Ignorance is No Excuse

Ignorance is not bliss. It can actually be quite dangerous. See if you can follow me as I point out two examples.

This weekend a verse came to my mind. It was not one of the very few that I have memorized (I am convicted to do much better at this). It was one that I probably heard quoted in a sermon sometime but I don't know when. The gist of what I remembered was, "to whom little is given, little is expected and to whom much is given, much is expected."

As I thought about this passage I thought about how much Christians in other countries have little but have to suffer much and how Christians in this country, that have much, suffer little. I started to find myself on my soapbox again about how God has given Christians much in this country and expects much, yet we give little compared to our persecuted brother and sisters around the world.

I went to look up this passage that I roughly remembered so I could write a blog post on this conviction I was feeling. I found the verses in Luke 12:42-48.

Luke 12:42-48 (ESV)
⁴² And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷ And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸ But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Imagine my surprise. What I thought I was remembering as scripture is not really there. Now I'm not saying that American Christians should not be convicted to do more to support their persecuted brothers and sisters. Actually, more than likely, our own time will come. My point is, I was making up scripture in my head based on some input I had received somewhere. That's dangerous.

The second example of ignorance being dangerous comes right from this scripture that I mis-remembered (Roger Clemens taught me that word).

This passage talks about rewarding the faithful steward (v 43) and punishing the one that actively abuses others (v 46) and the one that knows God's will for their life but does not act on it (v 47). However, the one that is ignorant of God's will for their life is punished as well (v 48).

I'm going to assume that most of you are not purposely abusing and hurting others. However, how many of us ignore God's calling for our lives because we prefer our own course? How many of us don't know God's calling for our lives?

I heard a sermon from John Piper the other day titled Holy Ambition. Do you know yours? Ignorance is no excuse.