What is Wisdom

We can all agree that the pursuit of wisdom is a good thing. But what is Wisdom? When I look it up in the dictionary, I get many different meanings. 

First, it could be knowledge, like when a scientist expands our understanding of the physical universe. If you’re familiar with the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, you know he expanded our understanding of the universe with pioneering work in Quantum Mechanics. He also oversaw the development of the atomic bomb. He was later haunted by the implications of his creation. So, he had great knowledge, but perhaps he didn’t show great wisdom.

Wisdom could also be seen as skill in getting things done. But this can devolve into manipulation. You can imagine a politician who wants to get elected using divisive political issues to win th election. But in the process, they’ve divided the voters and done harm to the body politic. So we probably wouldn’t call that wise.

Many philosophers think of wisdom as achieving the good life by developing virtues. But if you surveyed philosophers from various places in the world and at different ages, you’d find there is no real consensus on what virtues we ought to cultivate, nor on what ends we should devote our lives towards. I would suggest that this kind of wisdom is closer to the biblical truth, but with one important caveat. Biblical wisdom leaves it to God to decide what the appropriate goal of life should be. This kind of wisdom doesn’t always seem wise to the tastemakers of this world. Consider what Paul says,

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”

So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18-22, NLT)

The idea that God reigns in this week, crucified man offends our human pride. 

Human wisdom looks wise, but God’s wisdom often doesn’t look that way. But God’s wisdom affects salvation for the world. It is validated not by how wise it appears, but by how it accomplishes. It is most powerfully revealed in the life (and death and resurrection) of Jesus.

How God’s Wisdom Works

God’s wisdom is grounded in his love. Because God loves his creation, he wants what is best for us. The Old Testament Hebrew uses the word shalom for this. This can be translated as peace, but also has overtones of completion. The word I like is flourishing. Human wisdom concerns itself primarily with the benefit of the one who possesses it; Benefit to others is secondary. But God’s wisdom considers the needs of all. It often looks very different because it doesn’t ‘work’ for the wise person in the same way.

Jesus embodies God’s wisdom, giving himself for our benefit, but that gift makes possible salvation for the world. As followers of jesus, our lives are also meant to display God’s wisdom. We do this when our conduct builds others up. As Jesus’ brother James writes:

 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:13-18, NLT)

What’s going on in this passage? It seems there is a dispute in the community about who is wise. It’s probably important because the community is trying to know who they should listen to. Some people seem to have the right qualifications: the right education, or the right letters of recommendation. But James says that we should evaluate the wisdom of people by action: does it work to build up the community, or is it all about the ambition of the supposed wise person? Remember, Jesus, the crucified, weak looking guy is our paradigm for understanding wisdom. Jesus warned people that we should evaluate others by their actions: “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act” (Matthew 7:15-16a, NLT). Like Jesus, James thinks we should look at the fruit of people’s actions.

Let me tell a story to illustrate my point. Imagine you work in an office on a team with several other coworkers. Among your coworkers are two people who exemplify very different forms of wisdom. Michael is very good at office politics. He seems to be very good at getting the credit for the work of everyone on the team. He also seems to be able to distance himself from responsibility for the team’s shortcomings. He stabs people in the back in order to get ahead. He may look good to the boss (especially if he’s not a hands-on manager, but the kind who evaluates his staff on paper). Michael looks good, but the result of his work is division and hostility on the team.

On the other end of the spectrum is Jessica. She’s a team player who makes sure that everyone gets credit when credit is due. She accepts her fair share of the blame when things don’t turn out as hoped. She puts the good of the team above her own personal advantage. The consequence of her action is that the team is stronger and more motivated to do good work. On paper, she doesn’t look like the best candidate, but her actions and the fruit of her approach show she’s much wiser than Michael.

In Jesus’ day there were plenty of Michaels. The Sadducees seemed wise in their own eyes. They got what they wanted (status and power) but the cost was that they cooperated with the Romans in the exploitation of the people, and the killed Jesus. While God worked Jesus’ death out for his glory, the fruit of their ‘wisdom’ was death. On the other hand, an example of Godly wisdom is the Apostle Paul (following his conversion). In a culture that considers those who suffer justly punished by God, Paul accepts this suffering as a sign of his authority: he is continuing what Jesus did during his earthly ministry. Writing to the Corinthian church Paul goes so far as to boast about his suffering:

Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm. 2 Co. 11:24-27 (NLT)

Paul embodies God’s wisdom by emptying himself in love for the sake of others.

Displaying God’s Wisdom

How can we live in such a way as to cultivate God’s wisdom in our lives? The passage we read in James gives us some practical advice. 

Purity – In the New Testament, Purity is about a single-minded devotion to God expressed in avoiding the kinds of behaviors that harm others (whom God loves). This means that God’s wisdom precludes behaviors like dishonesty, self-dealing, breaking trust or exploiting others.

Showing Mercy – When others make mistakes, it can be tempting to condemn them, but Godly wisdom refuses to condemn others, and only corrects others from a place of loving concern. After all, we are all sinners saved by God who refused to condemn us.

Being Sincere – We need to be honest with people and devoid of pretense. This means creating the kind of environment where people can be honest about their shortcomings without fear of being judged or expelled from the group. If everyone puts on the mask of perfection, we’ll all like everyone else has their stuff together while we are the lone screwup. This makes us feel alone and fearful of exposure. 

Avoiding Favoritism – It can be easy to pick sides in conflicts based on who we identify or who we like better. We see this toxic tendency in politics. People often minimize or outright deny the wrongs committed by our own side, while judging the offenses (real or imagined) of the other side in the harshes possible terms. In the church, we shouldn’t take sides based on who we identify with, but we should have an open mind to the truth and work towards reconciliation.

Pursuing Peace – Peace is essential for a flourishing community. Peace doesn’t just mean there is an absence of overt conflict. Instead, we need to be the kind of place where everyone feels heard. It’s especially important to be accommodating to others when we have authority over them. It can be tempting to insist on our own way when we are empowered to make a decision. But we cultivate peace by being willing to listen to others and to compromise (at least on things that aren’t central to the church’s teaching). After all, there are churches that have split because people couldn’t agree on what color to paint the walls. Building this kind of consensus might mean we have to settle for something that’s not our first choice, but it is better for community as a whole.

Conclusion

If we pursue God’s wisdom we won’t always look good in people’s eyes, but if a community lives this way, God’s wisdom will be vindicated by the life it produces. God doesn’t care about appearing wise. After all, Jesus won the victory over sin and death while looking very unwise in human eyes. God really only cares about building a flourishing community, so Jesus accepts the scorn of the cross for our sake. This is the kind of wisdom we should pursue, not a wisdom of self importance, but a wisdom of seeking the good of those around us. If we do, our lives will showcase God’s saving wisdom.