Ignorance Is (not) Bliss!

4/23/2015                                                  Jesse                                                about 40

A quick gospel outreach in a parking lot today led to a half hour conversation with Jesse, about 40, who had initially shrugged his shoulders when asked about his beliefs in an afterlife, saying “Who knows?”  I had the privilege of giving him a Bible because he didn’t have one, but as we talked I began to find out the reason he doesn’t have one.  “The more I know about God, the more responsibility I have” he said.  He believes that if he reads the Bible, he will be held accountable for what it says, but ignorance is, well, bliss.  I began to explain to him that ignorance of the truth doesn’t let one off the hook when it comes to following God.  “Let’s say you get stopped for driving 60 mph is a 30 mph zone.  If you tell the cop that you didn’t know what the speed limit was, he will tell you that it was your responsibility to find out.  Your ignorance wouldn’t let you off the hook, and in the same way, avoiding reading the Bible doesn’t negate our accountability to follow it.”  This seemed to make sense to Jesse, and I think he might actually read the Bible I gave him!