Ignorance is Bliss, or is it?

We’ve all heard the statement “Ignorance is bliss.” It implies “If it ain’t said, it ain’t so.”   It implies that what we don’t know won’t hurt us. 

So, what is it that we don’t know?  What don’t you know?  What are you NOT worried about, because you don’t know about it?  Is it that diagnosis?  You could have some terrible cancer right now, but you don’t know about it, so you’re not worried about it, and ignorance is bliss!  But once you receive the diagnosis, you have the knowledge of the disease, and that changes everything. Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge brings a healthy fear, and a call to action. Once you have knowledge, you can not continue to live in ignorance.

Recently, Honda recalled certain 2004 cars because of a faulty air bag. This is what the recall notice said:

SAFETY RISK:

THE DEFECT IN THIS VEHICLE COULD KILL OR INJURE YOU OR OTHER PEOPLE IN YOUR VEHICLE. SPECIFICALLY, THE FRONT AIRBAG INFLATOR COULD PRODUCE EXCESSIVE INTERNAL PRESSURE UPON DEPLOYMENT. IF AN AFFECTED AIRBAG DEPLOYS, THE INCREASED INTERNAL PRESSURE MAY CAUSE THE INFLATOR TO RUPTURE (BREAK APART) AND DEPLOY ABNORMALLY. IN THE EVENT OF AN INFLATOR RUPTURE, METAL FRAGMENTS COULD PASS THROUGH THE AIRBAG CUSHION MATERIAL POSSIBLY CAUSING SERIOUS INJURY OR FATALITY TO YOU OR OTHERS IN THE VEHICLE. A PRIOR RUPTURE LIKE THIS RESULTED IN SERIOUS INJURY AND DEATH. HONDA SUGGESTS THAT YOU AVOID HAVING A PASSENGER SIT IN THE FRONT PASSENGER’S SEAT UNTIL THE RECALL REPAIR HAS BEEN PERFORMED.

REMEDY:

HONDA WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE AIRBAG INFLATOR, FREE OF CHARGE. IF A REPLACEMENT PART IS NOT AVAILABLE DEALERS WILL WORK WITH OWNERS TO ACCOMMODATE OWNER NEEDS. OWNERS MAY CONTACT HONDA’S AUTOMOBILE CUSTOMER SERVICE AT 1-888-234-2138. HONDA’S CAMPAIGN NUMBER FOR THIS RECALL IS JM0.

Thousands of people have been cluelessly driving around for years completely ignorant of the fact that if their air bag deploys, shrapnel could be projectiled into their face killing them instantly. The very device installed to save their lives, could take their lives.  But ignorance is bliss. What you don’t know, won’t hurt you.

My mom drives a 2004 Honda CRV and when she heard about this recall, she immediately took her car to the Honda dealership.  The dealership had been so inundated with recalls, that they didn’t have the part.  They said to bring the car back in a couple of months when the part was in stock.

Do you think, after receiving the recall notice, and knowing what my mom knew about the danger, she was going to drive that car again without it being repaired?  Of course not!  After a little persuasive language from my dad, the Honda dealership kept Mom’s car and provided her with a rental car.  They told her they wouldn’t have the part for a few months, but they would cover the cost of the rental until the problem was fixed.

One day my mom was telling us the story about her Honda and the recall.  My son, Tony, said, “I drive a 2004 Honda Civic!”  My heart sank!  My son commutes from Carlsbad to Riverside and back at least 10 times per month!  What if he’s in a fender bender and the airbag deploys propelling shards of murderous metal right into his beautiful face, killing him instantly?

The truth of the matter is, the possibility of Tony being killed in his car by a faulty airbag was a reality since he bought the used 2004 Honda several years ago.  It didn’t happen, thank God, but when I knew it was a possibility, I pulled rank and played my Mama card on my adult son and insisted he take his car in immediately!  Being the good boy that he is, he drove straight to a Honda dealership, and drove away in a shiny new rental car! 

Ignorance is bliss, yes, but knowledge?  Knowledge brings fear.  A healthy fear. Fear of that airbag deploying sending virtual shards of death into your face. For years, my mom drove her 2004 Honda CRV with the exact same risk whether she knew it or not.  The risk of her airbag killing her was just as real in 2004 as it was when she received the recall!  Same with Tony, his airbag could have killed him years ago just as easily as it could have killed him the day he found out about the recall.  Once they received the recall, however, they had knowledge, and knowledge brings fear.  Fear that comes from knowledge is healthy, it’s a fear that is for our own good, for our well-being! It’s a fear that promises us a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)  And Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge.”

When we fear (love, honor, respect, praise) the Lord, we are just beginning to tap the spring of knowledge He makes available to us.  With knowledge, we can avoid a face full of shrapnel from a faulty airbag.  In ignorance, we plod forward, not knowing or caring that we might have a face full of shrapnel in a second if the very thing whose purpose is to save us, betrays us.  Ignorance is, indeed bliss.  Bliss is not good. Knowledge is good, and wisdom is good. Fearing the Lord is good.

Proverbs 15:31 – 33 says:  “Whoever heeds life-giving correction (pays attention to that recall notice) will be at home among the wise.  Those who disregard discipline (ignore the recall) despise themselves,  but the one who heeds correction gains understanding. Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord.”  We are called to be wise, to be knowledgeable, not ignorant. When we have knowledge, when we are given to know a thing, it’s completely unacceptable to continue to behave the way we did in ignorance, because now we KNOW!

As believers, we have been made aware of the dangers of complacency, and ignorance. We are called, no, we are required to ACT on what we know, we are required to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.

Once we know Jesus, we receive a recall notice – for each of us it may be different.  What is Jesus recalling in your life?  Is it that relationship you shouldn’t be in? Is it pornography? Is it drugs, alcohol? Is there a secret sin in your life?  What are you going to do with His recall in your life? Are you going to take action? Or are you going to risk getting hit in the face with shrapnel from Satan? Ignorance is bliss, but we are not ignorant anymore, we KNOW what He expects from us. And we are required to respond to that recall.

I don’t want to be ignorant.  I want knowledge. I want to fear God and adhere to His recall notice in my life. He has overcome, and He has the power to recall whatever Satan sends my way.

May we go though life with all knowledge and wisdom from God, and a clear understanding of what lies in wait for us. Check your spiritual inbox daily for a recall notice from the Lord. Then act on it.  Make the repairs.  Only then can we defend ourselves from Satan’s shrapnel shower.