Knowing AND (not “or”) Doing… the Christian Life.

Recently, I’ve been having several discussions on other blogs about what church is for, emerging and seeker churches, and the “doing” of the Christian life. A new but all too common theme we hear these days are that those who “puff up” with theology and knowledge aren’t “doing” the Christian life, and so we need to not focus on theology or doctrine, but just “do” more.

In these discussions about the balance of these concepts, my friend Vince ask me a serious question about how Christians should go about dealing with temptations and indwelling sins.

Since my response was more of a stand-alone post, I’ve posted it here on my blog because I think it has information valuable to my readers as well.

I hope you’ll read and be edified.

Vince,

Thanks for your sincere question, and I hope I can provide some helpful answers.

I think one problem I can clear up right away, is the problem that is apparent in the presentation of the question. When you present it as “knowing vs. doing,” the problem is in the “vs” part. What is implied is that there is one or the other.

Even Brian’s picture of “balance,” with the see-saw photo, indicates that when one is high, the other is automatically low, and vice-versa. “Knowing” and “doing” are not inversely proportional in that manner. “Doing” doesn’t go down when “knowledge” goes up.

I hear this argument made a lot with some young Christians and pastors, but it is a misnomer. In the Christian walk, “doing” not only increases as “knowledge” increases, but proper “knowing” is a prerequisite to proper “doing.” Presenting them as opposites is factually untrue.

So the first understanding is to recognize that “knowing” and “doing” in the Christian life are not opposites. More knowledge does not automatically make someone, as Tadd Grandstaff puts it,

“…get fatter and fatter and never actually exercise any of their so called knowledge & wisdom”

More knowledge, applied properly, allows the Christian to actually “do” more, properly. This is because the “doing” and the actions are based on proper “knowledge,” understandings, doctrines, and truths; not out of ignorance. It is incorrect to think that because one increases Biblical knowledge that they therefore automatically “do less.” This is a straw-man, ad hominem argument, that some people create and love to use.

Therefore, I would maintain that your statement that,

“the 99.9% of the effort involved in accomplishing each of those tasks has got to go towards the doing and 0.1% of the effort goes towards the knowing.”

…is exactly backwards. If someone ventures off and spends 99.9% of their time and efforts “doing,” with only 0.1% of knowledge of “what they are doing,” or “how to do it,” they are spinning their wheels and wasting their time. Even creating damage.

Think about hiring a carpenter to do work at your house. If he showed up with his tools and started smashing and crashing around “doing,” without any idea or knowledge of what he was endeavoring to do, you would fire him immediately. Well there are all sorts of folks smashing and crashing around today in the area of theology in exactly that manner, but they aren’t being “fired,” they are being admired, followed, and endorsed. They are unfortunately doing to Christians what such a carpenter would do to your home.

Have you ever read through, studied, or heard an exposition of Ephesians. In this letter Paul unfolds exactly what I am saying here. He spends the first three chapters discussing proper theology, and then the last three chapters discussing proper Christian living. Paul knew that chapters four through six would be meaningless to them if they didn’t have a proper understanding of theology. Don’t take my word for it, look it up, read it and see if what I am saying is true. In fact most modern translations even state this truth in their introductions to the book of Ephesians.

For example, two I happen to have within reach are, The NIV Student Bible, which says,

“Like other letters from Paul, Ephesians divides fairly neatly between doctrine (chapters 1-3) and practical advice (4-6). The last half details how our lives should change as a result of the great things described in the first part. Pg 1031.

And the John MacArthur study Bible, which states,

“The first 3 chapters are theological, emphasizing NT doctrine, whereas the last 3 chapters are practical and focus on Christian behavior.” Pg. 1770

Preachers today should follow that model and preach and teach theology, to increase people’s knowledge, in order that they can understand the practical applications of their teachings on Biblical spiritual growth. And then of course, teach Biblical applications and not man-centered ones.

