Professing To Be Wise

Some profess so much wisdom of spiritual things, only to be shown to act as foolish children. Once we begin to take liberties with the truth, we start down a dangerous road. Reading portions of scripture without fully researching the conclusions can lead one into a strange set of beliefs. By reason of repetition one can become comfortable with that set of beliefs and teach it as equivalent to scripture. Many doctrines have been passed down through the years with a partial revelation, but without a full study of all the scriptures to put the conclusion to the test. As Christians, we must study and ask questions of all our conclusions, allowing the scripture to reveal errors or partial understandings.

There cannot be so much vested in an interpretation, that a revelation of scripture that is a correction or clarification is not embraced when it is proven true. We must not take every wind of doctrine that comes along or there will be no roots in our life, but we must embrace correction if it is needed.

Why would a wise teacher not embrace the truth, and rejoice in a more complete revelation of our Lord? Well, sad to say, some teach for profit, so that any change could disrupt the cash flow. Some teach for the praise of men, to be recognized and applauded as a wise holy man or woman. And yet, some teach with the fear of the Lord, with a heart to reveal the wisdom that the Father has revealed by the Holy Spirit, to understand more fully our dear Savior and the Kingdom of God. Paul, a wise man that understood many things of the spiritual life and Christianity, that had the revelation of establishing the gospel among the Gentiles, lived a very humble life and had much hardship in His faithful ministry for the Lord, enduring ridicule, slander, beatings and an eventual death for His faithfulness to the gospel. Yet, he walked softly and in a supreme reverence for the Lord, understanding His place as a servant in this pilgrimage here.

Here is something He wrote to the 1 Corinthians, chapter 4: ⁸ You are already full! You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! ¹¹To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. ¹² And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; ¹³ being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.

We use the word idiot in a similar usage of the word fool in the time of Paul's writing, which brings a most intriguing question to mind for the disciple of Christ to answer: Am I wiling to be called an idiot for the sake of the gospel?