“So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.” (1 Corinthians 1:20, NLT)
“What was I thinking?”
I have heard the above question asked repeatedly by people who made bad decisions, acted on an impulse, had regrets, or sinned. “Hindsight is 20/20”, is a common saying implying that looking back on life makes things more understandable. In the heat of the moment, your conscience might be clouded by regrets. Your emotions may distort your understanding of a situation. Hormones may be altering your perception of reality. Insecurities and fears may be fueling poor choices. Worldly passions and ideals and philosophies can easily cloud your judgment.
Allan Savory, the ecologist, saw in Africa a connection between Elephants and deserts. He believed that elephants stomping around wrecked the grasslands and produced deserts. He supported movements to kill elephants “to save the environment”. Savory acknowledged that as many as 40,000 elephants were killed in a bid to “save the environment” of Africa. Only later did he discover that the death of all those elephants only made the ecology of Africa worse! He called this movement against elephants one of his life’s greatest regrets. The whole world has suffered because of his philosophy on the environment. What was he thinking?
In the 1950’s, Chinese communist officials wanted to promote a “Great Leap Forward” in their society. As an example, the scientists of China noted that the Eurasian Tree Sparrow ate four pounds of grain per year. The scientists concluded that killing each Sparrow would result in 4 extra pounds of grain per year for the people of China. As a result, leaders ordered people to kill many sparrows, destroy their nests, and even pound pots and pans near sparrow nests so they couldn’t rest or procreate. The result was an ecological imbalance that led to an overpopulation of locusts and other insects. These insects destroyed crops and that led to the starvation of somewhere between 23 and 55 million people! What were they thinking?
The Target Stores in the United States decided that transgender people were discriminated against and deserved better treatment. So, they proposed that all their stores allow transgender men to be able to use the women’s restrooms whenever they wanted without any questions or judgment. They then touted their company as inclusive and supportive and a wonderful improvement for American society and human rights. Only, their decision led to many problems. Women felt unsafe in the restrooms. There were multiple attacks by men against women in the restrooms. Men, dressed as transgenders, photographed and videotaped women in the restrooms. In Oregon, a male Target employee waltzed into the restroom and videotaped a 4-year-old child for his own viewing pleasure. Boycotts against Target ensued detailing the loss of privacy in the women’s restrooms. The company has lost millions and its reputation in a bid to become a showpiece for liberality. How could company officials make such huge blunders? How could they not foresee the problems with these policies?
I could go on and on with decisions that governments and companies made that were complete and utter failures. Poor or destructive decisions by individuals could fill many more thousands of volumes. I bet you even have examples of situations where you acted without thinking. Often, these regretted actions were caused by worldly wisdom.
The scripture for today from 1 Corinthians suggests that “God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish” (1 Corinthians 1:20). One might argue that God didn’t have to make worldly wisdom look foolish. It was foolish all on its own. However, God’s wisdom does contrast greatly against the wisdom of this world. God’s wisdom is far removed from human wisdom. For example, God’s wisdom argues that there are two genders. Worldly wisdom suggests there are dozens or even hundreds. God’s wisdom asserts that there are verifiable truths and lies. Worldly wisdom suggests that life is full of grey areas and there is no such thing as an absolute truth or absolute lies. Godly wisdom has always been in opposition to worldly wisdom. God’s wisdom has often been used to prevent sin and error and death and suffering. Worldly wisdom is good at producing problems, traumas, suffering, and death.
Since there is a great chasm between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom, you need to choose a side. Which type of wisdom will you practice? Which will sway your decisions?
In the 1960’s and 1970’s many farmers were urged to modernize their equipment and buildings to become more productive and increase yields. Young farmers, who inherited their land, were very excited about using more modern equipment and processes on the farm. Many mortgaged their land to buy new equipment and build new silos and barns to store the crops. Older farmers generally refrained from taking out large loans to modernize equipment and buildings. However, when the economy tanked due to rising fuel prices during the end of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, land values dropped by 20-30 percent. Banks foreclosed on as many as 7.5 percent of the farm loans in the United States. Thousands of farms were lost. Many farms that were owned by the same family for generations were lost due to following bad worldly economic advice. Had these farmers followed godly wisdom, they would have seen the danger of borrowing so much money. Had they listened to the Holy Spirit, they would not have taken such chances with their land.
Following worldly wisdom in modern times can lead to many poor decisions. Because worldly opinion is against marriage, there is a much higher chance of children being born poor and family security being replaced. With worldly ideals on education being more focused on gender ideologies and feminist theory, relationships between men and women have never been so strained. Divorces are skyrocketing. Savings are being depleted. Homes are being wrecked. Overspending is encouraged by banks and credit card companies. All the while, bankruptcy and repossessions are at record highs. Recent studies of children and families are encountering alarming rates of depression, mental illness, and isolation.
Godly wisdom offered to the world would make so many things better. But worldly wisdom is in direct competition to God’s way of life. You need to make a choice which wisdom you will follow. Don’t wait too long to choose your side. You make lots of decisions every day that will impact your quality of life and your relationship with God. Godly wisdom protects you while worldly wisdom will destroy all you hold dear. It’s the truth. That’s why the Corinthians were urged to trust in godly wisdom.
