"Do you love me?"

As ever, Oswald Chambers profoundly cuts right to the heart of the matter. His June 19th entry of My Utmost for His Highest addresses an aspect of church life (and my life) that has troubled me for some time. I call it intellectualism because, no matter how inadvertently, it encourages "understanding" Jesus rather than knowing him. Intellectualism encourages a legalistic, if sincere, pursuit of righteousness rather than a devoted pursuit of Jesus. It focuses on doctrine instead of focusing on love.

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing."
~1 Corinthians 13:2

Chambers' identification of the problem decades ago and his Holy Spirit inspired prescription give me hope. It's a great relief to know intellectualism is not a unique problem or even new to this age. I'm excited to know that God can free us from it as he has done to others.