Wisdom is more than wits and head knowledge. This week the Lord brought to my mind Proverbs 2. It is the words of advice from a father to a son and his desire for him to grow to know the fear of the Lord and wisdom. When I come to this chapter my mind is flooded with a life of trying to catch and hold onto this slippery and fleeting characteristic.
Childhood memories of fathers, and mothers, grandfather and grandmother, preachers and teachers all attempting to bestow some kind of wisdom on a young mind. Yet chiefly, I am reminded of John Bunyan’s Christian, the man who set off from the City of Destruction to find the one who might relieve him of the burden he carries. In Christian’s pilgrimage, he encounters many people who will encourage him or hinder his journey. But one that always stood out to me was Mr. Worldly-Wiseman. I often return to this part of the story and think of the advice he gives to poor Christian and his words that are the very same words that are spoken today by his successors.
What was his advice? It was basically to not listen to the “honorable” Evangelist. His advice was to avoid his counsel for “there is not a more dangerous and troublesome way in the world, than unto which he has directed.” Worldly-Wiseman was not completely wrong in his assessment of Evangelist’s counsel. He said that if Christian was to follow along the path directed, it would lead to wearisomeness, painfulness, hunger, perils, nakedness, sword, lions, dragons, darkness, and death. All these are true to one who carries the name Christian.
What was so wrong with Worldly-Wiseman’s counsel? What was so wrong with his advice? In the larger picture of the story, it is fleeting wisdom. It is a wisdom that is not wisdom at all, but one that encourages one to follow a path away from the true knowledge and wisdom.
I think of what Solomon says to his son in Proverbs 2,
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; —Proverbs 2:1–6 (ESV)
I love the way the father appeals to the son in the protasis clause. It is the if clause in this chapter. It is an appeal for the son to seek after wisdom. If you receive my words; if you call out for insight; if you seek it like it like silver and search; if you do these things, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find knowledge of God. It is God through his Word we find knowledge and wisdom.
Wisdom is a term not thrown around anymore. We are moving away from the wisdom of fathers and grandfathers to a time of head smarts. People assume you are wise if you have you have degrees and risen high in your career. People assume you are wise if at the end of a battle of the wits you are last one standing. But rest assured, these things are by no means a sign of wisdom. The Bible is clear on the way to achieve wisdom and its source—it is by the narrow road that leads to wisdom and our God. People do not seek wisdom anymore. It is because it fleeting. You have to pursue it. You have to chase after it. You have to seek it like silver and hidden treasure. It takes a lifetime of pursuit and by God’s grace many will find it.
So where do we go from here? How does the Church respond to the words of a father to a son? The answer is to seek God and along the way, we will find wisdom. God knows the hearts of his people, and it is a noble pursuit to seek wisdom. God knows the hearts of his people and will reward wisdom and discernment to his people through his Word and by experience gained pursuing our him. I pray that our church would be one of wisdom. Wisdom that is not founded in our own minds or experiences; wisdom that is not found in culture or Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, but in the Lord our God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.—Proverbs 2:6 (ESV)
Bro. Jesse