Goldfish in the Morgue Devotional

You Don’t Know Jack!

Day 10 - You Don’t Know Jack!

Scripture Passage: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Focal Verse: For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ~ 1 Corinthians 2:2 (NASB 95)

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One of the first lessons you learn when being trained to be a forensic death investigator is to approach every scene as if it might be a homicide. The second lesson you learn is to never approach a scene with preconceived notions lest they influence your investigation and observations. The idea being that every death has the potential to be a murder. The information provided to the death investigator over the phone by detectives or law enforcement is often very preliminary and in flux. Furthermore, typically detectives do not closely examine a dead body until the death investigator has arrived on scene to examine the deceased, take photos, assist in collecting evidence, give their assessment of the case.

The wise detective knows it’s always best to wait, no matter how certain they might be that the death is natural or accidental or anything other than murder. But all too often, the death investigator gets to the scene, the body—face down on the floor—is rolled over onto his back only to reveal a knife plunged deep into his chest. Or, in a very real case that happened to me, a traffic fatality is staged to hide the fact that the victim had overdosed in a known drug dealer’s residence. This doesn’t happen often, but it does happen, so it’s best to be prepared for that eventuality. And that preparation begins and ends with eliminating bias the moment you get out of your vehicle and walk up on scene. Bias leads to mistakes. Bias is often based on arrogance informed by experience. And bias can totally kill an investigation right from the start.

In today’s passage, Paul is setting the stage for something to come later: a rebuke to the Corinthians about a certain controversy going on among the congregation. It seems the Corinthians are having a bit of a tiff between two factions: those who are ‘Team Paul’ and those who are ‘Team Apollos’, and this competition was skewing the church’s biases in two different directions. It was dividing loyalties. It was creating a rift. In verses 1-5 of chapter two, Paul is setting the stage for the correction that will come in chapter three, by stating he never came to them as the great Paul, student of the renowned Gameliel, Pharisee of the Sanhedrin. He didn’t come to them as an apostle viewed as being on par with Peter and the other ten disciples of Christ. He came to them in humility. As a man trembling. As a man who knew nothing but Jesus Christ. And not just Jesus, but Christ crucified. To Paul, pedigrees and popularity was of little importance. The only thing that mattered to him was that the church at Corinth focus on Christ.

What about us? Do our own biases skew our view of what’s really important? Do our own self-interests inform the way we interpret Scripture or how we see Jesus? Do our own preconceptions affect the way we serve God or our brothers and sisters in Christ? If you believe you might have a blind spot somewhere in your life that makes you less than open to the things God wants you to do and believe, then why not tackle these biases head-on? How? By praying verse 2:2 every morning when we wake up. By approaching each day the same way a forensic death investigator is supposed to approach a potential crime scene…believing that anything is possible and doing whatever they can to avoid allowing their own preconceptions to color their investigation. Let’s humble ourselves and tell ourselves that we know nothing at all except Jesus and Him crucified.

Father God, help us to be more humble on a daily basis. Help us to realize that, just as Socrates told his students, “The only thing I know for sure is that I know nothing.” Only help us, Father, to rest in the assurance of the only knowledge that is important: the perfect, crucified, and resurrected Christ.

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