Its Who You Know

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

John 17:3


Over the years I have shared this phrase, “With regard to heaven, it’s not what you know but who you know” so much someone finally made me a t-shirt with the words across the front. I love it when people read it and smile and say things like, “Amen”, or “I like your t-shirt.” It lets me know that people understand the message of grace.

My pastor, Chuck Smith who has gone home to be with the Lord would often say, “some people have the ability to make complex things simple while others make simple things complex.” Pastor Chuck was a brilliant man who God graced with the ability to make complex things simple. In a world that seemingly more and more loves to debate, remember Jesus came that we might have life not knowledge, faith not philosophy. I recall a funny story that reminds me the right answers come from knowing the right people.

“A renowned philosopher was held in high regard by his driver, who listened in awe as his boss lectured and answered difficult questions about the nature of things and the meaning of life.
Then, one day, the driver approached the philosopher and asked if he was willing to switch roles for just one evening. The philosopher agreed, and, for a while, the driver handled himself remarkably well. However, when the time came for questions, someone at the back of the room asked him, "Is the epistemological meta-narrative that you seem to espouse compatible with a teleological account of the universe?" "That's an extremely simple question," he replied. "So simple, in fact, that even my driver could answer it." Now that is funny!

The apostle Paul could wax eloquence with the best of them as we read from the account on Mars Hill in Acts 17 but Paul knew the best argument a man or woman could give regarding Jesus Christ being Both Lord and God was a personal relationship with Him. In 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 the apostle Paul put it like this, “And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” In other words, it’s not what you know but who you that matters most when it comes to your salvation.


“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”

Philippians 3:8

I LOVE YOU!