The most important wisdom is that God wants a person relationship with you, something that isn't taught elsewhere. It isn't about what you can do, it's about what God already did for you.
All you need is to:
1. Admit you're a sinner and fall short of the
Perfection of God, and while your sin separates you from Heaven God
created a way for you to get there;
2. Believe thatJjesus Christ, God in flesh, died to take the punishment for your sins and rose fromt he dead; and,
3. Call on Him to forgive you and to save you by Calling on Him, repenting of your sin and trusting Him to make you new inside.
Jesus told his disciples 2,000 years ago to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. This is important to do even today. How do we do that to survive in this confusing world?
Center wisdom on the God of love, comfort, mercy, etc.
Sometimes people don't notice words. Some see "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" and ignore that word, "beginning." (Some also ignore that the word "fear" means a healthy respect, like when you choose not to put your hand into a fire because you will get burned. You're not scared of it.) That's really dangerous because it can make a person sound like a Pharisee if they act like there is nothing more to know. I wrote a lot here on not being a Pharisee. We can open our minds to so much as long as we remember to keep the Lord's wisdom at the start of what we know - that's why it's the beginning of wisdom.
That ties into salvation - you get saved because you have a healthy respect for the fact you're a sinner in need of a Saviour because you can save yourself through good works, since we have all sinned; nobody is perfect. Once you are saved you can easily live by getting other wisdom as long as you keep that salvation and God's Word, the Bible, in general as your foundation.
Here's an example of other wisdom - germ theory. It was laughed at when it was first proposed because it was unlike what people had known before. However, it didn't contradict the Bible. As a matter of fact, Hebrews 11:3 says that things which are seen were "not made of things which do appear." In other words, they are made of things which don't appear to the eye without help. The Bible sometimes talks of the invisible meaning the spiritual realm, which Chuck Missler notes in a number of places is proven to exist by scientists; there may be as many as 10 dimensions or more. (He is in those links and some in a few of the links above.) However, unseen things can just as easily mean things we can't see with our own eyes, as it does in this case meaning atoms and electrons. (This is likely a verse with a double meaning, physical and spiritual.)
So, after a while science established germ theory. it was not part of science "falsely so called" as Paul warns Timothy of; germ theory is proper science. It doesn't conflict with the Bible. On the other hand, there are many things which do, as just a study of Answers in Genesis can show.
It's important to note that you don't have to be a Creationist to be saved from your sin, of course. That will be discussed later when I talk about sharing God's love and salvation with humility and care for others. For now, I'll just link this very good site if you are interested in the discussion and scientific evidence for Creation, and go back to the idea of centering wisdom on God's Word.
Just like the germ theory example, there are other things
the Bible is silent on, but that isn't a problem. Even though the Bible
is not a science book, it is still true in everything it says about
science - indeed, it warns against science falsely so-called(1 Tim. 6:20), that is things that are called science but are not.
It's like a person who has not studied history for a living
can still know George Washington was the first president. There are
other things one can learn. One must use the Bible as a guide to the
truth of such things, though - just like that non-history student needs
to look at the list of American presidents to find others and not at the
list of British monarchs. :-)
Wisdom means applying knowledge, too. Now, unless you are a
time traveler, you don't need to rely on George Washington being the
first president for more than a test answer. However, other wisdom can
be used.
Like germ theory, things come up that didn't in the old
days. Traffic safety rules, for instance, have a basis in Scripture -
put others before yourself - even without laws being passed about them.
Something like post-traumatic stress disorder, for instance, is not
mentioned but we know that we are to be compassionate toward others and
tenderhearted, understanding that some need treated differently as we
see in Jude 22-23. (I suppose 1 Samuel 30, where David pursues and enemy
and lets those who remained behind to take part of the spoil, could be
an instance of those with PTSD, but I think those are simply people who
were not physically capable of fighting. However, this is a good
example of where Christians can easily agree to disagree.)
The ones in first Samuel and those mentioned in Jude also
are good verses to show how we need to be very kind to others, and Jude
demonstrates how with some we must share the gospel as Jesus did with
the woman caught in adultery, not condemning but simply loving and
understanding she needed saved. That will be covered more in the second
part of this post on not being a Pharisee, though.
Back to the person with PTSD, we also have to realize that
there are ways to help a person recover from it and to deal with what
they are going through that are Biblical and some that are not. This,
then comma shows that need to have a Biblical foundation, how following
the Lord needs to be the beginning of wisdom so that when you go out and
find all the other things that are out there, that you have that foundation that can leave you being a Godly person and faithful
follower.
