The Problem of Desiring to Obtain Useless Knowledge

Because of the fallen nature of man, there is the desire to obtain useless knowledge instead of godly knowledge. When God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, it might be a picture that we must get our knowledge from God, not from other sources. God wanted to protect them from the forbidden knowledge which they got from eating the fruit. As a result of inheriting the sins of our ancestors Adam and Eve, man tends to have that desire to obtain useless knowledge. In short, this is seeking to obtain knowledge that will not help the person's spiritual well-being but instead, it chooses to feed on the carnality of the flesh.

There is the statement that knowledge is power and people can be destroyed by a lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). But what kind of knowledge must the Christian have? It must be knowledge that edifies and knowledge that glorifies God, not knowledge on the useless stuff. But what is so sad in the world today is that we have the problem of people who know more about stuff they don't need to know over those that they need to know. If your knowledge of anything worldly exceeds that of your knowledge of the things of God, then it's already a form of idolatry. Knowing who wins the next ball game or the latest fashion is not as important as knowing more about the Word of God and knowing the facts that defend its credibility.

1 Corinthians 3:19 says that the wisdom of the world is indeed foolishness before the omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God. The worldly wisdom is just useless as it does not glorify God and verse 20 calls it vain. Many times people brag how smart they are but is their knowledge really bringing glory to God? I am afraid that they are stuck with worldly knowledge which will not help them because they come short of God. Christians must likewise stay away from these useless knowledge because it can hinder their spiritual growth and bring God's loving chastising on their lives (Hebrews 12:5-7). 1 Corinthians 8:1 also warns that knowledge can puff up. You can have all the knowledge but if it's useless knowledge then it does not amount to anything at all before God.

The only knowledge that is useful starts with the fear of the LORD as declared by Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 5:12, 9:10 and 15:32-33. This is not useless knowledge but this is the knowledge that comes because you fear God. The more you fear God, the more you seek useful knowledge for His glory and not for your own. When one is called out of the world, they should not even expect popularity as John 15:18-19 and James 4:4 says, the Christian is not a friend but an enemy of the world because they are friends of God.