“The true litmus test of spiritual maturity isn’t how much you know. It’s knowing how much you don’t know. It’s coming to terms with the fact that God is not an object of knowledge as much as He is a cause of wonder. and that sanctified sense of wonder fuels a holy curiosity to keep learning more about the Creator and His creation.”- Mark Batterson
“Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know.”- 1 Corinthians 8:2 (NIV)
In Chapter 6 (“Holy Curiosity”) of Primal, Mark Batterson stresses something we must not take for granted. That God’s created us with the capacity to keep learning as long as we live on this earth. Thus, learning is an awesome responsibility. And, it’s not a luxury. Rather, Pastor Batterson asserts, learning’s a stewardship issue.
Yet, Mark states, at some point along our life journey, most of us stop living out of imagination. Instead, we start living out of memory. As a result, we start repeating the past rather than creating the future. And that, the author cautions, marks the day we stop living and start dying. Because we stop learning.
Furthermore, Pastor Batterson believes there’s an indivisible linkage between loving God with all your soul and loving God with all your mind. Hence, a lack of wonder breed a lack of curiosity. Also, the opposite rings true. A lack of curiosity breeds a lack of wonder.
But, Mark emphasizes, deeper and more profound implications exist. The author explains:
“When you stop learning you stop loving. Why? Because loving is learning more and more about the one you love. True love is never satisfied. It always wants to know more about the object of its affection. The more you love God, the more curious you become. When it comes to loving God with all your mind, curiosity is both the cause and the effect.”
Today’s question: How do you see knowing how much you don’t know as the true litmus test of spiritual maturity? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Never lose a holy curiosity”
