11.08.12
1 Corinthians 3.18 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any
man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so
that he may become wise. NASB
Consider this: you are born into a world where there is
an accepted norm of thinking and
being: The more you know, the better you are; and the more you know the better
you get along with all the other knowers around you. To know is one of the most highly sought prizes of your world.
Knowledge is honored and exalted. Knowledge explains everything. But deviating
from the accepted knowledge is social death… it is thought: no one is
intentionally that stupid.
And consider that there is an alternate knowledge called
wisdom. Wisdom is not merely the mental exercise of regurgitating knowledge,
but the knowing of what to do with what you know. And what if wisdom was true
knowledge: not just knowing there is stuff to know, but knowing what to do with
what you know?
Paul made a case that wisdom is not just the accumulation
of facts and information – wisdom is knowing what to do with all of that; and
acknowledging that knowledge starts somewhere above and beyond yourself. But to
do that one must become foolish in believing that wisdom is to be sought above
knowledge. Paul made that case because the men of his world called him a fool for thinking (and saying) such
things. It’s not what you know; it’s what you do with what you know. And you
have to become (thought) foolish in order to truly know what is worth truly knowing.
And men will not make that transaction because knowledge is so important to
men; most men anyway. And men’s opinions of themselves are very important – to them.
So, if you’re not in the ‘most men’ category, what else
is there? Only those who are (thought) foolish; who’ve accepted that the
knowledge of God is the beginning of wisdom. In other words, they accept that
the Only One who will truly teach them how to live wisely is the One who asks
them to turn their back on conventional wisdom and believe in Him, rather than
in the accumulation of knowledge – facts and information.
Jesus once said, "...and
whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the
supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into
the fiery hell." (Matthew 5.22) Even in our world we take calling someone
a fool pretty seriously. So it is
thought, that to intentionally turn one’s back on the convention of the world,
is humiliation beyond belief. It’s like running around naked or fondling one’s
private parts in public – only an imbecile would do that. And it is held in
this world that only an imbecile would believe in God.
The threshold for what is truly known and what is truly
wisdom is first: do you believe in God?
And second, do you believe God? The wisdom
of man has no room for the wisdom of God. The wisdom of man is utterly devoid
of true truth and true knowledge. And in man’s eyes to give that wisdom up, is
humiliation along the lines of fondling one’s privates in public: unthinkable.
The arrogance of man is unbridled and the stupidity of
man (despite all he claims to know) is immeasurable. He holds himself too
highly when it comes to his knowledge and cleverness; and that is precisely
where he ultimately fails…The fool has
said in his heart: there is no God.
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