I Am Not Omniscient

When I was a kid, I was a voracious reader. Whether it was an Encyclopedia Brown mystery, the latest print edition of CCM magazine, or just a stray piece of mail on the kitchen table, I scooped it up so my eyes could consume it.

So it wasn't much of a surprise when I took the StrengthsFinder test a couple decades later and was told I have an Input strength. In other words, I have an insatiable desire to learn and know things so I can share them with others.

But this is not unique to me. Co-workers love to hear workplace gossip so they can "be in the know." Cable TV runs 24/7 to keep people informed. We scroll social media several times a day because of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). We all have an insatiable desire to "be in the know."

Yet, too often, this desire to know things can become twisted and selfish.

Not God from the Beginning

As we continue our I Am Not I Am blog series about God's incommunicable characteristics, we move from "I Am Not Omnipresent" to "I Am Not Omniscient." Omniscience is knowing all things at all times. And yet the desire for omniscience can be seen all the way back in the Garden of Eden.

When Eve told the serpent she was not to eat of the forbidden fruit otherwise she would die, the serpent scoffed back through his lying forked tongue...

“You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5, ESV, emphasis added)

The temptation wasn't simply a piece of fruit. The temptation was to be like God – to be omniscient, knowing what God knows. And this temptation has continued throughout all of history. Many religious, political, and cultural leaders have proclaimed to know what God knows, and therefore they can speak on behalf of God, regardless of whether it is aligned with what God has already proclaimed through Scripture.

Rather than seeking omniscience, we are taught in Scripture to humbly pursue wisdom. James 1:5 clearly states, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him." This means knowing things isn't wrong in and of itself. But using knowledge to gain power over someone less knowledgeable is wrong. But when the pursuit of wisdom is paired with humility... that is powerful and life-changing!

So rather than seek to know everything, as though cosplaying as the omniscient God, may we humbly seek the wisdom of the Lord, so we might not only know how to glorify Him in the here and now, but help others glorify Him as well.