I have heard the above question asked repeatedly by people who made bad decisions, acted on an impulse, had regrets, or sinned. “Hindsight is 20/20”, is a common saying implying that looking back on life makes things more understandable. In the heat of the moment, your conscience might be clouded by regrets. Your emotions may distort your understanding of a situation. Hormones may be altering your perception of reality. Insecurities and fears may be fueling poor choices. Worldly passions and ideals and philosophies can easily cloud your judgment.
Allan Savory, the ecologist, saw in Africa a connection between Elephants and deserts. He believed that elephants stomping around wrecked the grasslands and produced deserts. He supported movements to kill elephants “to save the environment”. Savory acknowledged that as many as 40,000 elephants were killed in a bid to “save the environment” of Africa. Only later did he discover that the death of all those elephants only made the ecology of Africa worse! He called this movement against elephants one of his life’s greatest regrets. The whole world has suffered because of his philosophy on the environment. What was he thinking?
In the 1950’s, Chinese communist officials wanted to promote a “Great Leap Forward” in their society. As an example, the scientists of China noted that the Eurasian Tree Sparrow ate four pounds of grain per year. The scientists concluded that killing each Sparrow would result in 4 extra pounds of grain per year for the people of China. As a result, leaders ordered people to kill many sparrows, destroy their nests, and even pound pots and pans near sparrow nests so they couldn’t rest or procreate. The result was an ecological imbalance that led to an overpopulation of locusts and other insects. These insects destroyed crops and that led to the starvation of somewhere between 23 and 55 million people! What were they thinking?
The Target Stores in the United States decided that transgender people were discriminated against and deserved better treatment. So, they proposed that all their stores allow transgender men to be able to use the women’s restrooms whenever they wanted without any questions or judgment. They then touted their company as inclusive and supportive and a wonderful improvement for American society and human rights. Only, their decision led to many problems. Women felt unsafe in the restrooms. There were multiple attacks by men against women in the restrooms. Men, dressed as transgenders, photographed and videotaped women in the restrooms. In Oregon, a male Target employee waltzed into the restroom and videotaped a 4-year-old child for his own viewing pleasure. Boycotts against Target ensued detailing the loss of privacy in the women’s restrooms. The company has lost millions and its reputation in a bid to become a showpiece for liberality. How could company officials make such huge blunders? How could they not foresee the problems with these policies?
I could go on and on with decisions that governments and companies made that were complete and utter failures. Poor or destructive decisions by individuals could fill many more thousands of volumes. I bet you even have examples of situations where you acted without thinking. Often, these regretted actions were caused by worldly wisdom.
The scripture for today from 1 Corinthians suggests that “God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish” (1 Corinthians 1:20). One might argue that God didn’t have to make worldly wisdom look foolish. It was foolish all on its own. However, God’s wisdom does contrast greatly against the wisdom of this world. God’s wisdom is far removed from human wisdom. For example, God’s wisdom argues that there are two genders. Worldly wisdom suggests there are dozens or even hundreds. God’s wisdom asserts that there are verifiable truths and lies. Worldly wisdom suggests that life is full of grey areas and there is no such thing as an absolute truth or absolute lies. Godly wisdom has always been in opposition to worldly wisdom. God’s wisdom has often been used to prevent sin and error and death and suffering. Worldly wisdom is good at producing problems, traumas, suffering, and death.
Since there is a great chasm between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom, you need to choose a side. Which type of wisdom will you practice? Which will sway your decisions?
In the 1960’s and 1970’s many farmers were urged to modernize their equipment and buildings to become more productive and increase yields. Young farmers, who inherited their land, were very excited about using more modern equipment and processes on the farm. Many mortgaged their land to buy new equipment and build new silos and barns to store the crops. Older farmers generally refrained from taking out large loans to modernize equipment and buildings. However, when the economy tanked due to rising fuel prices during the end of the 1970’s and early 1980’s, land values dropped by 20-30 percent. Banks foreclosed on as many as 7.5 percent of the farm loans in the United States. Thousands of farms were lost. Many farms that were owned by the same family for generations were lost due to following bad worldly economic advice. Had these farmers followed godly wisdom, they would have seen the danger of borrowing so much money. Had they listened to the Holy Spirit, they would not have taken such chances with their land.
Following worldly wisdom in modern times can lead to many poor decisions. Because worldly opinion is against marriage, there is a much higher chance of children being born poor and family security being replaced. With worldly ideals on education being more focused on gender ideologies and feminist theory, relationships between men and women have never been so strained. Divorces are skyrocketing. Savings are being depleted. Homes are being wrecked. Overspending is encouraged by banks and credit card companies. All the while, bankruptcy and repossessions are at record highs. Recent studies of children and families are encountering alarming rates of depression, mental illness, and isolation.
Godly wisdom offered to the world would make so many things better. But worldly wisdom is in direct competition to God’s way of life. You need to make a choice which wisdom you will follow. Don’t wait too long to choose your side. You make lots of decisions every day that will impact your quality of life and your relationship with God. Godly wisdom protects you while worldly wisdom will destroy all you hold dear. It’s the truth. That’s why the Corinthians were urged to trust in godly wisdom.