One of the things that baffles me is when otherwise very intelligent people do unintelligent things. I’ll give you a couple of examples. Paul Frampton was a professor of theoretical physics at the University of North Carolina, renowned in his field, and yet he was convinced by an online bikini model to try to smuggle two kilograms of cocaine into Argentina. He was caught, arrested, and jailed.[i] In 2003, Steve Jobs was diagnosed with a treatable form of pancreatic cancer. Despite his doctor’s recommendations for medical intervention, he decided for nine months to use alternative medicine instead—a decision he later regretted and one which some medical experts believe contributed to or hastened his death.[ii]
There is even a term for this phenomenon called “Nobel disease” or “nobilitis,” which refers to Nobel Prize winners who hold unsound beliefs or opinions. For example, in 1993, Kary Mullis won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Yet, later in his autobiography, he professed to believe in astrology and claimed to have met a radioactive talking raccoon he believed was an extraterrestrial alien.[iii] I don’t want to sound judgmental, but it sounds to me like he went too deep into Guardians of the Galaxy.
So, why does this happen? Andre Spicer, another intelligent person[iv] who wrote an article about this, says there are a couple of factors at play. First, there is more than one type of intelligence. IQ tests, often used as the gold standard for measuring intelligence, only measure analytical intelligence. For the first 20 years of our lives, as we go through the school system, those with high levels of analytical intelligence are praised and rewarded. But there are other kinds of intelligence, like creative intelligence and practical intelligence, which are very important in the real world. So, someone with very high analytical intelligence but low practical or creative intelligence might struggle to navigate life.
The other, perhaps more important, reason this happens is that very intelligent people tend to take mental shortcuts, believing they can get away with it because they consider themselves above average in intelligence, and they may have an IQ test score to back that up. Consequently, they are not open to learning from others.
I would venture to say most of us, if not all of us (including me), do the same thing. For instance, if you took a group of people and asked them about their driving skills, most would likely rate themselves as above average. This doesn’t make sense because, by definition, only half can be above average.[v]
So, what’s a way out of this predicament? Wisdom. Wisdom is not just about knowing things or having information; it’s about knowing how to properly use that information. But then, how do we grow in wisdom? That’s the question we will explore today. To guide us, we will dig into Proverbs 3:1-18. If you have a Bible or a Bible app, I invite you to turn there now.
The Importance of Relationship & Faith
Here’s some background to the book of Proverbs to help us understand what we are going to be looking at. Proverbs falls within the genre of Wisdom literature, which provides practical advice to help people function in the world. Within Proverbs are many short, two-line statements written in colorful language, often using opposites to compare and contrast ideas. This serves as a vehicle to help people grow in wisdom. Sometimes, Wisdom and Folly (or foolishness) are personified as women (both nouns are in the feminine form in Hebrew) within Proverbs, and the Book makes a case for choosing Wisdom over Folly.
Proverbs offers the unique insight that to grow in wisdom, you need to start with relationship and faith. Early in the Book, it says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7) Relationships are important because wisdom is always transferred from one person to another through relationships. It could be through teaching, mentoring, which we value here at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church, or familial relationships.
Growing in wisdom also requires faith, or trust, for three reasons. First, we need to trust that the source of wisdom we are looking to actually possesses wisdom for us. Second, we need to trust that this source has our best intentions at heart and wants the best for us. Third, we need to trust that the wisdom provided will be a benefit or blessing to us. Trust is a crucial aspect of growing in wisdom.
The Stages of Growing in Wisdom
Much of Proverbs was written by Solomon, though some parts were edited and compiled later, and some come from other sources. The Book of Proverbs is divided into several sections. The section we’re looking at today is from the front part of the book, the Prologue, and it’s written as a father talking to his son, and as he does so, the stages of growing in wisdom are revealed.
The first stage is: Listen to my instruction. In Proverbs 1:8, we read, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.” Stage two is: Accept the words. In Proverbs 2:1, 5, we see: “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” The third stage is: Keep my commands. In Proverbs 3:1, we find: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart.”
I want to point out something special in this verse. The word “keep” has the sense in Hebrew of guarding or keeping safe, like you would guard a treasure. This father is telling his son to treasure the commands the father gives in his heart, in the center of your being. While we tend to think of the heart as our emotional center, the ancient Hebrews saw it as the center of the being and the will. So, this passage is saying to treasure the commands and keep them at the core of your being, holding them close and living by them as you make decisions throughout life.
Of course, this way of talking—father to son—can be imagined as God, our Father, talking to us, his children. Throughout Proverbs, and here again, we see the benefits of treasuring wisdom: “For they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.” (Proverbs 3:2) Here, the benefits are the prolonging of life and the granting of peace (shalom) and prosperity. Shalom peace refers to wholeness and healing in all aspects of life, as well as joy in life, while prosperity means doing well in life.
Keep in mind that the benefits discussed in Proverbs are general truths: if you follow the wisdom God gives, good things generally happen. They are not promises from God, like the promises of forgiveness for confessing our sins or eternal life for believing in Jesus. Sometimes, bad things do happen to good people.
The Key to Growing in Wisdom
Then the father does something interesting, giving us what I think is the key to growing in wisdom. In the following verses, he says, “Let love,” which is chesed—I have mentioned this word in previous posts; it means loyal, loving kindness, mercy, graciousness, and compassion—”and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3) This sounds a lot like verse one, but instead of talking about the father’s commands, it’s about love and faithfulness. In both cases, the father is asking the son to hold these values close in his heart.
