Following, Though Bewildered

"What marks Jesus' disciples from His enemies is not theological acumen; His enemies often had the edge there. It's this: Disciples follow Him, bewildered as they often are, while enemies oppose Him, clear minded though they be."

- Mark Buchanan, The Holy Wild: Trusting in the Character of God, page 29

The above quote comes after a discussion as to how the demon-oppressed people that Jesus healed always seemed to know who He was (Luke 4:34, 8:28), while the disciples had a hard time figuring that out. So, in other words, to know who Jesus is (however accurately) without loving Him and following Him just brings you or me up to the level of the demon-possessed!

He goes on to say:

"I want to make disciples. So I want the knowledge of God to increase. But I also want the love of god to grow stronger, to enrich our theology but, even more, our worship. To sharpen our talk about God, but precisely so that we talk more to God. To enlarge our understanding of His ways, but solely so that we walk in them, steady, unswerving, not growing weary."

Amen! (BTW, every book by Mark Buchanan is excellent!)