Jen Wilkin on the Sin of Meddling

None Like Him: 10 Ways God Is Different from Us by Jen Wilkin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This morning I finished reading None Like Him: 10 Ways God is Different From Us by Jen Wilkin. This is an excellent book about the “incommunicable attributes” of God and how they relate to our daily lives. Chapter 8 is about omniscience. As she does with each of God’s perfections, Wilkin focuses on the incommunicability of this attribute–how we as humans are NOT God–and then she shows how our limitations work themselves out in biblical application. In this case, Wilkin points out how we get addicted to information (guilty as charged!) and get anxious about the future (also me). She also puts her finger on the sin of meddling (a close cousin to gossip):

“But the future is not the only place we look for knowledge that isn’t ours to manage. We often exhibit an unhealthy interest in the affairs of others. The Bible terms this ‘meddling.’ It is significant that Peter places meddling in the midst of a list of sins that includes murder and theft (1 Peter 4:15). It is a form of violation of another person made in the image of God. Meddlers believe they are entitled to knowledge of other people’s situations. While they would no doubt fiercely defend their own right to privacy, they extend no such grace to others. If information is accessible, they view it as fair game. They are the consumers of tabloid journalism, the whisperers of gossip, the curators of the secret details of other people’s lives. They are the reasons we have passwords on our phones and our computers...

We all have relationships that we feel compelled to overmonitor–a spouse, a friend prone to crisis, even someone we admire or envy. But when we meddle, we multiply their troubles and ours...

Rather than casting all your anxieties on the Internet, which cares for no man, cast them on God, for he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7)...Rather than meddling, focus on your own concerns. We need to let God be the one who manages all knowledge. Only he is capable, and only he can be trusted to do so with perfect wisdom...Our comfort lies not in holding all knowledge, but in trust the One who does” (pgs. 115-116).

I highly recommend this book. I’m definitely going to read the follow-up, In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us To Reflect His Character.


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