What’s going on here? There seems to be some kind of parallelism or equivalency. It suggests that the father’s teaching and commands are equivalent to the father’s chesed (loyal, loving kindness) and faithfulness. So, what does this mean? I think it means that loyal lovingkindness and faithfulness are what God’s teaching and commands look like. And it’s God’s loyal, loving kindness and faithfulness that enable us to listen to, accept, and treasure his teaching and commands.
Another way to put this is that people won’t care what God knows until they know that God cares. As his people, we’re the ones who reflect his love and care to the world around us. If people don’t see God’s love in us, why would they be drawn to the God we worship?
Exercising Wisdom
Relationship and faith are important, not only in for growing in wisdom, but also in using or exercising it. So, what does wisdom look like? Proverbs tells us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) These verses talk about trust as leaning with all our weight on God and transferring trust from ourselves (our default position) to trusting fully in the Lord.
The author then addresses areas where we might need God’s wisdom the most but struggle the most as well. The first is managing our money. “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3:9-10) From a worldly perspective, it doesn’t make sense to take a portion of our income (say 10%) and give it away to our church or to God’s work elsewhere. But God says this is wisdom. It’s a recognition that God owns it all—he owns everything we have, including us. By giving a portion to him, we’re honoring him and recognizing his ownership over all things.
The second area of focus is highlighted in Proverbs 3:11-12, “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in.” The challenging area being addressed here is suffering. God encourages us to see suffering as an opportunity to grow closer to him. It’s not easy, but even as we suffer, God has something good for us if we have eyes to see it.
What is the Value of Wisdom?
Wisdom has infinite value in and of itself. As we read in Proverbs 3:13-15, “Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.” Dear reader, if you don’t already know this, I’m going to tell you that you have one and only one life to live. And the reason that wisdom is so precious is because it will help you live your one and only life in such a way that you will make a difference in the lives of others, not only in the here and now, but forever with God.
Wisdom is valuable for that reason, but it is also valuable because of the blessings it can give us. Proverbs 3:16-17 tell us: “Long life is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.” When we follow the Lord’s wisdom, we tend to have a more peaceful and enjoyable life because he steers us away from things that can lead us away from him.
Wisdom is also valuable because it connects us to the tree of life. “She [that is, wisdom] is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.” (Proverbs 3:18) We see the Tree of Life early in the Book of Genesis, but God’s people were cut off from it because it would not be good for them to live forever in a state of being broken by sin. However, the Tree of Life shows up again at the end of the Bible in Revelation, and human beings will once again have access to it. This is because of a Tree of Life in the middle of history, which is the cross of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Wisdom of God
This leads us to our most important point, and that is that Jesus is the wisdom of God, and He’s the reason we can trust in God with all our hearts. We see that in Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God…. Jews demand signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified—a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-25) Without knowing our need for salvation, we will never see the wisdom of God in sending Jesus into the world. It takes a posture of humility for us to see what God is offering us.
Some very intelligent people have said that it’s foolishness to believe in the cross of Jesus Christ. They argue that it’s foolish to believe, first of all, in God. Second, that it’s foolish to believe that God would come into this world and become fully human. It’s foolish to believe that a Divine Being would willingly go to the cross and suffer the shame and agony of being there. And it’s also foolishness to believe that a human being would ever rise from the dead.
It’s only because we have seen the loyal, loving kindness and faithfulness of God that we can listen to, accept, and treasure the wonderful gift of what Jesus has done for us. You see, the wisest thing we human beings can do is to believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
God’s Wisdom is His Loyal Lovingkindness
It was God’s loyal, loving kindness that prompted him not to destroy all of creation when our first parents disobeyed him and all of creation was corrupted by sin. It was God’s wisdom that moved him to promise humanity that he would send a Messiah to save us from our sins. It was wisdom that prompted Jesus Christ to come into this world, become one of us, and pay the full cost of our forgiveness by going to the cross and dying for us there. And it was the Father’s wisdom that raised Jesus from the dead to begin a new creation, one that is centered on and supported by Jesus Christ, one in which all things, even those times of suffering which we may experience, work together for our good, and one in which, at the end of time, all things will be made new, including us.
So the challenge that I wish to leave with you today is not from me; it’s actually from God’s word: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) Amen.
[i] “UNC Pysics Professor is Convicted of Drug Smuggling in Argentina,” APS125 (Internet; available at: https://www.aps.org/archives/publications/apsnews/201301/uncphysicist.cfm; accessed May 30, 2024); and “Paul Frampton,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia (Internet; available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Frampton; accessed May 30, 2024).
[ii] “Steve Jobs,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia (Internet; available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs; accessed May 30, 2024).
[iii] “Nobel disease,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia (Internet; available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_disease; accessed May 30, 2024).
[iv] “André Spicer,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia (Internet; available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Spicer; accessed June 5, 2024).
[v] André Spicer, “Why do smart people do stupid things? It’s simple,” The Guardian (Internet; available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global/commentisfree/2016/jun/06/smart-people-stupid-things-simple-answer; accessed June 5, 2024).
(This message was shared at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church in Langley BC on June 9, 2024. For more info about WGLC, please go to wglc.org.)
Farewell to Shadowlands 