“Unknown Unknowns”

Sunday, December 22, 2024

In a press briefing in 2002, United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was asked about a foreign policy dilemma with respect to the danger posed by Iraq. He pointed out that they simply didn’t have all the facts. Far from it—he said they didn’t even know what sort of things they didn’t know. “There are unknown unknowns.” He was not the first person to describe a complex problem in this way. It’s part of a matrix of knowledge and oblivion. There are things we know, and know that we know them (known knowns); things that we know at a deeper level than thinking, but do not consciously acknowledge them (unknown knowns); things that we don’t know, but at least we are aware that we don’t know them (known unknowns); and finally, pertinent details, of which we are totally unaware, not even realizing that there is anything to know (unknown unknowns). This is enough to give anyone a headache, but it’s rather important, not only in matters of national defense, but also in the spiritual realm.

Paul wrote to the Christians of Colossae,

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…

(Colossians 1.9-10)

That’s a lot to take in; but let’s notice one particular detail. He writes that he constantly prays for the Colossian Christians to be “filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will” (v9). What will be the result of having this knowledge? Several things, but the last one on the list is “increasing in the knowledge of God” (v10). Obviously, Paul thinks knowledge is rather important, and it’s not for utilitarian purposes, either. In every earthly matter, knowledge is futile unless it is put into practice; but in heavenly matters, there is no question of usefulness. Of course, knowledge of God is to be put into practice; but it is also its own pursuit, and its own reward.

But as Christians increase in knowledge, a problem arises—pride.

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

(1 Corinthians 8.1)

Some of the Christians at Corinth were very pleased with themselves, reflecting a culture that valued knowledge and especially wisdom highly, leading not only to increased demand for these commodities, but also plenty of counterfeit product on the market. It’s not that their conclusions about idols were wrong; it’s that they failed to consider what they did not know. Paul continues,

If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

(1 Corinthians 8.2)

And Paul isn’t just putting the Corinthians down for failing to reach his own high standard of knowledge; he confesses his own limits later in the letter, writing, “Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” (13.12). But the puffed-up, knowledgeable Corinthians managed to neglect the fact that “not all possess this knowledge” (8.7). As a result, they caused a crisis of faith and behavior for their brothers in Christ. Paul agrees that these brothers were weak in knowledge, and we saw him hold up knowledge as both a tool and a goal in and of itself in another letter. They ought to keep learning and growing! But they’re still your brothers, aren’t they? One bit of knowledge does not excuse bad behavior, or make up for a lack of knowledge in all sorts of arenas you can’t even imagine.

While knowledge is wonderful and necessary, it’s not the most important. Later in the letter Paul writes that, among other things, “if I … understand all mysteries and all knowledge, … but have not love, I am nothing” (13.2). And back in chapter 8 he continued,

But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

(1 Corinthians 8.3)

Love covers a multitude of errors and shortcomings. Paul’s point is that knowing a few things is great and all, but being known by God—being recognized as one of his people—is far more important! That privilege goes, not to those who know many things about God, but to those who love God.

People often think they’ve got it all figured out—the world, the spiritual realm, the moral framework, the exact timeline of the end of this age, and the who’s-who of the final judgment. Not only is this more destructive arrogance of the same sort discussed above, but it also leads in the direction of the first major heresy in the church, called Gnosticism. The name comes—unsurprisingly—from the Greek word for “knowledge,” and it centered around a mindset of superiority and self-assurance. It’s bad enough that individuals hamstrung themselves with this proud foolishness; but others with relatively weak minds and faith were often sucked in by the charisma of overconfidence, and deceived into following these false teachers farther and farther away from Christ.

It’s easy to admit that you don’t know everything. It’s harder to admit that the things you don’t know, might be important. Yet, in the great categorization of knowable things, the list of unknown unknowns is, by far, the longest one for each of us. Embracing that simple truth is part of turning and becoming like a child (Mt 18.3), ready to put your complete trust in your wise and powerful Father, as well as your oldest brother. They’ve been there, done that, and know all of the answers, even though you’re not ready to hear them all, yet. Seek the knowledge; but love and trust in God.

Jeremy Nettles

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