That word “know” in the original Greek, is the same word used when Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I KNOW not a man?”

Intimacy. First-hand, embodied experience.

Knowing truth is far more than mental assent. Real knowledge is yet further removed from certificates or degrees. Theological degrees have become an industry, and initials are bought and sold. When you add to that, the fact that knowledge puffs up, and God resists puffy headed people, it is clear that no one’s “Master of Divinity” or “Masters in Counseling” can ever bring them or those that sit under them true freedom.

So far, every artist who got her degree in art has told me that it did little to make them a true artist, and in many ways their learning put constraints into their thinking. Their freedom did not come from that kind of “knowing”.

Seriously. Every degree’d artist I have spoken to.

All my freedom in my creative expression did not come from a book (I have dozens of art books) or a YouTube video (I have viewed scores) or a course (I’ve taken a few and written/taught three, so far). It has not come from copying another artist’s style or technique.

My freedom has come from consistent, intimate engagement with my tools and materials.

It has come from delight. Hours upon hours of intimate engagement, for no other reason than it’s all I ever wanted.

Learning isn’t bad. Study is not wrong. But never forget that knowing the truth that sets free, means being very very intimate with it.