Father's Day: Wisdom & Discernment

Intro:

Good morning! Welcome to Church Online. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads watching. Hoping you get to celebrate today. You deserve it. Being a good father is no easy task!

Being a dad to 3 young boys, one of the challenges I face is teaching them wisdom. It’s been said that “wisdom... is knowledge applied.”

When you acquire information - that’s knowledge.

When you beneficially apply that information to your life - that’s wisdom.

I often tell my sons, “Boys - Look around! What do you observe around you that helps you apply what you know?”

You see, I can tell my boys, “Be quiet!” or “Don’t run” or “Go play!” and for the most part, they will listen to me. But that’s just knowledge. And that’s good. I want them to learn right and wrong.

But I also want them to be wise. To figure out how to correctly apply knowledge.

For example, to observe their circumstances, consider the knowledge they have, and appropriately apply it to their thoughts and actions. Without me forcing them. Be wise.

I deal with a similar principle in youth sports. Currently, only my 9 year old son plays sports. So, when I coach, I’m coaching kids at an early stage. It’s all about:

Basic fundamentals.

Rules.

Teaching and following instructions.

If I call this play, this is what you do.

While this stage is important, it’s a very limited part of sport. Relying solely on knowledge will only get you so far in a real game. Because eventually, there’s an opponent who will figure out your plays or do unpredictable things.

In a real basketball game, if I call a play that involves passing the ball this way - but the defender is standing in the way - while I appreciate the player’s willingness to follow instructions, it leads to a turnover. You don’t just want knowledgable players. You want wise players. Players who can apply what they know to the situation.

Player goes back door.

Drives the lane, sucks the defense in, which then opens up the original passing lane.

Knowledge applied. Wisdom.

There’s something gospel about that too, right? Initially, God gave His people a law. Instructions. KNOWLEDGE. Obey these rules! But that never brought about righteousness (being right with God).

Knowledge alone isn’t enough in life. You need wisdom - knowledge correctly applied to your life. And in terms of the law, the goal was to take the knowledge and apply it by seeing we could never keep it. We don’t have what it takes to be right with God by following rules. We’re sinners. And we need a Savior!

The law was always meant to point us to Jesus. If you think about it, when Paul calls it Jesus the Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24), it makes sense. Knowledge of God’s law and who we are, applied correctly (wisdom), points us to Jesus - the Savior! God’s wisdom points to the gospel!

Knowledge and wisdom play a crucial role in God’s redemption plan. Probably why they’re spiritual gifts!

Look at one of the lists Paul gives to the Corinthians...

1 Corinthians 12:8 NKJV

for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,

Body:

We discover two gifts here:

The gift of “a word of wisdom.”

The gift of “a word of knowledge.”

Those are the gifts we’re focusing on this morning...

Now, I need to clarify something… The gifts aren’t “wisdom” or “knowledge.” Anyone can have those. It is “a word” of wisdom and “a word” of knowledge.

Let’s define the gifts this way...

Word of Knowledge - [The gift of] Sharing information filtered and framed by the Holy Spirit. The communication of knowledge for God’s purpose.

Word of Wisdom - [Giving ] Instruction that applies knowledge through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Sounds similar, huh? We’ve already discussed there is a relationship between wisdom and knowledge. There’s natural overlap between the two. It’d be easy to lump them together. But, Paul distinguishes the two, so we should too.

So, let me give an example of how these gifts differ:

A “word of knowledge” is when the Holy Spirit gives someone the ability to speak information into situations which makes clear God’s will. This information may come from previous learning and experience (or possibly supernaturally).

In that ordained moment, the Holy Spirit tells the person, “Share this knowledge with them...”

You ever heard another Christian share information that all of sudden brings light and clarity to the conversation. You’re like, “That’s a good word!”

You sense it’s from God.

That’s like a “word of knowledge.”

Similarly, a “word of wisdom” would be the Holy Spirit gifting a person wisdom - application... what we should do - that results in the furtherance of God’s Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit says, “Share this wisdom...”

When you hear it, you think, “That’s a good word!” because you sense it’s direction from God.

It helps you properly respond by faith.

That’s a “word of wisdom.”

Similar but different.

And again, this it’s more than natural wisdom and knowledge.

There are naturally smart people.

There are naturally wise people.

People who don’t believe in Jesus or have the Holy Spirit.

That’s not what’s referred to here. These gifts are inspired by God, for God’s purposes.

In fact, the Corinthians - the church Paul’s writing to - needed this clarified. In their culture, human wisdom and knowledge was a big deal. But Paul was like:

1 Corinthians 1:25 ESV

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

He also says...