What I would like the opportunity to do is to convince you that proper understanding and knowledge first, will lead the Christian to have the ability to “do” the Christian life more Biblically. I hope you’ll give my words a chance.

To start down that road, I’d like to first look at your statement,

“I know a ton of things that are not Biblical but the effort required to eliminate them from my life took and continues to take an enormous amount of effort compared to the fact that I “know” that they needed to go.”

This is a good point, and one that I would like to look at through the eyes of salvation. We know that we do not have the ability to walk in the light, by efforts of the flesh. The flesh is weak, and if we try to fight the battle in the flesh, we lose. Paul says,

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,” 1 Cor 10:3

And he also says,

“…walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” Gal 5:16-17

John MacArthur, in his book, “The Quest for Character,” says,

“If your heart is dead and spiritually lifeless, you cannot by a sheer act of human will summon an appetite for true righteousness. Scripture says, “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7-8).”

I would say further, the fact you find it an “enormous effort” to fight the flesh is not a sign of weakness, but a sign that you are saved!

The Christian attitude toward his own sin is not flippant and apathetic, but disdain and hatred. When the true Christian sins, the Holy Spirit convicts him, and he is miserable until he repents. This is a sign of regeneration. Paul talks about this battle that is present in the Christian’s life in Romans 7:14-25.

If we are in a battle against sin, the presence of the battle is evidence of a regenerated life. If there is no battle against sin, and sin is ignored, justified, and defended, it is evidence that a regenerated life has not taken place (2 Cor 5:17-18).

I say this to encourage you, that even if you continue to struggle with temptations, that the struggle is a good sign that God is working in your life to bring conviction, repentance, and to grow and change you to be more like Christ.

The question is, are we fighting the battle in the flesh, or in the Spirit? Only you can answer that for yourself, but when you ask me,

“Have you found many things to be more a doing thing than a knowing thing?”

…I wonder if this is because the battle is fleshly rather than Spiritual, and thus it appears to be a “doing” thing to you?

For example, let’s consider the sin of watching pornography. I don’t know if that is the case for you or not, but it is a good example. In your average superficial, seeker-sensitive, emergent church, there gathers, say several men, who have this struggle. They hear a topical sermon on how wrong and unbiblical it is, which they already know anyway. Then they hear a good sermon on three steps to overcome the addition. Then they have a small group come together to talk about experiences and struggles. Finally, they have an accountability partner (who usually has the same struggle) to “keep watch” after them. Basically they are told, “Just don’t do it cause it is wrong,” and then pooled ignorance is utilized to try to stop the behavior.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying any of these are bad, in and of themselves, and perhaps some can be helpful when properly used. But what happens is that this becomes a lot of the “doing,” and it can be all in the flesh. What is missing is the power of the Word of God, put into the hearts of these men to give them hope and godly direction for true change. Without that, all these well intentioned fleshly efforts are recipes for disaster. Ultimately, these men continue to struggle with the same sin, never achieving the victory over it that God can deliver. This is not God’s will and it saddens me to see Christians struggling with these besetting sins without the hope God’s Word gives that they can be overcome.

I am not talking about completely doing away with the struggle, with the battle, or with the temptation, but rather, being able to walk in the Spirit according to the Word of God in a manner that victory can be obtained from giving in, to the desires of the flesh. The Bible is a “how to change” book from God, and proper knowledge of how to apply that theology (the knowing) can bring the change (the doing) that God desires for our lives as Christians.

It is not about perfection, but about direction. Sometimes God gives us complete victory over some sins, and sometimes He allows, for His purposes and glory, for us to struggle in order to sanctify and perfect us. Scripture tells us that,

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Cor 10:13

God may or may not take away a temptation, but temptation is not sin. God is however, interested in how we react to it. His Word provides answers for the Christian to react godly instead of sinfully, but we have to “know” Him and “know” His Word to be able to apply and “do” those things.

