A Call for Wisdom
- Strength For Life
- Feb 24
- 5 min read
"Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you?" (1 Corinthians 6:5)
It is not controversial to say that our times are short of wisdom, while opinions are abundant. Social media is a minefield of AI videos, bots, and pseudo-theologies boosted by the algorithm. The trouble is that lies can look reasonable at a distance, and a person invested in deceiving others, or adept at arguing, or repeating talking points straight from hell can make error sound like truth. However, Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:13 that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” God told us to expect such things.
The main trouble is not that the Lord did not help us anticipate the lies. The problem is not even the presence of the lies. After all, 1 Corinthians 2:12-13 reminds us that we believers have been given the Holy Spirit, “that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God” (v. 12). We have a better wisdom than the wisdom of the world, by which we can understand truth that is genuinely hidden from the unbeliever. Instead, the main trouble is that the church is evidently not learning wisdom from the Holy Spirit. If we but look around at the state of the American Church, and especially at her pastors and spokesmen, it is easy to see two things. First, very few perceive how to think and act rightly in issues of cultural and ecclesiastical importance. Second, we are divided on secondary theological issues.
First, here are two simple examples to demonstrate that Christians generally have no wisdom to think through significant moral issues. The first example is local: the Christian response to Pensacola’s Drag Queen Christmas opposition. To this day, I do not understand why Christians who agreed that the show was degrading and sinful would remain passive, content to withhold any meaningful support. There were other believers who, while understanding the issue, spent their energy arguing for the performers, the city leadership, and the LGBTQ community and against the Christians. Both responses indicate a lack of wisdom.
The other simple example that demonstrates Christian inability to consider issues biblically comes directly from the letter of Paul to the Corinthians. In chapter 6, he rebukes the Corinthian church, among whose membership “brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers” (1 Cor. 6:6). Unfortunately, it is not especially unusual for a professing believer to call on unbelievers to adjudicate a dispute with a fellow Christian. (These days, it often happens over Facebook.) However, consider the standard that Paul held the church to. “Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters” (1 Cor 6:2)? We read here that, in the future, believers will be involved in rendering judgment on unbelievers, presumably in the millennial kingdom. Additionally, verse 3 indicates that “we shall judge angels” as well. If that is so, says Paul, “how much more things that pertain to this life?” Disputes between believers are minor compared to the cosmic judgments that we apparently will be responsible to render in eternity. Therefore, we ought to easily be able to settle difficult matters between believers.
How far short of the standard of wisdom do we fall? According to Paul, it is perfectly reasonable that we should be able to “set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church” (1 Cor. 6:4. Consider whether you would trust the least capable believer in any local church to settle a conflict inside that church. Personally, I would not want to be on the receiving end of that verdict. And yet, Paul says, believers ought to be so full of Spirit-empowered wisdom that we can easily make wise decisions about the array of interpersonal matters that confront us. In Corinth, apparently, there was no one who could be trusted to do that. “I speak to your shame,” Paul says in verse 5. “Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?” How about us in the 21st century? Where are our wise laymen who would be recognized by each of two feuding believers as qualified to dispense a wise judgment? There are certainly fewer such men than there ought to be.
The second symptom that demonstrates the modern Church is devoid of wisdom is that we are divided along secondary theological issues. Paul describes this situation in 1 Corinthians 1:12: “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.” It is true that there were no significant theological differences between Apollos and Cephas (Peter). There certainly are no true theological differences between Paul and Jesus Christ (although some today claim there are). It is definitely true that comparing the teaching of Jesus, Paul, Peter, and Apollos was not worth severing fellowship. Even if there were differences between human teachers—and there will always be differences—to divide yourselves by membership among their tribe is, according to 1 Corinthians 3:4, to be carnal and walk as men. At best, different men were simply unique “ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man” (1 Cor. 3:5).
In 1 Corinthians, Paul provides a solution for weak, wisdom-starved Christians: dedicate time and energy to knowing Christ. It is Jesus “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). Did you see that Christ is our wisdom? Paul’s personal testimony was that he “determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). It sounds like a cliché to say we should know the Lord Jesus; that it sounds trite is further evidence that we are not as wise as we think. This knowledge is not strictly theological or facts-based. It is not the knowledge of question-and-answer, nor even the knowledge of Scripture memory alone. It is the knowledge of having spent enough time with a person that the details of their personality and preferences are obvious. It is the knowledge of being given two options and knowing immediately which of the two the person would choose. It is the knowledge that knows “the things that are freely given to us of God” (1 Cor. 2:12). It is the knowledge that speaks “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Cor. 2:13). We are not enough like that, and it shows in our inability to get along and to stand for what is right.
Do not be concerned with how wise your brothers and sisters in the faith are. Answer the question for yourself. Do you, do I, know Christ? Do we show by our wisdom that we do? The answer will be immediately obvious in your heart. Seek true wisdom. That is, seek the True Wisdom.
The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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