already know it all," or words to that effect. On the rare occasions when they give me a chance to reply, I usually ask, "Is that what you say when your pastor tries to teach you something?"
If the truth were known, it probably is the attitude that these people have even when going to church on a Sunday. They are not going there to learn anything, but merely to parade their righteousness. And the pastors can tolerate it because they are doing much the same thing themselves.
The religious world is full of know-it-alls, which is why they cannot get along with one another, and why they always assume that it is their job to judge us but never our job to judge them.
But this know-it-all attitude goes much farther than just the churches. And it leads to the fall of many other people and projects.
The fall of man came when Adam and Eve became convinced that they knew more than God, and that God really didn't mean what he said. Similarly, the fall of modern man is coming because our generation has become convinced once again that God doesn't really know what he is talking about.
The world today is worshipping the god of their own private opinion. "My idea of heaven is..." "The way I see it, God should..." "If you ask me, the problem with the world is..."
Everyone has an opinion, but almost no one has a god that is bigger than their own opinion. Until we can learn to lay our opinions aside for a higher authority, we can never hope to arrive at the truth.
Jesus Christ said that he was the Truth, i.e. that the words he spoke were the Truth (John 14:6), and that unless we were willing to fall on the Rock of that Truth, we were destined for destruction. (Matthew 21:44) Because the builders have set aside that Rock - the Cornerstone of Truth - all their talk about God and truth is nothing more than a front for self-righteousness. (Mark 12:10)
Some of you tell us that you have faith in God. But will you submit your feelings, desires, plans, and hopes to the scrutiny of the Word of God? Some of you tell us that you have high ideals. But if they have not come from and are not subject to the conditions set down by the One we call the Son of God, then somewhere along the line, those ideals are going to founder and sink in the sea of differing opinions.
It may not happen all at once, as, indeed, Adam did not physically die on the day that he disobeyed God, despite the fact that God promised he would. (Genesis 2:17) But for the rest of Adam's life he was dead spiritually because of his disobedience. You may look good on the outside. You may be respected and respectable. You may appear to have your life going the way that you want it to go. But sooner or later, you are going to confront death, and then confront God. If you have been using his name in vain, to promote your own opinions, and your own religious and social vanity, then you will surely have to answer for it.
Someone has said that the more we learn, the more we see that we have to learn. And this is the way that it is with those who honestly face the demands of the teachings of Jesus. There is never room to say that we have arrived. At best, what we have learned is just the direction to be heading in.
Let those who think that their opinion alone is the direction to be heading in take heed lest they fall!
(See also Lest You Fall.)
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