Recently, I heard the same concept in several places, so it must be important. I can’t remember them all, but I do remember two of them were in Queerology podcasts. There are two kinds of knowledge: head knowledge and heart knowledge. As an engineer and an academic, I spend most of my time on head knowledge. Facts and figures, abstract concepts, rules and procedures. This kind of knowledge is essential. It is necessary, but not sufficient.
The other kind is heart knowledge. Heart knowledge is experiential. When Paul wrote in Ephesians that he wished the readers would “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,” the Greek verb translated as “know” implies personal experience.
One context in which I heard this concept regarded the Biblical case for affirming gay and other queer individuals, welcoming them into full fellowship in the body of Christ. The Biblical case is sound and has been explained in many books more eloquently than I could explain it here. And yet, knowing that Paul coined a Greek word in order to reference Leviticus, which itself was arguing for strict monotheism and against idolatrous practices, is not sufficient to heal the damage done to gay people over the last century or more. It’s not enough to say, “Oh, sorry, we interpreted that wrong. Turns out you’re OK.”
No, what is needed is heart knowledge. People need to truly feel the love of God in Christ by the Holy Spirit. This is true whether you are LGBTQ+ or not. I have a book that was a gift from a good friend, Rob Heberer, called The New Evidence That Demands a Verdict. In it, the author, Josh McDowell, makes various technical arguments to convince people that God exists, that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, and so forth. I suppose there are some people for whom the apologetic approach is sufficient. Most people, though, could possibly get as far as intellectual assent but would not really have a changed life.
Another place I encountered this concept was in a column by David Brooks. He lays the blame for the unraveling of American politics and the wider society on an over-emphasis on head knowledge. It doesn’t matter what the laws, rules, and regulations are if you cannot trust the people who are supposed to enforce them. So much of our society runs on unwritten rules, too, which can only be built on trust that comes from heart knowledge.
How can we build that heart knowledge? Through stories and encounters. I wrote last week about the LGBTQ+ Rolla Pride Picnic. When I wrote, I was hopeful but not optimistic. I would have been happy if 30 people showed up. As it turned out, we had 83! At least, that’s how many Jesse counted—there may have been others that left before or arrived after the counting, or were otherwise missed. It was an amazing event. Phelps County Focus published an excellent article about it and a slideshow of pictures.
I was surprised that so many people were willing to join us. I would say about half were allies (most of them there with queer family members or friends, some with distant friends or family). Now, head knowledge says that there are probably about 1000 LGBTQ individuals in Rolla. We have a population around 20,000 and national polling indicates that 5.6% of Americans identify as something other than straight, cisgender. Still, there is a difference between knowing that fact and encountering queer individuals.
Where do we go from here? We share our stories. The Focus article is a good start. Looking ahead, we plan to have other social events so that people can know each other, in the sense of personal experience. To know that they are not alone, that other people have been through some of the same stuff, that they can just BE without hiding any part of their true selves.
Yet another place I heard this concept was in a Queerology podcast interview of Tara Teng. Among other things, she is an embodiment coach. She writes,
If God had a body through the incarnation of Jesus, then what can our human experiences in the human body teach us about God? What does it mean to be “Imago Dei”? And how can we live out the fullness of our humanity – mind, body and soul?
Tara Teng
God did not have to become human to know, intellectually, what humanity was like. God created us in God’s image, after all, and spent millennia hearing our stories. And yet, something was still missing. So God became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus lived so that God the Trinity would know, from direct experience, what it is to be human.
Greek philosophers, Gnostics, and many others throughout history have believed in a mind-body dualism. Plato, for example, portrayed the body as a prison for the soul. Yet the Incarnation asserts that our bodies are good, our bodies are essential parts of the kingdom of God.
Indeed, we encounter the kingdom of God through our bodies. We feel—not intellectually, but in our whole beings—the joy, the love, the comfort, the connection that comes when we are truly present with another person. The Pride Picnic was just such an inbreaking of the kingdom of God—a time when I knew that God was present with me, was present in each person, was present in our gathering. It was a joyous time, and a holy time.
A quick program note. My church, First Presbyterian Church of Rolla, is currently without an installed pastor. I will be preaching about twice a month. Right now, I have July 11, July 25, and August 15 on my calendar. On the weekends when I preach, I will most likely just post my sermon here as a blog post, as well as links to it as a podcast and video. Of course, you are more than welcome to join us in person! We worship at 9:45 am.