It grieves me when I see pastors, churches, and Christians rushing headlong in to the “doing,” leaving behind the centrality of the Word and replacing it with man-centered gimmicks to try to tackle problems that can’t be mastered in the flesh. Many times, they even do it while criticizing those who esteem the Word as the source of solution, when it is the very Word that has the only hope for true resolution to their struggles.

The Bible claims that it is a supernatural book from God to us, and it is sufficient to handle life’s problems.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17″

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12

For the Christian, learning Biblical principles for godly change is what it is all about. If we gain proper Biblical knowledge, we are able to grow and change as God desires. If we don’t, we only walk in the flesh in our own futile attempts. Knowledge can certainly puff up, if it is obtained for the sake of knowledge and without action; but when that happens, it isn’t the gaining of knowledge that is the problem, it is the failure of acting on it that is the problem. We should criticize the failure to act and not the gaining of knowledge of Biblical principals, when that happens.

So how can proper knowledge of theology help with overcoming a porn addiction? There are many things I could say, much that would be too exhaustive to completely discuss here, but I will give you a taste to make my point. Let’s look at the man struggling with porn in our example above. How can proper theology help him apply Biblical principles to overcome his addition?

I’ve asked men before who are in this situation,

“Do you have a problem controlling your addiction when your mother is visiting? What about the Mother-in-law? Ever turn it own when she is there? How about when the wife is at home, does it usually happen then or only when she leaves?”

I’ve never had anyone tell me they can’t control this addiction when they aren’t alone. This is very interesting; it can be controlled by the fear of man, but not by the fear of God? Perhaps this man’s view of God is too small? What do you think can help this man with the root of his problem? More accountability so that he is never alone? No, that is only lipstick on a pig. It only covers up and frustrates the root desires, but it doesn’t deal with the root desires.

Here we are talking about a man who believes in God, claims the name of Christ, and loves the Lord. But what is his view of the Lord? Could it be an idolatrous view? He doesn’t need another three-step program of how to manipulate the flesh; he needs to have his wrong view of God corrected so that he understands the Biblical God and Biblical principles for life.

The Bible teaches for example, that

“The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
keeping watch on the wicked and the good.” Prov 15:3

…and

“Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” Heb 4:13

So this man, when he thinks he is alone, he is not really alone; but his theology of this truth is not real enough to him to change his behavior. God is always there, watching, keeping a record to which an account must be given. Do you think this man really thinks, understands, or believes this? If so, is he acting on that belief? Knowledge, or the lack of knowledge, and the actions that come from that are incredibly important!

I have learned that one thing that really helps a man like this, is gaining in knowledge and understanding of the Biblical attributes of God. A book like A.W. Pink’s “The Attributes of God” is very helpful for this purpose. When God is too small and we are too big (in our own eyes), books like this, as well as powerful sermons from the Word of God, are paramount in understanding a proper view of God and His attitude towards sin. It isn’t the clever words of man, or the manipulation of feelings by a great speaker, but the Word of God that can change a person.

Now I am not saying the things I originally mentioned in the example above were bad. Accountability groups and specific sin studies are not wrong or incorrect. They are just incomplete without the above-described Biblical framework around them. In the case of spiritual bondage, which I do believe a Christian can fall into, if someone is addicted to a sin, in bondage, but they are a believer – they may know the truth, may even cry out and pray, and cry and repent – but sometimes they may need to see that bondage broken.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,” 2 Cor. 10:4).

And for that, he may need a brother to confess to and help him work through it. I am not criticizing that approach as practical steps. I am saying it is incomplete without the knowledge, which comes from the proclamation of the Word of God.

Another thing that helps with this is a proper understanding of the gospel and the cross. As Christians, we need the gospel every day, and we need to keep the cross in our view at all times. I believe, for the Christian who has a Biblical view of the cross, it is impossible to simultaneously give in to sin and dwell on the cross.

