The Difference Between Knowing About God and Knowing God

Theology seeks to reduce what may be known of God to intellectual terms, and as long as the intellect can comprehend it can find words to express itself. When God himself appears before the mind, awesome, vast, and incomprehensible, then the mind sinks into silence and the heart cries out, "Oh, Lord God!” There's a difference between theological knowledge and spiritual experience, the difference between knowing God by hearsay and knowing Him by acquaintance. We Christians should watch, lest we lose the "Oh!" from our hearts. There is real danger these days that we shall fall victim to the prophets of poise and the purveyors of tranquility, and our Christianity be reduced to a mere evangelical humanism that is never disturbed about anything nor overcome by ‘transfers of thought and mounting of the mind.’ When the calm listing of request and courteous giving of proper thanks take the place of the burdened prayer that finds utterance difficult, we should be aware of the next step, for our direction is surely down, whether we know it or not. –Tozer

In Acts 19, we find a perfect example of the difference between knowing about God and knowing (and walking with) God. Having seen the Apostle Paul perform miracles “in the name of Jesus,” some itinerant exorcists began evoking Christ’s name in their efforts to cast out demons, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” The demons replied, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize … but who are you?” as the demon oppressed man overpowered them all, and they ran away naked and bleeding. Jesus is not a lucky charm or a magic word. He doesn’t say ‘mention my name when times get tough’ but rather he says, “Follow me!” He invites us to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” The question for us to ask is, how closely are we following the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? How well do we know Him?