When Knowledge Gets in the Way

By Jeff Gray

In my last post, When Bible Study Isn’t Enough, I wrote about the danger of learning about Jesus without obeying Him. But there is another way knowledge can get in the way of obedience.

Sometimes we do not disciple others because we believe we do not know enough.

We think, “What if they ask a question I cannot answer? What if the conversation goes somewhere I am not prepared to go?”

Before anything has happened, our “what ifs” convince us to do nothing.

Knowledge Is Not the Problem

Studying Scripture is important. We should keep learning. The problem begins when we convince ourselves we must know more before we can obey.

We tell ourselves we will disciple someone after another class, book, or training. But the finish line keeps moving because there is always more to learn.

Jesus never said we must know everything before we can share what we know.

She Simply Told Her Story

In John 4, the Samaritan woman had just met Jesus. She did not understand everything about Him. But she knew she had encountered someone who saw her life and offered her living water.

She left her water jar, returned to town, and said, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

She did not have every answer. She simply pointed people to Jesus. Many Samaritans believed because she shared what she knew.

Go Tell What Jesus Has Done

In Mark 5, Jesus delivered a man possessed by demons. The man wanted to travel with Him, but Jesus told him to go home and tell his friends what the Lord had done for him.

Jesus did not tell him to enroll in classes first. He told him to share his story.

Stop Letting “What If” Lead You

Moses also struggled with “what if.” When God sent him to Egypt, Moses essentially asked, “But what if they do not believe me or listen to me?”

He was worrying about a response that had not happened. God did not explain every possible outcome. He gave Moses what he needed for the next step.

We often do the same. We allow questions no one has asked and situations that have not happened to keep us from obeying Jesus today.

Share What You Know

You do not need to know everything to disciple someone. You need to obey what Jesus has taught you and help someone else do the same.

Over the years, I have been asked sincere and challenging questions I had never even considered. Do not let that stop you. You can simply say, “That’s a great question. I don’t know the answer, but I’ll spend some time researching it. Why don’t you do the same, and when we meet next week, we can compare notes?”

Not knowing an answer is not failure. Sometimes discipleship looks like two people searching Scripture, learning, and growing together.

Who has God placed in your life? What has Jesus done for you that you can share?

Stop waiting until you know enough.

Take what you know, trust the Holy Spirit, and obey.