1 Corinthians 2:1 ESV

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.

Paul makes it clear, he ain’t talking about human wisdom and knowledge. This is next-level, Holy Spirit, wisdom and knowledge.

So, how do these next-level gifts work?

If we have them, how do we grow them?

And when are they useful?

Let’s start here...

1) Gifts of wisdom and knowledge grow by God’s word.

Here we go again. Pastor George talking about reading your Bible. Yup. Always going to happen. Two things you can always count on from TRC (not death and taxes).

We will always make much about Jesus. He is the Way, Truth, and the Life.

We will always make much of God’s perfect Word. The Bible is instruction we need for life!

Therefore, if we’re asking how to grow spiritual gifts of wisdom and knowledge, the answers are in the Bible. And look what the Bible says...

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Wisdom and knowledge start with God. And God reveals Himself in His word. So, we gotta get into God’s word if we want to grow the gifts of a “word” of wisdom and a “word” of knowledge.

You can’t speak a word, if you don’t know the Word!

God’s word builds the database of knowledge and wisdom we pull from, when the Spirit inspires us to share a “word.”

Two additional things about God’s word related to these gifts:

When a “word” of “knowledge or wisdom” is spoken, it’ll likely contain Scripture.

Furthermore, our gifted “word” is subject to God’s word. Meaning, a “word of knowledge” and a “word of wisdom” can’t contradict the authority of God’s word.

Here’s something else... I realize we have people who watch Church Online and aren’t Christians. There’s something here for you too....

This is how powerful God’s word is...

...If you desire solid wisdom and knowledge, God’s word can help you grow too! It likely already is because many of society’s best values are based on Scripture:

Generosity - that’s found in the Bible.

The Golden Rule. Do to others as you’d like done to you - Jesus said that!

Equality - that’s first and foremost based on the intrinsic value all humans have since they’re made in “the image of God.” Human equality - regardless of ethnicity - is championed in the Bible!

Servant Leadership - even the world’s top corporations are beginning to practice this. The best example is seen in Jesus!

Where ever you are - spiritually gifted or not - if you want to grow in knowledge and wisdom - get into God’s word!

There’s really no excuse not to anymore. If you got a smart phone, you can get into God’s word like never before. We have Bible Apps like YouVersion with every translation. That’ll even read it to you! God’s word is literally at our fingertips!

Requirement of Humility:

Additionally, we gotta have humility. This gift is grown and shaped by it. A “word of wisdom” or “word of knowledge” isn’t delivered with selfish ambition.

If someone has a “word” that only promotes their personal agenda, that’s a red flag! Something is wrong!

Philippians 2:3–5 ESV

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

Notice how Paul talks about the “mind of Christ.” I think it’s fair to connect this phrase with the “wisdom of Christ.” Jesus’ wisdom is surrounded by humility. Therefore, we can say that true spiritual knowledge and wisdom is grown in the field of humility.

And these gifts being housed in humility makes sense because the purpose of gifts are to build up the church, not personal pride. They allow others to experience God’s love, not draw attention to our personal preference.

If we desire to grow in wisdom and knowledge, we must remain humble. Considering others as more important than ourselves. That also means, in the church, when people say things that challenge us (if we’re committed to God’s wisdom) we’ll listen.

Why? Because humility...

Is understanding we don’t know everything.

It’s knowing don’t have perfect insight.

It acknowledges that we might be wrong!

Or, it simply considers others as more important than ourselves, even if it has nothing to do with right or wrong.

Because that’s how the Kingdom of God works.

It’s about loving your neighbor! Valuing them as important.

Which also brings up this… spiritual wisdom and knowledge requires the counsel of others.

Proverbs 11:14 NKJV

Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.

One thing I appreciate about the leadership team here at TRC is we don’t always agree. I’m not saying we aren’t unified. But your church’s leadership team is not made up of yes-men-and-women, who do the pastor’s bidding.

In fact, many lovingly challenge me to think differently. That’s healthy! That’s how wisdom and knowledge grow. God speaks through that process - through His people who have the Holy Spirit. Wisdom comes through the healthy process of thinking with others.

The church is a body. For it to function and grow properly, it needs to work together in unity and humility!

When would this be useful?

So, let me begin to wrap up by sharing a situation of when these gifts would be useful.

But before I do - I want to mention another related gift: the spiritual gift of discernment. One theologian defines it this way:

The special ability to recognize the influence of the Holy Spirit or of demonic spirits in a person.

