02/15/18 - Mark 5

Feb 15, 2018 – Mark 5

Ignoring what they said, Jesus told him, "Don't be afraid; just believe." Mark 5:36

Trust the word of an eternal God over the opinion of limited men.

There’s a difference between ignorance & ignoring, but sometimes people try to hide behind one to escape the consequences of the other.

Ignorance is action without knowledge.  It’s when we make a decision based on the information we have, but the information is incomplete.  Ignorance is when we believe a reporter without checking the facts.  Ignorance is when we follow our friend’s prescription without confirming the results.  Ignorance can have consequences, but the fault lies not in the action, but in the information.

But Ignoring is action in spite of knowledge.  Ignoring has heard the information, but chooses to believe differently and take a different course of action.  Ignoring is when we hear the reporter and choose to believe a different story.  Ignoring is when we listen to our friend’s prescription and follow a different course of action.  Ignoring can also have consequences, but the fault likes in our decision, not the information.

Jesus CONSTANTLY ignored, but was never ignorant.  He rejected the world’s standard of popularity and pursued His Father.  He ignored the pressure of the Pharisees and spent time with the common people.  Jesus never let the opinions of others get in the way of God’s Truth.  That doesn’t mean Jesus ignored people, He simply ignored their opinions when it contradicted God’s direction.  Jesus was far from ignorant, but He carefully ignored many other things.

Unfortunately, the world likes to lump Christians into the “ignorance” category.  Their argument is that believers of Jesus have no clue about the truth, and lack the knowledge they have.  Much like Jesus, believers can find themselves being condemned as ignorant and uneducated. 

But that’s not who we are.  Ignorance is not the description of a committed believer, but Ignoring sure is.  If we choose to follow Jesus, we must also choose to ignore all of the arguments and expectations of the world around us when it practices behaviors that contradict God’s ways.  And YES, that includes things like accepting sexual immorality, homosexuality, abortion, drunkenness, smoking pot, cussing, going into debt, no-fault divorce, and everything else contrary to Scripture.  That doesn’t make the Christian ignorant, just ignoring.

Listen to Jesus’ words to the Jarius.  The world said his daughter was dead, but Jesus ignored them and told Jarius: “Don’t be afraid, just believe.”  The secret to overcoming worldly arguments is to push out the fear instead of pushing out obedience.  Don’t ever let the opinions of men trump your belief in the Word of God!!!  Ignore their limited opinions, and trust in the Eternal.  That’s not ignorance, it’s ignoring.