I Was Ignorant

I grew up watching the Miss America Pageant. As an 8 or 10  year old kid, I assumed this was an official search by the US Government to identify the most beautiful woman in the country. It wasn’t until later I learned it wasn’t brought to us by the Feds, but by Clairol.

I thought the same thing about the Miss Universe Pageant. I knew it had to be organized by some department of the United Nations.

One of my grandpas took nitro tablets when he had chest pains. The only thing I knew about nitro was that it was used by gangsters in old movies to blow up safes. I assumed that once the tablet grandpa swallowed reached his heart it exploded, restarting his heart. Made perfect sense to me.

Why did I believe these things? I was, in a word, ignorant. I didn’t know any better. In these cases, my ignorance was harmless.

But what if I’m ignorant about something that’s much more serious?

We’re told to read the labels of prescription and over-the-counter drugs to avoid severe problems.

Gun safety classes are held so people know how to handle guns without hurting themselves or others.

We take driving lessons and read the driver’s manual so we don’t do stupid things on the road, endangering ourselves and everyone else.

Yet there is one area of life where many purposely choose to limit what they know. They act like if they choose to remain ignorant, they can pretend all is well.  The longer we live, the more we mature, ignorance becomes a choice.

Some say, “We’re all God’s children.” Jesus taught that the children of God are those who acknowledge God as Father, receiving him into their hearts and calling on his name (John 1:12-13), giving him the honor, respect, obedience he deserves as a perfect heavenly father. He loves us all, but to be a child of his you have to claim the relationship.

Many talk show hosts, Hollywood celebrities and others have chosen to ignore this, pander to the gullible, and contribute to the ignorance.

Some say, “Oh I believe in God”. That’s a start. But James wrote even demons believe, and tremble. (James 2:19) Believing is not enough. We have to act on that belief.

During the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”  (Matthew 7:21 NIV)

How much must someone do to be within the father’s will? I’m not sure. But we can know it’s more than just giving lip service to a belief in God. To claim we believe in God and then do nothing with that belief is to choose to remain ignorant.

Some say Jesus was a great teacher without taking it any further. Yet among the claims Jesus made about himself “great teacher” wasn’t one of them.

C. S. Lewis is the one who may have best clarified our choices. When you look at his life, what he did and said, Jesus only leaves us with three options. He is either Lord, liar, or lunatic.

All seem to respect what he said, and don’t see him as a liar. I’ve never heard anyone make a case that he was insane. That only leaves us with one remaining choice, unless someone chooses to remain ignorant.

Some say that someone recently deceased “was a good person.” Wonderful. Glad to hear it. But being good was never good enough. Only a genuine relationship with God, a connection with him now, will set us up for remaining with him after death.  If someone really does want to “go to a better place” after death, they need to have a genuine connection to and relationship with the owner.

To claim being good is all you need ignores the bulk of the New Testament. In other words, to remain ignorant.

Ignorance is not always bliss. Ignorance can be a dangerous choice. Sometimes it really doesn’t matter. Sometimes it results in devastating and eternal consequences.

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Dave Soucie lives, serves and writes in Indianapolis.

Copyright © 2023 by Dave Soucie.  All rights reserved [but permission is granted for non-commercial use only, with proper citation].