1. Wisdom is knowledge & insight.
“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
and I find knowledge and discretion."
(Proverbs 8:12, ESV)
This may be the most universal understanding of what wisdom is. Most people, when they think of wisdom, picture Tibetan monks or Ghandi -- people who are clearly unique compared to the rest of humanity in their practices and the way they speak and think. We see these types of ultra-pious lifestyles and often think that is what true wisdom must be.
We know that wisdom is mysterious in a sense; some have it and others don't, and even those who have it seem to never fully arrive in it. Do the wise know something the rest of us don't? In a sense, the answer is usually yes because wisdom is knowledge and insight, so the implication is that if you aren't wise you lack knowledge and insight. However, wisdom is available to all people, not just an elite few. The only thing that I believe sets apart "wise" people and "unwise" people is (a) fear of the Lord and (b) teachability. Those things are rare but not unattainable in the least. All people are accountable to grow in wisdom; you are either growing in wisdom or on a foolish path to destruction. In order to understand this better, we need to understand the concept of wisdom from a Christian worldview.
"The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens;"
(Proverbs 3:19, ESV)
"For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
(Isaiah 55:9, ESV)
In this we also see that God's wisdom is indisputably greater than ours; no man is as wise as God. Because we are created in God's image, we have a special capacity for wisdom, but we are nevertheless human and not God, created and not creator. We are faithful reflections of God when we grow in wisdom, but we are reflections only, not the true source.
"The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;"
(Psalm 19:7, ESV)
"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
(1 Corinthians 1:20-25, ESV)
The Bible makes a clear distinction that there are two kinds of wisdom: the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God. These two categories are at odds with each other. Let's briefly examine some key differences in the two.
The Wisdom of the World:
- trusts man's judgement and knowledge
- distrusts God's judgement and knowledge
- values earthly rewards
- devalues eternal rewards
- values observable strength and power
- devalues humility and meekness
- seeks after earthly pleasure
- avoids delayed gratification
- seeks personal glory
The Wisdom of God:
- trusts God's judgement and knowledge
- distrusts man's judgement and knowledge
- supremely values eternal rewards
- thanks God for earthly rewards
- values humility and meekness
- distrusts observable strength and power
- embraces delayed gratification
- is not deceived by earthly pleasure
- seeks God's glory
We see these two worldviews contrasted best in Jesus's redemptive work. Mankind throughout history has observed that there is a divine power and that there is a "God-mankind gap" because of moral failings and limited abilities/knowledge. Christians can agree with most of the world on this. But there are distinct differences in how the wisdom of the world proposes reconciliation of God and man and how the wisdom of God proposes reconciliation between God and man.
The wisdom of the world believes that man can earn a restored moral standing before God by doing good works (ex: offerings to God, kindness to others, pious living). Some version of this view is evident in every single world religion. In this view, only the most moral and wise, an elite few, persons have a realistic chance at redemption. And those who do achieve whatever standard they've adopted get all the credit for their redemption because they did it from their own effort. For those who are not the elite few that are very moral and wise, their best option is to close the God-mankind gap by diminishing God's holiness and judgement rather than putting heavy moral burdens on themselves. Both of these approaches are hopeless.
The wisdom of God tells us that man is incapable of earning a restored moral standing before God because we are incredibly sinful, sinful at the heart, sinful in all our intentions, and utterly morally flawed. God knows that we cannot come to him, and so he came to us. But he did not come to us in a way that diminished his holiness or his judgement. Rather, he made himself the perfect moral sacrifice in our place and directed his holy judgement toward himself instead of us. By doing this, he preserved his righteousness, holiness, and just wrath but also made a legally sound way for us to receive his mercy and grace, thus closing the God-mankind gap. By removing the legal demands of moral law from our requirements for reconciliation to himself, he made it available to all people: the weak, the uneducated, the poor, the unpopular, etc. (See 1 Corinthians 1:26-31.) And no one who receives this gift gets credit for it; only God gets all the glory because he did all the work. This is our only hope, and what a wonderful hope it is!
Do you want to know how polarized these two types of wisdom are? The wisdom of the world is so opposite of the wisdom of God that it calls his wisdom foolish. And the wisdom of God is so opposite of the wisdom of the world that it proves it to be foolish. The two cannot be reconciled; one is true, and the other is false. And we have to decide which one we want to live by. If you want to live by the wisdom of God, be prepared to be thought a fool.
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