Foolishness

Jul 31, 2008

Lately I've been seeing a lot of passages in the Bible about wisdom.  They tend to be in one of two categories.  The first is the type that is seen in Proverbs 3:13

"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding." Prov 3:13 NIV

But then, there is also another group of passages about wisdom, that is mentioned many times in the Bible, particularly in the writings of Paul in the New Testament, but also in other parts of the Bible too.  A good example was what I read this morning in 1 Corinthians

"For wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.  For it is written, "He catchers the wise in their own craftiness," and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." 1 Cor 3:19-20 NKJV

I have spent time thinking about how one part of the Bible condones wisdom as being good, and the other seems to say that God tricks the "wise."  It isn't really a contradiction.  God is speaking of two different types of wisdom, one comes from ourselves.  We try to come up with our own plans in our own strength.  That kind of wisdom is what God is against, and what He is speaking of in Corinthians.  It is the kind of wisdom that says, "God, I have this all planned out for myself."  Read the story Jesus tells in Luke 12:13-21.  In that passage Jesus is speaking against greed, but part of that is the singular focus on himself and his own wisdom that is part of what makes the farmer greedy. 

The other wisdom comes from God.  That is the kind that He is really jazzed about.  Proverbs says that the fear (reverent respect and realizing that God is so much greater than us) is the beginning of wisdom, and that it is the Lord that gives real wisdom (Prov 11:10, 1:7, and 2:6). 

Really, I sometimes struggle with becoming wise in my own eyes.  It is all too often that I spend more time reading the news of the day and blogs about current events, than I spend just reading God's word.  When it comes right down to it, worldly wisdom is all about arrogance.  I want to be humble and to understand my rightful place as a servant in the household of God, but all too often I try to claim by force my imagined place as head of the household.  Father, help me to be a servant.  Help me to not think of myself as more highly than I ought to.  Help me to learn that fear of you is the beginning of true wisdom.