Be harmless as doves
One big aspect of wisdom is knowing how to figure things
out. This requires using be praying that God gave you. Not everyone has
the same brain. Some, like Ravi Zacharias, have incredibly deep minds. But, you
don't have to be someone like him to be able to use Godly wisdom. as
noted aboveAny believer can determine how to act even in areas where the Bible is
somewhat silent, like post-traumatic stress disorder, which was
discussed before, or totally as with the aforementioned Germ Theory, becasue of the power of the Holy Spirit in that believer. We can't do it in our own strength, but God can and will strengthen us when we trust Him to.
Being harmless as doves is one command of Jesus that will greatly help as you interact with others - and, since Jesus is God, He will give power to obey that command. (Yes, the context is that He tells His disciples this then, but there is clearly a spiritual aspect where we must do it today, too.)
One important thing to remember is that we should not be
Pharisees. I wrote this post looking at some of the major problems with
being a Pharisee and why one should not do that. There are others, too,
though.
Pharisees, by definition, are not as harmless as doves.
Jesus says they of their father the devil, among other things. They do
nothing to draw people to Christ.
In today's world, Pharisees keep people from Jesus by not
being kind, understanding, and so on. Of course, we must take a stand
against sin, but we must also love the sinner, just like Jesus with the
woman caught in adultery in John 8.
How do we do this?
Loving Others to Jesus
While we have to take stands against sin, we don't know peoples' hearts, so we can't even presume they are committing specific sins unless we see them doing it. Even then, the simple ABCs above need to be done in such a way that draw people, not repel them. A dove is a symbol of people, and is a very harmless bird - it doesn't go around attacking others like, say, a blue jay.
In other words, admit you're a sinner, too. We all are. We all fall short of God's perfection. So, it doesn't help to just accuse the person of sin -the Holy Spirit does that well enough anyway. (Yes, john John 16:712 it says the Spirit is even there to convict unbelievers.) They need to know that sin is a problem impacting all of us, ut that there is a remedy so that God doesn't have to keep us out of Heaven, and that in fact He desires a person relationship with each of us.
That relationship is the key. A person who is having a discussion about Creation might be convinced that God created the world, but what good does that do if they don't trust Jesus Christ to save them? It is worthless. However, if they trust Jesus Christ to save them, they have a erlationship with God and they can then pray and read the Bible and have the Spirit convict them, or they can just go to Heaven someday and have a very stunned look ont heir face, as if to say, "Wow, I never realized that."
You can even tell them, "One of us will have an amazed look on our faces, and wouldn't you want to be there to see mine if you're right?" It's just like if you are witnessing and you tell someone, "If I'm wrong, I have lost nothing, I have pleased many by being amoral, upright person who loved and helped others. if you are wrong, you have lost your soul, and it won't matter what you havd in this world. Because, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
In the same way, you can be friendly and engaging with others while keeping the Gospel the main thing. For instance, that person with PTSD may struggle with ordinary life. Even such thigns as getting out of bed can be a struggle for someone suffering from depression. They may have suffered horribly in a war, or maybe just because of issues growing up. Certain thigns you say may have little meaning to you or even be very positive things but may bring very negative reactions to them.
In cases like that, you need to keep an open mind. Don't make it so open your braisn fall out, as the joke goes, but remember to approach the situation from their perspective. If you hd, for instance, been mistreated growing up by people who claimed to be Christians but weren't, how would you be able to be won to Christ? Isn't it by being told calmly and gently that God isn't like the abusive people they knew, but that God is instead a loving God who never acts out of spite, malice, etc.. Just explaining that anyone can claim to be a Christian can help.
No, the Bible doesn't talk about PTSD or some of the worst things people can have done to them or germ theory or other things, but the Bible does have principles that can govern our lives, like being tenderhearte, acting just like Jesus does throughout the Gospels.
His itneraction with the woman at the well in John 4 is a great example of how He interacted with someone He encountered ina way that drew her into the conversationa nd got her thinking about spiritual things. And, there are ways you can get others thinking, too.
Answers You Can Use for Everyday Encounters
One example I've used here before concerning people who claim to be Christians is the King of Belgium example. If I say I'm the King of Belgium, whatever I do, good or bad, has no bearing on what the real King of Belgium is like. In the same way, people can't define what Christians are based on their own ideas, it has to come fromt he Bible, jsut in the same way the definition of "King of Bekguim" isn't, "anyone who claims to be King of Belgium is automatically King." it is, "The person who was born into the royal family and succeeded to the throne after the previous King's death."
