Biblically, there’s a surer source of knowledge than the independent mind. Human reason is not the most reliable authority. Wise living seeks out trusted authorities to which to submit. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice” (12:15).

Ever since the Enlightenment, Western civilization has lived with unmatched confidence in autonomous human reason. We believe that certainty is possible and that our own thoughts are generally reliable. “Knowledge is power,” we like to say. We take great pride in being able to think for ourselves. Do the research. Don’t be sheep. Anyone with a functioning brain and access to Google ought to be able to recognize the facts. When we encounter people who don’t see what we see, we conclude they must be idiots.

Of course, the fruit of this confidence is the fractious world we now occupy. Everyone claims to have the truth, but those claims often conflict. We can’t pursue the truth without bumping into questions related to whose truth. Everyone is still very certain they’re right even as they stare across at equally certain people with contrary truth claims. Yet, for some reason, our disputed truth claims haven’t led us to question the Enlightenment’s confidence in human reason. Despite the cultural confusion, we double down.

I’m going to refrain from turning this essay into a refutation of Enlightenment confidence. Instead, I want to make two controversial and interrelated points. First, you don’t need to understand everything to act. Second, receiving knowledge from trusted authorities is good and wise.

Imagine a scenario with me. A young man in a local church begins attending a discipleship group with older men. As time goes on, one of the older men gets to know the young man and cares enough to inform him that he exudes pride and arrogance in his interactions with the other men in the group. He talks down to them and often interrupts when they’re making a point. He doesn’t seem teachable.

The young man hears the criticism but doesn’t receive it well. He just doesn’t see it. In fact, he disagrees completely. He replies with a monologue about how his father always taught him to respect his elders. No one else has ever told him he has a pride issue. He really can’t correct the supposed prideful behavior until he sees it for himself. He commits to pray about it, but he can’t promise action until God reveals the sin to him. He must understand it for himself.

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