When we think, that the God who created the Universe, who spoke it all into existence, who names the stars, who commands the planets to align and they move, who commands the mountains to rise and they do, who commands the waves to come this far and no further, and they do, became a man, lived a sinless life, and died on a bloody cross for me, it is an all encompassing thought. Is it real to this man in our example, or is it just a flannel chart children’s story?

What does the cross tell us about God? First, it tells us of His view of sin. He hates it. He does not leave the guilty unpunished (Num 14:18) because He can’t. Scripture tells us that,

“Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent”-
peoples will curse him and nations denounce him.” Prov 24:24

and

“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent-
the LORD detests them both.” Prov 17:15

God just can’t turn a blind eye to sin; it can’t be in His presence. Some people think that God will just forgive them on judgment day because He is a good God and a good judge. But the “goodness” that they are relying on to save them will actually condemn them on that day. A good judge does not let a guilty person go free; he justly sentences him to the penalty for their crime.

The penalty for our crime of sin is death and eternal hell. A good God has no choice but to convict us of our crime and give us our fine. Unless of course, someone pays that fine for us. Our problem, is that no man was capable of doing that because all men sin (Rom 3:23).

It was God’s prearranged plan to become a man Himself and pay the fine for us. Isaiah 53:10 tells us that it “pleased the Lord to crush Him” on our behalf. How could it please the Lord to crush His own Son? Because He hates sin so much and we were doomed unless He did it!

But what else does the cross tell us? It tells us of the love of God because He loves us THAT much! Wow! The dual nature of the cross, it brings God’s justice and God’s love together! In Scripture, when you read about the love of God, you usually see the cross very close nearby (Rom 5:8, John 3:16). The mercy and love of God is inexplainable without the context of sin, and His wrath towards sin.

I love the song “Sweetly Broken” by Jeremy Riddle. In that he sings,

“To the cross I look, to the cross I cling, Of its suffering I do drink. Of its work I do sing. For on it my Savior, both bruised and crushed. Showed that God is love. AND God is just.”

Now THAT’s the cross!

Charles Wesley wrote, “Amazing Love, how can it be, that Thou my God should die for me.” John Newton wrote, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.“

Do we really believe that? Can we comprehend that such a God is real, is big, and is here, always? If we think of our sins and focus on the cross, it should drive us to our knees in tearful repentance towards a Holy and Just God that would be so kind to do that.

Someone who has a proper grasp of this Biblical doctrine could not possibly consider giving themselves to watching porn. If someone can’t stop watching porn, it is quite possible that their knowledge and doctrines of God are wrong, too small, and not real to them, superficial and tripe. They may know the Bible says it is wrong, but without the real knowledge of the real God, they can give in to fleshly desires easily. But gaining that knowledge can give them the ability to “walk in the Spirit” rather than the flesh. Do you see how the knowledge produces the action?

Where Christ is not exalted, the cross is not the center focus, and the Word is not proclaimed preeminently, men struggle with besetting sins because their only weapon against them is the flesh or the will. Where these things are happening, the power of God is upon them to grow and change them to be Christ-like.

Two great books on this, by CJ Mahaney are “The Cross Centered Life” and “Living The Cross Centered Life.”

Other Biblical knowledge that often helps people, is understanding what the Bible calls “idols of the heart.” Ezekiel describes them as being “stumbling blocks before their faces.” When something is “before your face” that is the only thing you can see. You can’t see God or other people. What does the Bible teach that should be “before our face?” God!

Our ultimate goal in everything we do as Christians is to glorify and be pleasing to God.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor 10:31

“So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it” 2 Cor 5:9

One way we glorify God is to keep Him “before our face” rather than our own desires. We can do this by obeying Him in our behaviors rather than succumbing to our own desires and lusts. Many desires we have are not bad things to desire: approval, pleasure, happiness, are not in themselves bad. But when a desire that is not bad is desired more than pleasing God, it becomes and idol and an object of lust. It becomes right “before our eyes” and we can’t see anything but it.

