There’s a factor of our practice of faith that I think we can see demonstrated from the first book of the Bible to the last, from the first sin all the way down to final judgement. It even shows up in Jesus’ parables and the way he talked to people. I don’t know if it has a name already but I call this phenomenon the know better factor. You see, God has a specific set of standards for those who know and another set for the ignorant. He is just in dealing with everyone equally but the way those who don’t already know are made aware is different from the way things are reinforced to the knowledgeable. This passage illustrates that:

You shall therefore love the Lord your God, and always keep His directive, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments. Know this day that I am not speaking with your sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of the Lord your God—His greatness, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm, and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; and what He did to Egypt’s army, to its horses and its chariots, when He made the water of the Red Sea engulf them while they were pursuing you, and the Lord completely eliminated them; and what He did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place; and what He did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, among all Israel— but your own eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which He did. Deuteronomy 11:1-7

We who are witnesses to God’s goodness in our lives and the ways that he blesses his Church have a bigger responsibility toward his message than do those who we seek to teach. After all, a student only knows what a teacher teaches. What impression of God do we pass on to others?

Ethan Kirl

Originally Published November 16, 2020