Thinking About Wisdom

1 Corinthians 1:9

Introduction

Do we want to be a people who study deeply from God’s word?

After all, aren’t there many people who do so to the point of gaining higher degrees of learning on the subject only to say increasingly asinine things about God’s word?

In talking about good thinking, there is some care that needs to be taking in how we go about this business because there is great danger in the pursuit of wisdom.

But there is also great danger in NOT pursuing it.

The Limits of Wisdom

Though Proverbs speaks of wisdom almost exclusively in positive terms, Solomon speaks of its limitations in Ecclesiastes (Ecc. 1:13-18).

God has hidden His truth from the wise and intelligent (Lk. 10:21).

Paul points to wisdom repeatedly as a problem (1 Cor. 1:17, 20, 26-27; 2:1, 4-5, 13; 3:18-20).

Verses like these can cause us to be (rightfully) suspicious of highly educated people:

Look at the history of seminaries.

Consider all institutions of higher learning.

The Difference

Paul shows us something of the contrast of wisdoms (1 Cor. 1:24, 30; 2:6-7).

The wisdom of God is highlighted at the Cross (1 Cor. 1:17-18, 23; 2:2).

Humility is the key to gaining God's wisdom (1 Cor. 1:29, 31; Lk. 10:21).

The foolishness of God here is humility (1 Cor. 3:18; Jn. 9:41).

But it is not good to pursue actual foolishness (1 Cor. 3:1-3).

Wisdom Through Humility

It is a wisdom that cannot be vindicated outside of God.

So we are ultimately going to be saying (like a child) my dad says so.

How silly does a child look who talks about what he has figured out.

I'm not trying to show people what I've come up with.

If you can make the case for something and leave God and His word out of it, then why do you need Him.

The wise path is not the obvious one.

It will not be a path paved with cliches and platitudes that the world will agree with.

"You can't let yourself be a doormat."

"I've heard it said…" is a dangerous way to start a sentence.

Victory will look like defeat…and vice versa.

Try your words in the mouth of Jesus and see how they sound.

If learning more about God isn't making you more humble, then you aren't learning more about God.

The Pharisees enumerated 613 distinct commands in the Law.

But they did not know God.

They literally did not recognize him when they saw him.

Conclusion

I know it sounds cliche, but do you suppose you would recognize Jesus if he came.

Sometimes people think they know all about this, but I contend that if we continue down paths of rebellion towards God, then we certainly do not know all about this.

We use James 2 sometimes to show that people can know God and still be like the demons.

Truly, but that doesn’t mean the demons understand what to make of those facts.

You may believe in God and in His word but maybe you haven’t thought through the consequences of those beliefs.