“We are drowning in knowledge and starving for wisdom.”
I’ve seen this phrase a few times and again, most recently today.
Knowledge is the information and facts.
wisdom is knowing what to do about the information and facts to produce the very best outcome.
How does one go about deciding what is and isn’t true when there isn’t a way to really know one way or the other?
Such as the side that says the ‘covid jab’ is unsafe and unpredictable. And that’s a biggie right now for everyone.
Or maybe the flip side, that is pushing it so hard that are offering pizza parties, gift cards, and ways to enter lotteries to one that receives it? “We are all going to die without it! Don’t be selfish now… Think of others.”
For me, I must stand back and view the bigger picture. Because there is always a bigger picture. And everything is tied in some way to our spiritual battles. In order to decide what to believe and what not to believe, I will look at the fruit of those who are claiming something or pushing something. And also, if possible, which side of the story is being broadcasted from whom and from where?
Does the voice and action have a history of spreading lies, partial truth, and pushing an agenda that doesn’t match up to the morals I believe in?
I must know my enemy well so that I can recognize where they are working and how. I have to trust Holy Spirit in helping me see a counterfeit, and if I was wrong, then I was wrong.
Frankly, almost everything about 2020 reeked of the devil’s plans.
Fear? >> Check!
Control? >> Check!
Lies? >> Check!
Shaming? >> Check!
Isolation? >> Check!
Identity theft? >> Check!
All basic tools in the devil’s toolbox.
If one believes we are in a spiritual battle as I do, then there is most certainly a side to this that is not for my team.
The division that was caused by 2020 in all the different ways was insane. This was not the hand of the Lord. I can’t even spell the dreaded disease correctly because of censorship. That should tell you something right there… Based upon the knowledge I have of the authorities around me, I should crush what I know with wisdom.
I’ve got knowledge from both sides of the dilemma. Now I must implement wisdom into action and decide what to do with it.
Now, let’s take a look at a different scenario. This one happens a lot within the church world.
Let us say that we are in a position of religious influence. (And that’s all of us, just some of us have a bigger platform than others.)
We have decided that someone else in a position of influence within our circle has said something we disagree with. We believe it is a matter of people being misled and losing their faith. I am not talking about sin. I am talking about concepts, eschatology, or an interpretation of the word. Perhaps it’s only over theology and whether or not the red horse stands for cinnamon or tomatoes.
We have some information and now is the time to add wisdom to it.
What should we do with the information?
Is this a person that we can ask personally?
Can we call them, send them a message, or perhaps see them in person? If they are more out of reach, can we find any other places where they explain themselves in a different way to clarify what we thought we heard?
So, we might pick one of the below to do to our fellow believers:
a.) We run with what we are sure we heard them say and start ripping the other person up publicly. We do not ask or make any attempts to go to the person directly to clarify what we thought we heard them say. Because we do not need to. We have decided that they need their ship sunk, and they are a false voice in the Christian world. They really should be taken out right now by the consuming fire of God literally before they lead anyone else astray. And furthermore, anyone else who associates with them in any way is also condemned. We are only concerned with ourselves and whether or not we are blameless in God’s eyes. We must Cut them off, speak badly about them, and make sure the rest of the church knows the danger that lies. In the wake of believing what we thought we heard but have not asked for clarification, we rip up the body and sweep others into our self-righteous pit. Because we know what we know. And what we know is that it’s our job to not bother to go to that person directly because that would be a little too uncomfortable, and it’s below us. Besides, we might not even know them personally…
Or maybe we do.
b.) We heard something we feel doesn’t quite align with what our understanding is. We decide if the thought or action in question is potentially going to lead someone astray or cause faith to be eroded. Perhaps, we have never heard a new concept, and we would like to know for a better understanding, what is this about? We decide to ask the person directly for clarification. I.E., “Sir, you said that you believe the red horse means cinnamon? That way of thinking doesn’t align with my understanding, and I’ve always interpreted the red horse to mean tomatoes. Can you please clarify where you derive this from?” The person then may have an opportunity to help you understand what he originally meant to say or share their understanding of what they believe to be true or interpretation. Now you get to decide if cutting that fellow believer off is in order. You’ve hopefully had some clarity, and now you may make a better decision. Hopefully, it doesn’t include doing damage to the body of Christ, which never goes unnoticed by God.
The above example of Christians handling their disagreements and shredding each other happens more often than we all want to admit. We need to stop it. We need to hear what was said in context. And we need to give each other a chance to explain ourselves before throwing grenades. We need to ask questions from the right source before imploding and quit allowing ourselves to be a rumor mill. Just ask. Really, we are a laughingstock in the world’s eyes. Why on earth would anyone take us seriously?
Doctors come together and have think tanks over the new things they are learning and disagreements they have on how to heal diseases and whatnot. (However, They didn’t get this opportunity in 2020 over the dreaded disease, they just got told what to do by one man… put your knowledge and wisdom together on this.)
I digress; why are we as believers not able to do this?
Why is it that we hold our understanding and emotions so close to us we cannot reconcile them?
Are we worshiping them?
Are they really so much more important than our relationships with each other that we are willing to gouge someone else in exchange for what we deem is righteousness? I’ve got news for us. God came to deliver relationships and bring reconciliation. I don’t think he gives one rip about whether or not we believe we are right on what the red horse means! But he certainly does care about how we are treating and cutting each other off over things that could be handled in a cleaner way.
I used the above example; however, this happens a lot in our personal relationships as well. The lack of emotional maturity in the body of believers is astoundingly high. Our inability to have emotional self-control is not just hurting ourselves; it hurts the body of Christ all around and does nothing to whet people’s appetites for the health that the Lord gives to those who love him.
In a world where we are swamped with information, the whole he said – she said thing, or we heard with our own ears a message, we need to implement and complement it with wisdom. We have to use wisdom to help us know what to do with the information. Some information is bad. Some is not. wisdom helps us decide whom and what to believe.
We must get spiritually and emotionally healthy to put God’s wisdom into action. Otherwise, we tend to consume information and either destroy ourselves or the relationships around us, basing what we know upon our weak emotions, or we do absolutely nothing with it and go on to live a purposeless life. There may be some other options here I have not listed.
The Bible says wisdom is calling out on the street corners, and she is worth far more than rubies. If we want something worthy, let’s find wisdom and introduce her to our good buddy, knowledge. They should be fantastic friends! And for crying out loud, can we step back and look at the bigger picture? Let’s stop getting played by the devils. It’s embarrassing to the body of Christ.
We aren’t in kindergarten anymore; let’s stop acting like it.
~Prudence
