"Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks
that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become
wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is
written, “He is the one who catches the
wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The
Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that
they are useless.”” (1 Corinthians 3:18–20, NASB95)
We live in a world where it is common to be told how we
should think, and we are even ostracized if we dare not think or speak in that
same manner. In general, we all have a desire to be thought well of and to have
something valuable to offer other people. In our passage for today, Paul is not
speaking of this good innate desire, but rather he is speaking of the arrogance
that we see and find so distasteful and for which we are to guard against in
ourselves. Being on Facebook as a social media platform, I see all sorts of
things posted, and it is not uncommon to see something posted by someone who is
so forceful in their expression that they put down anyone who disagrees. This
is particularly so when it comes to views on gender identity, relationships and
politics. The bottom line is that every person has an opinion, and there is
clearly a wide chasm generated when those opinions alienate people because of
how strongly they attack or malign those who disagree. Without a standard of
truth there is really nothing to say that any single viewpoint is either right
or wrong. And, when speaking without a foundation we can easily see how foolish
one person’s view seem in relation to ours.
In this passage today, we read that these “wise” people who
espouse or advocate their positions further entrench themselves in their stance
by their own words and the support of those who similarly agree. It becomes a
self-feeding structure that reinforces itself by selectively hearing that which
best supports their position. Things can even be called proven science or fact,
when in reality it may be little more than a strongly held idea. become science
when in fact science may indeed say something different or may even be itself silent.
And, what is determined as scientific fact really at times is nothing more than
a preponderance of people coming together to agree on what may really in
scientific terms be nothing more than an unproven hypothesis indicated by a
symptomology without a proven cause.
Many try to boast in themselves or their ideals. They can
speak with authority, even be quite knowledgeable, and appear wise in what we
say. But Paul says that this kind of wisdom has no eternal value. It won’t save
anyone. The real way to find answers is to humble ourselves and listen to the
One who is eternally existent and is in fact the Creator of all that exists. In
simple terms, the way to become wise is to become as a fool in order to learn
from the One who is infinitely wise. There is so much that we don’t understand
and there are so many pieces that we cannot put together, but God is knows
everything without limitation, and He has revealed Himself to us. There is
nothing that man can bring to God to cause Him to learn. But for us to really
learn, we need to go to Him and let Him teach us. We need to let our minds be
absorbed in His truth and His Spirt become the counselor of our hearts.
In our passage for today we read, ‘For the wisdom of this
world is foolishness before God.” Before Robin and I got married we had both
been drawn to a particular passage of Scripture, which is Proverbs 3:5-6. And,
it has been the principles of this passage that have been so much a part of our
lives as we have walked together for 38 years through so many different things.
It reads, “Trust in the Lord with
all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5–6,
NASB95) Even now it is Him that we are heavily relying on as we are looking to
the possibility of a move and the opening of an exciting and even intimidating
new opportunity for ministry. There are many answers that we do not have but
having it all figured out is not our standard for moving forward with God. What
we are called to do is to seek Him for His leading and having that to step
forward trusting Him to take care of the stepping stones along to way as He
truly does direct our steps. He provides the principles by which we live. We then
are to trust Him as we live by those principles and do what He has given us to
do even making decisions that don’t have every “i” dotted or “t” crossed.
The world, however, does not work this way. We continue to
read, “He is the one who catches the wise
in their craftiness”; and again, “The
Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that
they are useless.” The world schemes and walks according to its
scheming. Man, apart from God, is about devising his own path and then figuring
out ways to get to his desired end. The reality is that God knows the intent of
every person’s heart, and He knows just how futile all of these intents are
apart from Him. People may garner a great amount of wealth and admiration in
the world, but one day they will die, and all of this will be gone. They will
stand before God with absolutely nothing to offer because the reality is that
their way might have helped them navigate this life, but it had no ability to
bring them into His presence.
“But as for me, I would seek God, and I would place my cause
before God; Who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. He
gives rain on the earth and sends water on the fields, so that He sets on high
those who are lowly, and those who mourn are lifted to safety. He frustrates
the plotting of the shrewd, so that their hands cannot attain success. He
captures the wise by their own shrewdness, and the advice of the cunning is
quickly thwarted. By day they meet with darkness, and grope at noon as in the
night. But He saves from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand
of the mighty. So the helpless has hope, and unrighteousness must shut its
mouth.” (Job 5:8–16, NASB95)
“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The
testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD
are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure,
enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The
judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.” (Psalm 19:7–9,
NASB95)
No comments:
Post a Comment