The Fire of Love
Richard Rolle is our teacher for this week’s Mystic Monday. Rolle was born into a humble home in York, England. Because of his great intellect, he was provided with what amounts to an academic scholarship to attend Oxford, where he excelled as a student.
But Rolle declined to pursue an academic career. Instead, he chose the life of a hermit, living and preaching in various churches throughout England. In his greatest work, The Fire of Love, he describes the power of a Christian life fueled by the power of God’s love. I love what this extraordinary brilliant man has to say about how God is made known to others by His people -
“God,” writes Rolle, “is not known by argument but by what we do and how we love.” For this reason, he writes not for “the philosophers and sages of this world,” or “the great theologians bogged down in their interminable questionings,” but for “the simple and unlearned who are seeking rather to love God than to amass knowledge.”
Don’t think for a minute that Rolle is downplaying intellectual pursuits. Not at all. The more learned people are, the “more ability they naturally have for loving, always provided of course that they do not esteem themselves highly nor rejoice in being highly esteemed by others.”
The Greek word translated “disciple” in our Bibles literally means learner. That’s what we are as followers of Jesus. We are learners. And as learners, we seek to do what Jesus described as the greatest commandment, “to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind.”
What this says to me is that the hunger for knowledge, knowledge that leads to a greater understanding of God and His ways, should be a vital part of every Christian’s life.
However, we need to avoid second-hand knowledge, or what some refer to as “second-hand orthodoxy.” In his first letter, the apostle John reminds his readers that “you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things.” (I Jn. 2:27)
John isn’t saying the church doesn’t need teachers. He writes what he does because there were false teachers among the people who were leading some astray. His words are a reminder that we are to be more than open receptacles indiscriminately receiving whatever our teachers say. We are to allow the “anointing” or presence of God’s Spirit at work in us to guide our minds as we carefully consider what we are taught.
Unexamined knowledge is the result of an unexamined life. And an unexamined life is rudderless, shallow, and lacking in its relationship with God. On the other hand, when the goal of knowledge is fueled by a desire to be faithful servants of our Lord Jesus, we discover the balance that leads to a healthy Christian life.
In Christ,
Dan
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