Of course, some might just complain about the hypocrites in general, but with that, you can say something like this: If you are a dog lover, and you want to hang out with other dog lovers, does the fact not everyone love dogs impact your love if them? No, it shouldn't if you really love them. You might hang around people you think are really goofy, in fact - they say "Here is a picture of my dog" and you look and nothing is there, or they pull a leash around with a hamster cage attached and pretend it's really their dog. You would still love your dog the same, though. In fact, these crazy people should inspire you, if you hang around them enough, to say, "Hey, don't just talk about dogs, get one, they're so awesome!"
In fact, that's a part of this I hadn't thought about till just now: The presence of hypocrites should make us want to live for God even more so we can show people just how wonderful it is to truly live for God in our walk and not just in our talk.
People will have questions, of course. For instance, Ken Ham has said that he has found lots of people become believers when he answers a specific question with a specific verse. That quesiton is, "Where did Cain get his wife?" The answer is found in Genesis 5:4, Adam and Even had sons and daughters. (According to a historian, Josephus, an old tradition said Adam had 33 sons and 23 daughters, but this shows it could have been a lot more.
Other people might have questions about all the evil in the world. We have some very good radio shows here about that, among other shows, but a good simple answer is that God doesn't want us to be mindless robots. He would, in fact, have to use cartoon physics to stop our free will. he wants us to choose to love Him because we want to, because of His great care for us - for it was while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.(Rom. 5:8) thankfully, he then rose triumphantly fromt he grave, but He had to humble Himself and come down here to do that. He chose to do it willingly, becuase you and I and every single person was on His mind.
He suffered in all ways like us(Heb. 4:15-16) so we can go to Him with anything. In fact, when I first started reading the Bible I would ask questions about lots of things, and He would always assure me in prayer that He cared for the exceptions, for the handicapped like me, for those who were unique. He loves each and every one of us.
Because of this, He doesn't want us to act like rules are the only things that matter. We need to show grace and mercy. Jesus knows each of our hearts, just like that woman caught in adultery whom He set free because He would soon take the punishment for her sin and for everyone's sin. (Including the guy - the Pharisees were so much into show but they didn't want to take responsibility themselves - the guy committing adultery should have been in the temple condemned with her since they were caught in the act, but he was nowhere to be found.)
Jesus hated that attitude of the Pharisees. They would criticize the fact that He healed on the Sabbath, even though they would stop and do things like pull an animal out of a ditch or something; as Jesus asked them, "is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath?" God was making a point that He didn't want people to be overly burdened, and the Pharisees were taking what God meant for rest and recuperation (the Sabbath) and making it all about themselves and their rules.
Yes, rules are vital to make things run smoothly, like traffic rules or rules in the home. However, we must be careful that rules do not become our gods. God Almighty loves and cherishes everyone, even those who don't follow the normal pattern for things like a two-parent family with the dad being a Godly leader. God accepts and cherishes exceptions - a Godly parent isn't going to mind if you're 5 minutes late because you stopped to rescue a baby from a burning building, after all; they'll be proud of you because you sacrificed yourself for the Lord; nyou've honored your parents by following what God called you to do. I once heard of a 3YO who - during a fight between his parents - was able to recitehome rules like "be nice," "say you're sorry," etc. to help them to settle down and possibly prevent what could have spiraled down to divorce. (Probably not, but the point is that God used that child for His purposes.)
While the Bible's examples aren't quite as drastic, the Bible does show people like David, to continue something like the curfew analogy, who was almost surely expected back right away from taking food to his brothers in the field, and instead he stay around and killed Goliath.(1 Sam.) Gideon tore down the idols his father had put up because they dishonored God and his father was worshiping them instead.(Judges 6) And, we see people such as the Shunemmite woman, who He calls great for leading her household when her husband was unwilling.(2 Kings 4:8 and onward) That's because God loves each of us, and wants to help us grow into people who will be like Him regardless of our circumstances and who will seek to dow aht is right in His sight, not their own.
Be the kind of person who will draw people to the Lord
I wrote an entire blogged book about that Shunemmite woman and how women or even children/teens/youth can be used by God to lead. It can be found here and should be printed out and shared via print or online with everyone.
In other words, admit you're a sinner, too. We all are. We all fall short of God's perfection. So, it doesn't help to just accuse the person of sin -the Holy Spirit does that well enough anyway. (Yes, john John 16:712 it says the Spirit is even there to convict unbelievers.) They need to know that sin is a problem impacting all of us, ut that there is a remedy so that God doesn't have to keep us out of Heaven, and that in fact He desires a person relationship with each of us.
