Matt reminded me again. It happens somewhat regularly, and I need it.
While preaching, I will often say something like, “Of course, you know the story” or “Everybody knows about.…” Afterward, he will find me and say, “Pastor, not everybody knows.” He is right. It’s called the curse of knowledge.
After reminding the church that they would be having the Lord’s Supper next Sunday, he had an interested newcomer find him and asked what they should bring. Somehow, she thought it would be a potluck in celebration of the Lord. She had never heard of the Lord’s supper before.
Part of the church’s mission is to reach those far from Christ with the life-changing message of the gospel. In today’s post-Christian culture, that means one of our primary methods needs to be a process of explaining. Sounds easy, right? So why is it that many churches have a lot of trouble with this simple process of proclaiming/explaining? Some of the problems are centered in what has often been called the curse of knowledge.
Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash
Try this: tap out the beats to “Happy Birthday” with your hand on a desk or chair or whatever is handy where you are reading this. You’re singing the song in your head while tapping out the beats with your hand or fingers, right?
Okay, now ask yourself, “Do I think most people would guess the song based on my beats?” It’s a familiar song. If you’re like many people, you probably imagine they would.
This experiment was conducted at Stanford University. Researchers found that listeners could guess a song correctly about three times out of 120 attempts. However, the person tapping out the songs thought the listeners were getting it right 90 percent of the time. The difference was that the tapper was hearing the song in their head, so it seemed to them that the listener must get it; it’s so easy! While they were tapping, they couldn’t imagine the other person not hearing the song in the background.
This is the curse of knowledge I was talking about. Once we know something, it is hard to imagine what it’s like not to know it. If you have grown up around the church and the gospel’s message, it’s hard to imagine not knowing. How or even why would you explain something that is so, well, obvious?
Have you forgotten what it’s like to be separated from Christ? Have you forgotten why it is so good to be a part of His Church?
Sam Shoemaker once wrote:
I stand by the door.
I neither go too far in nor stay too far out.
The door is the most important door in the world—
It is the door through which men walk when they find God...
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door.
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply and stay in too long
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember, they are there too.