One of the things I have seen help people overcome besetting sins is to Biblically understand what the “idol of the heart” is, the root issue, of their behavior. Once that is identified, Biblical principles can be utilized to overcome them. One thing I ask people to help them identify their heart idols is, “What do you want so much that you are willing to sin to get it?” And also, “What do you react sinfully over when you don’t get it?” Questions like this can expose our heart idols and help us deal with root problems.

For example, it is not a bad desire for me to want obedient children. That’s good, the Bible says I should have obedient children. I want obedient children. But when I go home from work, if my children aren’t obedient and I lash out at them, yell at them, or hit them because they are not obeying, what is going on here? Is anger an issue? Yes. What about a control problem? Yep. But those are symptoms of the real heart issue that I want something so bad, that when I can’t get it I am willing to sin to get it. That’s the idol. I can go to all the anger management classes I can pay for, but I will not win victory over this battle until I deal with the heart issue Biblically.

James talks about this in chapter 4,

“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3

Do you see James’ point? What do these verses tell us the source is: Our desires, our wants, and to appease our pleasures. We want something more than we want to please and glorify God, so we sin in order to get it.

So when I place my desires behind what should be my first desire, to please and glorify God, then I am able to apply Biblical principles, that I know, to overcome struggles.

If I am seeking first to glorify God as a parent, and not just wanting obedient kids, then I understand that I am not to provoke my children to anger but instead, to bring them up in the training of the Lord. (Eph 6:4). I am not to yell at them to get my way, and try to be their god, but to handle their disobedience in a godly and Biblical manner. When I fail at this, knowing my heart idols helps address the problem correctly, and as God grows and changes me, I am able to have success as I mature as a Christian.

Can you see how this is much different than just telling someone something is wrong and not to do it because it is wrong?

Paul talks about the “put on / put off” principles of God in Ephesians and Colossians. This Biblical principle entails not just identifying what is wrong and telling someone to “stop,” but to replace the wrong behavior with right ones.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:22-23

He goes on to instruct the liar to put off falsehood and to instead speak truthfully. He tells the thief to put off stealing and to work in order to have to give to others. Put off / put on. The Bible is filled with them! But we have to know what they are in order to do them. We don’t learn them by being entertained with smoke machines and shows, but by the proclamation of the Word of God.

Once we have identified why we do what we do, what our heart idols are, we can then use Biblical principles to put off the wrong behaviors and put on the right ones. God blesses this, and true change in the hearts of men is possible. If our porn addicted man in our example, understands the idol of his heart that causes the desire that he is willing to sin to get, he can address that heart issue correctly, and then grow and change. If not, he can’t and will continue to struggle. He doesn’t need another accountability partner when God is real in this way. The Holy Spirit is the best accountability partner anyone can have!

Do you see the difference in what the Bible is teaching here, and what we hear from modern day, so-called preachers? This is precisely what I meant on the blog where this discussion originally began, when I critiqued parts of a few sermons by Tadd Grandstaff. Read my words again with what I have said here, in mind:

“Finally Tadd, what concerned me the most, was the lack of the gospel, and the lack of Christ in the messages. You properly proclaimed the “that’s” but never the “how’s.” You properly proclaimed the Bible was God’s Word, but never preached it. You properly claimed that Christ could take away burdens, but never said how…

My heart literally sunk when you properly told the people that Eph 4:22 says to “put off” the former way of life, but then you ignored verse 24, which exhorts them to also “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” You properly identified many problems, but gave either wrong solutions, or no solutions at all.”

Ironically, Tadd rails about those who swell up in knowledge but don’t do anything, when he is the one preaching the “just don’t do it” message (put off), and omitting the Biblically practical ways of how it is done (put on).

