Head Knowledge or Heart Knowledge: The Struggle to Find a Deeper-Rooted Faith

Last updated on: April 24, 2023 at 8:00 am by Paul Tanner

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Head Knowledge or Heart Knowledge: The Struggle to Find a Deeper-Rooted Faith 2023-04-23T08:06:01-04:00 Paul Tanner

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Adam and Eve and the Serpent in the Garden

Image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable about sowing seeds. The seeds fall on different soils. These soils represent the heart’s spiritual condition, and your heart’s state will determine if you can hear God speak. This blog will focus on the second condition, the shallow soil. This is the second in a series on Matthew 13. You can read the first here.

Believe in Your Heart

Jesus is using a common experience to explain a profound spiritual truth. A farmer is going out to plant seeds, but this farmer is a little haphazard with where the seeds land. The disciples ask Jesus to explain the story, and He explains that the seed is God’s word and the soil represents the condition of our hearts. Because God is full of grace and love, He sends out His word to be heard by believers and unbelievers. For those who have committed to following Jesus, we must consider our part in our heart’s soil condition.

At least two types of beliefs lead to different knowledge levels in our world. I would describe head knowledge as believing in the general truth of an assertion but not allowing that belief to determine how you live. Heart knowledge is taking an idea and using that knowledge to decide how you will live. My favorite example to explain this is using a chair. I can understand the science, experience, and principles of sitting in a chair in my head. But it is not heart knowledge until I put that knowledge into action and sit in the chair. I could be the greatest chair fact expert in the world and even share the knowledge with people. But unless it is formative in what I do (in this case, choosing to sit in a chair), it is head knowledge and a shallow understanding.

Is it true?

Adam and Eve are a helpful example in illustrating the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. When the serpent speaks to Eve, the question is, do you believe what God said to be true? And the core of the issue remains true for us today. Eve knew what God had said about the fruit of the tree. She had head knowledge and understood that she and Adam were not meant to eat the fruit. The serpent does not dispute that knowledge but instead questions whether that knowledge was important enough to determine human action. The significant difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge is trust. Did Adam and Eve trust God had told them not to eat the fruit to protect them, or was He withholding something rightfully theirs?

A life lived in faith is a life of trusting what God has said is true. We must build our lives on His strong foundation. But Jesus knew that in the trials and troubles of human lives, many would lose trust. When our knowledge has not become deeply rooted in our hearts, our belief and faith wither like a plant in shallow soil when trouble comes. We question whether God knows best or if His way is truly the best way to live. When life is uncomfortable, anything less than deeply rooted faith will not produce the good fruit of following Jesus. What we received in joy will soon be like ashes in our mouths. And we will find ourselves asking the same question: do I trust in God?

Deeper-Rooted Faith

In John 6, Jesus’ teaching created controversy among those following Him. He had just fed the five thousand, and they followed eagerly to support someone who could multiply food abundantly. But Jesus calls them out on their foolish pursuit of earthly satisfaction. He challenges them to think in spiritual terms (and likely confusing many of them) with language about eating flesh and drinking blood. Jesus alluded to the future when we would celebrate His life, death, and resurrection, but the crowd did not understand. So the crowd left.

Jesus turned to His disciples and asked if they would leave too. Peter spoke up from the conviction of heart knowledge. They would stay because they knew that Jesus had the words of life (even if they did not understand fully). Those who trust and believe in God’s word will find hope and life even if they don’t understand fully. Jesus desires disciples who will hear His word and then follow His teaching. He describes those who will build their lives on His word as people who make their houses on solid rock – a firm foundation. He spoke those words two thousand years ago, which still poses the same request and challenge. Do you believe it to be true, and if so, will you allow it to determine how you live? I pray you will answer like Peter when he said, “Jesus, you have the words of life. Where else could we go?”