Discernment and the World

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe... Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (I Cor. 1:18-21,25). One of the things that many children of God do not understand is that worldly wisdom is good. Yeah, I know this is not the passage to prove that by for sure. But the fact that worldly wisdom is good is not what I'm interested in pointing out actually. Nonetheless it is good and useful while we are in this life. But compared to the faith of Jesus Christ, and the wisdom and power of God that comes through that channel, worldly wisdom is nothing. The wisdom of this world cannot connect us to God as the apostle stated in the above passage, and it cannot deliver our souls from sin or death. Neither can the wisdom of this world teach us how to love one another the way Jesus loved us, even as he commanded us to do. That takes faith in Jesus, and the resulting "love of God [that is] shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is given unto us" (Rom. 5:5).

It is much like the difference in having money or having the spiritual treasures of God's kingdom. The apostle Paul clarified that difference in no uncertain terms when he spoke of how the ministers of the Gospel of Christ have been ordained by God to live from the monetary support of those that they minister to: "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" (I Cor. 9:11) The point that Paul was making was that the value of the people's financial support to those who ministered the spiritual things of the kingdom of God to them, simply could not in any way compare to the value of the ministers imparting the spiritual things of God to the people. Money is temporal, and the word of God is eternal. It's that simple. Money cannot deliver from sin or lead someone to eternal life and immortality, but the Spirit of God can and does. That is in no way meant to say that money is not good, and useful, and a good thing to have while we are here. It would be foolish to suggest that in fact. But in comparison to the eternal things of God, it certainly pales. The same is true with the wisdom of this world. It can do us a lot of good while we are here, but it cannot lead us to God, or take us to the glory world after this life is over. The people in Christ who "keep their hearts with all diligence" as the scripture says, always keep a clarity about the superior value of faith and love in Christ, as opposed to things like worldly wisdom and money and such things (Prov. 4:23).

But if we have any degree of negligence of our spiritual condition, we can very easily end up with a distorted view on which of these elements are really more important than the other. In fact that is the condition that Jesus described as the third kind of soil in the parable of the sower and the seed: "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Mat. 13:22). The truth of the matter is, if we begin to live closer to the things of this world than we do to the kingdom of God; then we are naturally going to see the things of this world, like money or worldly wisdom, as being more important than faith, and love, and the power of God. We may not admit to ourselves that we are doing so, but what we put priority on in our lives is what really tells the story: "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:5). Also what we find ourselves talking about the most indicates where we are at in our thinking and our spiritual condition. It is like Jesus said, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Mat. 12:34). If we want to see things clearly we consistently need to "purify [our hearts] even as he is pure," as the beloved apostle instructed us to do (I Jn. 3:3). Our spiritual vision comes through our heart, and if our heart is not pure then our vision will be darkness. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Mat. 5:8). Amen.