Ironically, he originally sniped at me on that blog, but then offered no response to my legitimate critiques, but later said others were taking “cheap shots” at him. Ironically, he says that those who want to use proper theological knowledge to inform “the doing,” aren’t doing anything themselves except “getting fat on knowledge,” when in reality he has no idea what I “do” or don’t “do” with my knowledge.

And the ultimate irony is that while I am giving Biblical reasons for faith and trying to use my knowledge to help him and others, he only snipes on blogs about people, calling them cowards, and then doesn’t allow their responses to appear on his blog. What consistency of doing exactly what he is condemning. It is amazing such as that happens at all, its incredible that people esteem that type of arrogance and follow that type of person.

For the record, I am not hording knowledge and refusing to do anything with it. I am not the one turning down lunch offers to talk. I am not on the blog sniping, and refusing to let someone respond in critique on my blog. I am not the coward. I am available for loving talks about what and why I am saying and teaching. He apparently is not.

Tadd “doesn’t have time” for that, as he boasts, because he sees it “most important” to be “dismissing” Christian core group members who were not fully on board with their vision.” I would be warned of men who are not interested in having his teachings compared to Scripture, and corrected where necessary. The country is filled with “pastors” who have a vision they think is from God, which has no root in God’s vision He has given us in the Bible. Turn on your TV at any time and you can see many of them; crowd builders and crowd pleasers, but void of the Spirit of God.

Lastly, I’ll mention another principle that Jesus spoke about; one I have learned to call “radical amputation.” Again, this would be called the “doing,” but it first requires the “knowing” for it to be “done.”

Jesus said,

“If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where
” ‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.” Mark 9:43-48

When we understand much of what I have spoken about above, and we still can’t bring ourselves under self-control, radical measures are sometimes necessary. The porn addict might have to get rid of his computer and TV. He might have to have his TV removed from his hotel room when traveling alone. He might have to change jobs if the one he has gives him access. The Christian convicted of besetting sin will seek to eliminate his ability to appease the flesh by removing access to its fulfillment. I know of one man for example, using this Biblical principle, requested that his cubical at work be put in a public place, so he would not be tempted to look at porn on his computer.

If sins over come us, we should identify our heart’s idols, put off and put on, and if necessary, use radical amputation. These are Biblical principles that if a Christian “knows,” he can “do” the right things to overcome struggles. Do you get my point? The right “doing” hinges on the “right knowledge.” The way we arrive at this knowledge is through the studying and preaching of the Word of God. That is where the answers to life are. We don’t need more entertainment; we don’t need the preacher to fill our desires in order to encourage us to come to church. We need the gospel to be saved, and to grow in the knowledge of the Word of God for Christian living.

Jesus said,

“And this is eternal life, that they may KNOW You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You sent.” John 17:3

John wrote,

“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may KNOW that you have eternal life.” John 5:13

That knowledge comes from one place, from the power of the Word of God, and nowhere else.

We need to encourage people to:

1. Repent of their sins and receive Christ. (Mark 1:15, John1:12) Without this, everything is of man and not of God.
2. Have a high view of God (Exo 20 1:-12, 1 Cor 10:31, 2 Cor 5:9, Eph 1, 2, 3).
3. Have a high view of Scripture (2 Tim 3:16, Heb 4:12).
4. Grow and change in the Lord by being obedient to Him and using Biblical principles to overcome sin (Eph 4, 5, 6).
5. Serve the body of Christ and others as they grow to be more like Christ (Matt 5,6,7).

Notice the first three things require theology and “knowledge.” The last two are more of the “doing” of the Christian life. When well-meaning Christians and pastors encourage people to jump right into 4 and 5, skipping over, or even criticizing steps 1-3, they are doing great harm, creating false converts and future bitter “backsliders.” They are sending people out on a task in which there is no hope in their man-centered ways to overcome sin and live faithful Christian lives.

My prayer is that and all who read this, will understand and use these principles for growth, and seek more knowledge so their “doing” will be pleasing to God.