That relationship is the key. A person who is having a discussion about Creation might be convinced that God created the world, but what good does that do if they don't trust Jesus Christ to save them? It is worthless. However, if they trust Jesus Christ to save them, they have a erlationship with God and they can then pray and read the Bible and have the Spirit convict them, or they can just go to Heaven someday and have a very stunned look ont heir face, as if to say, "Wow, I never realized that."
You can even tell them, "One of us will have an amazed look on our faces, and wouldn't you want to be there to see mine if you're right?" It's just like if you are witnessing and you tell someone, "If I'm wrong, I have lost nothing, I have pleased many by being amoral, upright person who loved and helped others. if you are wrong, you have lost your soul, and it won't matter what you havd in this world. Because, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?"
In the same way, you can be friendly and engaging with others while keeping the Gospel the main thing. For instance, that person with PTSD may struggle with ordinary life. Even such thigns as getting out of bed can be a struggle for someone suffering from depression. They may have suffered horribly in a war, or maybe just because of issues growing up. Certain thigns you say may have little meaning to you or even be very positive things but may bring very negative reactions to them.
In cases like that, you need to keep an open mind. Don't make it so open your braisn fall out, as the joke goes, but remember to approach the situation from their perspective. If you hd, for instance, been mistreated growing up by people who claimed to be Christians but weren't, how would you be able to be won to Christ? Isn't it by being told calmly and gently that God isn't like the abusive people they knew, but that God is instead a loving God who never acts out of spite, malice, etc.. Just explaining that anyone can claim to be a Christian can help.
No, the Bible doesn't talk about PTSD or some of the worst things people can have done to them or germ theory or other things, but the Bible does have principles that can govern our lives, like being tenderhearte, acting just like Jesus does throughout the Gospels.
His itneraction with the woman at the well in John 4 is a great example of how He interacted with someone He encountered ina way that drew her into the conversationa nd got her thinking about spiritual things. And, there are ways you can get others thinking, too.
Answers You Can Use for Everyday Encounters
One example I've used here before concerning people who claim to be Christians is the King of Belgium example. If I say I'm the King of Belgium, whatever I do, good or bad, has no bearing on what the real King of Belgium is like. In the same way, people can't define what Christians are based on their own ideas, it has to come fromt he Bible, jsut in the same way the definition of "King of Bekguim" isn't, "anyone who claims to be King of Belgium is automatically King." it is, "The person who was born into the royal family and succeeded to the throne after the previous King's death."
Of course, some might just complain about the hypocrites in general, but with that, you can say something like this: If you are a dog lover, and you want to hang out with other dog lovers, does the fact not everyone love dogs impact your love if them? No, it shouldn't if you really love them. You might hang around people you think are really goofy, in fact - they say "Here is a picture of my dog" and you look and nothing is there, or they pull a leash around with a hamster cage attached and pretend it's really their dog. You would still love your dog the same, though. In fact, these crazy people should inspire you, if you hang around them enough, to say, "Hey, don't just talk about dogs, get one, they're so awesome!"
In fact, that's a part of this I hadn't thought about till just now: The presence of hypocrites should make us want to live for God even more so we can show people just how wonderful it is to truly live for God in our walk and not just in our talk.
People will have questions, of course. For instance, Ken Ham has said that he has found lots of people become believers when he answers a specific question with a specific verse. That quesiton is, "Where did Cain get his wife?" The answer is found in Genesis 5:4, Adam and Even had sons and daughters. (According to a historian, Josephus, an old tradition said Adam had 33 sons and 23 daughters, but this shows it could have been a lot more.
Other people might have questions about all the evil in the world. We have some very good radio shows here about that, among other shows, but a good simple answer is that God doesn't want us to be mindless robots. He would, in fact, have to use cartoon physics to stop our free will. he wants us to choose to love Him because we want to, because of His great care for us - for it was while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.(Rom. 5:8) thankfully, he then rose triumphantly fromt he grave, but He had to humble Himself and come down here to do that. He chose to do it willingly, becuase you and I and every single person was on His mind.
He suffered in all ways like us(Heb. 4:15-16) so we can go to Him with anything. In fact, when I first started reading the Bible I would ask questions about lots of things, and He would always assure me in prayer that He cared for the exceptions, for the handicapped like me, for those who were unique. He loves each and every one of us.
