Wisdom

Hey guys! Sorry I haven’t been writing recently. Life here at Baylor has gotten crazy. Keeping busy with Ranger Challenge, schoolwork, and as much sleep as is humanly possible. It would wear anyone out. But enough with the banal……

In my Christian Scriptures class today we were talking about the concept of wisdom. What is wisdom? What does wisdom look like? How do we acquire wisdom? These are important questions to answer, especially in a biblical context (thus the discussion in class). God calls us to pursue wisdom and understanding. It is fundamental to how we are to live our lives. The tragedy is that in American culture, we have lost a grasp on the benefits of wisdom. We place value in youth, beauty, and flashy rhetoric. That is not what God is calling us to. He is not calling us to plastic surgery and make-up. He is calling, even commanding, us to pursue “what is right and just and fair” (Proverbs 1:3).

The video accompanying this post is absolutely brilliant. Craig says it much better than I could ever dream. If you haven’t already, please watch it. As he so clearly says, we have a serious problem with wisdom in western culture, but I think that is based in a misunderstanding of wisdom. We don’t actually understand what wisdom is. The sad part is, wisdom is not hard to find.

Proverbs 1:20-22: “Our in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she make her speech; ‘How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate delight…’”

However, acquiring it is not so easy. Wisdom is inherently a process, much like the sanctification process that we go through to become more righteous. Life experiences allow for a better understanding of right and wrong. By having those experiences, we can better discern what the right thing is. But without ongoing life experiences, that knowledge would not be readily available. That is why praising youth is dangerous. We cannot be praising stupidity, as Craig so wisely called it.

So that little pit in your stomach because you realize its true? That’s conviction people! Don’t ignore it. We can’t just sit by and let culture ruin something that is sacred to God. In His very nature, God is perfect wisdom. We can’t really ignore that we live in the most immature generation in history while God calls us to pursue wisdom.

But what do we do about it? Proverbs 1:7 gives us a starting point: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…” So it starts with God, it ends with God, it is God. Pursue God, and you will be pursuing true wisdom. Pursue God and He will set your heart ablaze with a passion for wisdom, and who knows where that will take you.