Riddles of the Wise

I’m really excited for the next several weeks. This summer we’re doing a deep dive into the book of Proverbs. We’re going to focus on wisdom, something I think we really, really need to focus on. And I’m saying that from experience. My own.

If you look around, it’s clear that wisdom is not the same thing as intelligence. You can be the smartest person in the room and still make the dumbest mistake. Just simple, unwise stuff. Intelligence is really about the gathering of information. But wisdom is much more than that. We have access to more information than at any other time in the history of mankind! But are we any wiser for it?

One of the reasons we lack wisdom is that we aren’t looking for it. We misjudge our situations, our experiences, and we’re left without learning anything from it. So we need to lean in, ask God for that wisdom, and be ready to learn when things don’t go our way – or when they do go our way.

Another reason we lack wisdom is that we don’t really grasp what this book is all about. We misunderstand wisdom when we read the Proverbs the wrong way. Let me share with you three ways we misread the book.

We look for a promise instead of a probable.

We talk about the power of the Bible, the inspiration of the Word, or the strength of scripture. Some use words like “infallible” or “inerrant.” But what does that really mean? We often think that whatever is in the Bible is absolutely, positively, 100% right all the time.

The thing is, the book of Proverbs is not a book of absolutes. It is based on the absolute truth of God’s powerful Spirit in our real lives every day. But that doesn’t mean each line is a promise to us. A better way of looking at it is this: “Here’s what will probably happen if you do this.”

Take the Proverb so many of you know by heart, Proverbs 22:6

“Start children off on the way they should go,

and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

If that’s a promise, then all you have to do is put your kid in church from the day they’re born and never worry again. But you and I both know kids who were raised in good homes who made some major mistakes later in life. This is what will probably happen, but there’s no absolute promise involved.

We think of them as commands rather than recommendations

God wants you to live wisely. He offers it to anyone who asks. And Jesus himself is called our wisdom. So should we take every single proverb in this book and follow it line by line?

Not necessarily. You see, our command as Christians is to walk in the Spirit. If we do that, then God will work out of us. We will have love, joy, peace, and so many more good things.

But living wisely can’t come from memorizing a list and following it to the tee. It’s more about how you respond in each situation. Do you want to respond wisely? Start by creating space for the Spirit to work.

We view them as timeless and not timely

The Proverbs are so great. But they are more timely than timeless. The wisdom of Proverbs is about the skill of living. In other words, how do we wisely respond at any given time and place?

Wisdom is what we do at a particular moment in our life. It means we gather enough skills so we can make great decisions. We don’t commit the playbook to memory. We learn habits and attitudes that will produce the best results.

In order to be wise, I need to make a place for wisdom in my life. I create an environment for wisdom to grow when I trust in God, recognize that it comes through experience, lean into the relationships I develop, and learn to see things differently.

At every step in my journey, I have the chance to learn or not learn. If things go great, I can either say, “Look how awesome I am!” Or I can ask, “What can I learn from this?” If things go bad, I can beat myself up. Or I can ask, “What can I learn from this?”

Wisdom is asking. It’s asking the right questions. I invite you to ask the right questions as we continue through this great book full of Riddles of the Wise.