“Knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1).
As a lecturer at Moore College, this word seems particularly directed towards me. As someone who spends most of their time reading, writing and teaching, I need to remember that “knowledge puffs up while love builds up”.
It is also a word that seems directed to our students training for ministry, who spend their time contemplating the inexhaustible depths of God. Perhaps they need to heed the warning that knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
Some might also suggest that this is a word needed for Sydney Anglicans. We are, after all, often known as the “Bible” people. This seems to me to be a wonderful trait of faithful Christians, and yet perhaps we all need to hear that knowledge puffs up while love builds up.
It would seem strange to think that Paul was anti-knowledge. He seemed to know a fair bit, and he wanted others to know things, too! He never ceases praying that God would fill the Colossian church with the knowledge of his will (Col 1:9) and he calls on people in the Roman church to be transformed by the renewing of their minds (Rom 12:2).
He wants the Ephesians to know the love of Christ (Eph 3:18) and tells the Philippians of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus (Phil 3:8). He tells Titus that knowledge leads to godliness (Titus 1:1) whilst charging Timothy to devote himself to teaching and preaching (1 Tim 4:13).
Knowledge of God is clearly not a bad thing. Indeed, we long for the day when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God (Isaiah 11:9) – for this is eternal life, that we know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he sent (John 17:3).
The heart of the issue
So, what does Paul mean when he writes, “knowledge puffs up while love builds up”? The issue that Paul is dealing with here is idolatry. It appears the Corinthian church (or at least some in the church) were complaining that they weren’t permitted to eat food sacrificed to idols. This prohibition was in keeping with the ruling of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15. And Paul explains why:
Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled (1 Cor 8:7).
Yet this embargo on delicious meat seemed intolerable to the Corinthians. Not simply because it meant that they missed out on summer barbeques and winter roasts, but because eating food sacrificed to idols was part of the social fabric of their community. This prohibition could prevent them from attending most dinner parties, celebrations and festivals. It clearly marked you as an outsider and pushed you to the fringes of society.
Worst of all, it seemed completely unnecessary. The Corinthians knew their bibles and they knew that “There is no God but one” (1 Cor 8:4). They knew that there was no such thing as idols, and that the meat that they were eating was just that – tasty, tasty meat. So, what’s the big deal? Why can’t they eat this meat when they know from the Bible that there is nothing wrong with it?
To answer this question, we should first ask where this knowledge came from. Where in the Bible had they learnt that God is one? Without doubt, the memory verse that these Corinthians were thinking of is Deuteronomy 6:4:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Oneness is at the very heart of who God is. David prays, “there is no God but you” (1 Chron 17:20) and God declares, “apart from me there is no God” (Isaiah 44:6). And if the Lord is one, there are no such things as idols.
This meat was sacrificed to wood and stone (Isaiah 37:19) and therefore there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. God is one... so let’s eat! The Corinthians knew their theology, and this knowledge led them to the conclusion that there was absolutely nothing wrong with eating food sacrificed to idols.
But perhaps the Corinthians didn’t know their Bible as well as they thought. The point of Deuteronomy 6:4 was not to give a free pass to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Rather, the point of knowing that God is one is that you would love God and God alone:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deut 6:4-5).
If God alone is God, then God alone is worthy of our love. Every fibre of our being should be devoted to him – loving him with all our heart, soul and strength. And idolatry is the very opposite of this love. To worship an idol is adultery. To betray the one true God, to love something other than the one worthy of your love.
It is within this context that we can rightly understand what Paul means when he writes, “knowledge puffs up while love builds up”. We often think that Paul is referring to love for other people, because he goes on to urge the Corinthians to care about the weaker brother or sister. But it seems clear that Paul first has in mind our love for God. So, he writes, “But whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Cor 8:3).
The knowledge that God is one was meant to lead the Corinthians to an unwavering devotion to God, an undivided desire to worship God and see him given the glory that he alone deserves. But ironically (and tragically) it seemed to have had the opposite effect. Their knowledge of God was leading the Corinthians to not care about idolatry! To not care that their actions might lead some to start worshipping idols.
Their knowledge was puffing them up so that they only cared about themselves. But Paul teaches that love for God builds up. The last time Paul spoke about building up, he was likening his ministry to the Corinthians to the building of the temple of God. This was meant to be the Corinthians’ concern. Not to inflate their egos, but to build a temple of the Holy Spirit, a people completely devoted to their one true God.
The what and why
There are a few lessons we can learn about knowledge from this passage. The first is to focus not only on what God says in the Bible, but also why he is saying it. What’s shocking is that the Corinthians’ knowledge of Scripture led them in the complete opposite direction to where God wanted them to go.
And it still happens today. The academic world that I find myself in is full of very smart people finding very smart ways to disobey God. But we can be just as susceptible to the same attitudes in our churches and our lives.
“God is love” some might say, “and so he just wants you to be happy no matter how you live your life”. No – God is love, so he sent his Son to die for your sins, that you might turn from your evil ways and live a righteous and holy life. When we read the Bible we must ask not only what does God say, but also why is God saying it?
The second lesson is, don’t puff yourself up with knowledge. Most of us here in Sydney are very well educated by the world’s standards. What’s more, most of us in Sydney Anglican churches are very well taught from the Bible. We have a lot of knowledge. But intellectual knowledge that doesn’t lead to a love for God is deadly.
The Corinthians cared more about their right to set the menu than they did about the worship of God. Their knowledge led to self-love, rather than love for God and, in turn, his people. We have much knowledge, and from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded (Luke 12:48). Don’t puff yourself up with knowledge.
Our final lesson will help us with the first two: love God with all your heart. What will help us to read the Bible well and not become conceited with knowledge? It is our love for God.
We are commanded to love God with all our heart, soul and strength. We are to be utterly devoted to him because he alone is God. And it is when we love God, when we wholeheartedly give ourselves over to him and live for him, that we will do what he wants.
As Jesus said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (John 14:23). A Christian isn’t just someone who knows about God, but someone who loves God – who has given themselves to him through faith in Jesus Christ. For whoever loves God is known by God.
The Rev Dr Tom Habib is international student advisor and New Testament lecturer at Moore College.