I wish I had more time for this gift... But basically, God gives some Christians the spiritual ability to recognize whether something is from God or whether it’s not (when that may not be clear to everyone else).

This is important because the devil is tricky. Many times he takes things that are true - are biblical - and twists them just enough that we won’t naturally recognize the error, and eventually find ourselves following a path towards destruction. To protect us from that, God has given us spiritually gifted people who can call out those lies! Or verify - This is God’s way!

Okay, so let me share a story from the book of Galatians that brings it all together. Paul is writing to a church headed in the wrong direction. Initially, they fully received the gospel! By grace, they put their faith in Jesus for salvation from their sins. But then, false teachers snuck in and led people astray. They taught, “You need Jesus + the Jewish law” to be saved. And the people bought the lie!

So, Paul corrects this by sharing an example of when Peter came to visit him and Barnabas in Antioch - a primarily non-Jewish church. At first Peter was cool. Celebrating the new gospel work! He was eating with everyone - Jewish or not. It didn’t matter. They were all brothers and sister in Christ.

But then, Jewish homeboys from his old hood rolled up. All of a sudden, he’s only down with the Jewish people “from the block.” And don’t get it twisted, this was more than just wanting to hang out with old friends. His actions intentionally made non-Jewish people feel like 2nd class Christians. We know this because Paul mentions how Barnabas was influenced to do the same.

Then he says:

Galatians 2:14 NLT

When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions?

I personally see all 3 gifts at work here:

Gift of discernment: Peter and Barnabas were godly men! Didn’t matter. Something was off. Paul spiritually discerned it and called it out. Paul’s like, “Nah - this ain’t right.”

A word of knowledge: Paul - led by the Holy Spirit - spoke timely information (knowledge) that illuminated the situation. Paul’s like, “You KNOW how the gospel works! And it’s not like this!”

A word of wisdom: Paul - led by the Spirit - applied that knowledge into instructive actions that built up the church. He said, “If you KNOW the gospel, then why you asking people to live legalistically? We are free in Christ! Let’s live that way!”

Satan planned to destroy the gospel work in Antioch. The first church that officially showed God’s heart for the world and not just the Jews. So, Satan snuck in false teaching aimed to divide and destroy. But Holy Spirit gifted Paul to discern and speak a “word.” And the church was protected, built up, and experienced God’s love.

A word of knowledge, wisdom, and discernment are important when:

We need to know God’s will.

We need to know God’s way.

We need to make godly decisions.

Response:

The past couple weeks I’ve been watching The Last Dance. No, not Save the Last Dance (that’s a cool movie). But the documentary on Michael Jordan - the greatest basketball player of all time.

In this series, it continually emphasizes how superior Jordan was over every other player. But some of you know that he didn’t win his 6 championships until after he formed a balanced team around him. He won personal accolades. But the goal is winning the NBA Championship.

You see, as great as Michael Jordan was, he needed the...

Scottie Pippen

Ron Harper

Steve Kerr

Dennis Rodman

Even the Bill Wennington

...to help him win. None of these players were anywhere close to MJ as an individual player. But they ARE players Jordan depended on to help him win championships.

That’s like the gift of wisdom, knowledge, and discernment.

They’re not as visible as teaching and preaching.

They’re not as amazing as tongues.

They’re as miraculous as healing.

But they brings balance to the church. They help the church win! They are the quiet gifted voices among us that continue to point us to Jesus!

So, let’s pray for these gifts. Let’s build a church culture that supports and values the use of these gifts.

In closing… Dad’s - on this Father’s Day 2020 - our role requires us to live with similar responsibility as those who have these gifts...

We need knowledgable fathers. Dads who know what God says.

We need wise fathers. Dads who know how to apply God’s word to our lives.

We need discerning fathers. Dads who teach us to follow the Holy Spirit and protect us from the lies of the enemy.

Men, on this Father’s Day - let me challenge you. Rise up to be the man God created you to be. Get into God’s word. Serve your family and community.

And men, if you need help on where to start… join a Life Group. Link up with other men who can counsel you, teach you wisdom, and link arms with you in this battle for our family’s soul.

Fill out a connect card!

And for the rest of us, let’s pray for the fathers around us. The devil knows if he can take them out, he can destroy generations to come. Pray for wise, knowledgable, humble, discerning, and Spirit-filled fathers.

Kids - If you’re next to your dad right now, as we pray, I want you to place your hand on him. And let’s pray for him together.

God, we ask you to bless the fathers in our life today. Help them to be who you called them to be. Who we need them to be. Fill them with your Holy Spirit, so they can lead our family in wisdom. Thank you for them. In Jesus name, amen.