Reading in 1 Corinthians 2 this morning, the instructions here are deeper than what first meets the eye.
“And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit, we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would have not crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
What struck me most, perhaps, is that Paul discusses wisdoms. There is wisdom that is of this world, and I don’t think that is a bad thing. Wisdom is a good thing. Worldly wisdom is useful and helpful. Discernment is still needed because there is all kinds of advice out there that posits itself as wisdom. Some advice is categorically wrong, and much advice is situationally dependent. When a broad stroke is painted, most advice is bad. The old saying, ‘the devil is in the details,’ has more truth than we typically appreciate. “Recycling is good” “Diversify your portfolio” are a couple such examples. I overheard a conversation where someone was positing that our church’s lay ministry was outdated and possibly dangerous as he cited other sects that use a lay ministry (JW and Mormon were cited). That was a straw man argument to start with, and then you keep the solution very broad, ie, a trained pulpit keeps you from going down the sect path. You couple a straw man argument with a general solution and it starts to look a whole lot like much of the worldly wisdom. One or two simple questions would upend such a claim. What do you mean my lay ministry? By trained ministry? Does one class change that label? Do online courses count? Only accredited seminaries? Why or why not? What’s the goal? A preacher who was trained in a Catholic school, does that count? What if their training, whatever it was, happened 30 years ago? Are all courses equal? Are all schools? Are all instructors?
This is what I mean about a ‘broad stroke’. You don’t need to argue with someone, just ask them some questions to get from a broad stroke that means nothing but just causes confusion, to their specific suggestion. Then, you still have to go back and ask, ‘what’s the goal?’ in order to determine if their specific recommendation advances the goal.
Diversify your portfolio: Same thing….what’s the goal? Why are you arguing for diversity? Is that best in every case and scenario? If not, then that’s not wisdom, is it? What do you mean by ‘diversify?’ Interestingly, most times you’ve heard this said by financial planners which deal in securities. As soon as you suggest that you want to diversify your portfolio by owning 20 houses in five geographic areas and NONE in the stocks they broker, they are usually thinking, “well, not THAT kind of diversity!”
So, the wisdom of this world is useful when it is in fact, wisdom, but often it is not. Even if it is, there is a separate wisdom that is God’s. Just as the spirit within a man is the only one who knows what the man is thinking, so no one can know what God is thinking except God’s Spirit. However, God has told His followers what He is thinking, in many cases. Amazing and wonderful! Consider this! “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
Finally, having worldly wisdom does not help us receive the wisdom from God. That Wisdom comes from God’s Spirit only and is given to the perfect (complete in mental and moral character).This truth is why I would be skeptical of solutions that man develops to improve on:
- The foolishness of preaching through speaker training
- The foolishness of preaching through seminary training
- The Bible / translations / commentary by unbelievers or someone who has already concluded that the Bible is not God’s inspired, Infallible Words and Word–including miracles and prophecy.