Because of this, He doesn't want us to act like rules are the only things that matter. We need to show grace and mercy. Jesus knows each of our hearts, just like that woman caught in adultery whom He set free because He would soon take the punishment for her sin and for everyone's sin. (Including the guy - the Pharisees were so much into show but they didn't want to take responsibility themselves - the guy committing adultery should have been in the temple condemned with her since they were caught in the act, but he was nowhere to be found.)
Jesus hated that attitude of the Pharisees. They would criticize the fact that He healed on the Sabbath, even though they would stop and do things like pull an animal out of a ditch or something; as Jesus asked them, "is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath?" God was making a point that He didn't want people to be overly burdened, and the Pharisees were taking what God meant for rest and recuperation (the Sabbath) and making it all about themselves and their rules.
Yes, rules are vital to make things run smoothly, like traffic rules or rules in the home. However, we must be careful that rules do not become our gods. God Almighty loves and cherishes everyone, even those who don't follow the normal pattern for things like a two-parent family with the dad being a Godly leader. God accepts and cherishes exceptions - a Godly parent isn't going to mind if you're 5 minutes late because you stopped to rescue a baby from a burning building, after all; they'll be proud of you because you sacrificed yourself for the Lord; nyou've honored your parents by following what God called you to do. I once heard of a 3YO who - during a fight between his parents - was able to recitehome rules like "be nice," "say you're sorry," etc. to help them to settle down and possibly prevent what could have spiraled down to divorce. (Probably not, but the point is that God used that child for His purposes.)
While the Bible's examples aren't quite as drastic, the Bible does show people like David, to continue something like the curfew analogy, who was almost surely expected back right away from taking food to his brothers in the field, and instead he stay around and killed Goliath.(1 Sam.) Gideon tore down the idols his father had put up because they dishonored God and his father was worshiping them instead.(Judges 6) And, we see people such as the Shunemmite woman, who He calls great for leading her household when her husband was unwilling.(2 Kings 4:8 and onward) That's because God loves each of us, and wants to help us grow into people who will be like Him regardless of our circumstances and who will seek to dow aht is right in His sight, not their own.
Be the kind of person who will draw people to the Lord
I wrote an entire blogged book about that Shunemmite woman and how women or even children/teens/youth can be used by God to lead. It can be found here and should be printed out and shared via print or online with everyone.
The key, then, is to be kind, friendly, the kind of
person who people will see that love and faith resonating in. That
doesn't mean that you have to be perfect. People should be able to see
that you accept you're not perfect but that you know the one who is and
that He is guiding and directing your path to help you to become better.
When you show that love, you accept people. It's like a guy in a t-shirt and jeans bringing his family to church - nobody should care what he wears, it's the person on the inside that counts. Now, if his t-shirt is filled with cursing you can politely suggest that he's sending the wrong message, but you don't have to have your "Sunday best" - especially if you don't have such clothes. The idea of wearing a suit and tie is a cultural thing, and another problem that can arise which is like the Pharisees is that people mistake cultural norms for Biblical ones.
When we accept each other as beggars telling other beggars where to find bread, we will be able to be humble and loving and to the thigns the Bible commands - e4dify (build up and not tear down) one another, exhort (strongly encourage/urge to do good things) one another, love one antoher, pray for one another, consider one another better than ourselves, etc..
Each of us is better than somebody else at something and worse at something.
Maybe you're not as outgoing but you can share the gospel in other ways,
simply by being therefore someone and maybe not talking as much as just
listening. Others, like me, overcome handicaps and other adversities
without complaints, sowing a confidence that can only come from God.
The important thing is, remember that others might not be able to verbalize their questions. We do need to use words to share the Gospel, and in fact ask people if they know for sure they're going to Heaven. A really good way to put it is, "If you were to stand before God and He were to say "why should I let you into my perfect Heaven, what would you say?"
Be wise as serpents, so you can keep your main focus, your beliefs, your attitude, your life, centered on the Lord. And, be harmless as doves, so people will want to be in God's perfect Heaven, where there can be no sin, selfishness, etc.,. God will make each of us new on the inside continually as He works in us, and will perfect us when we get to Heaven. But, it makes sense that we follow His perfect plan for our lives so we can have those blessings and rewards for doing so.
Be wise as serpents, so you can keep your main focus, your beliefs, your attitude, your life, centered on the Lord. And, be harmless as doves, so people will want to be in God's perfect Heaven, where there can be no sin, selfishness, etc.,. God will make each of us new on the inside continually as He works in us, and will perfect us when we get to Heaven. But, it makes sense that we follow His perfect plan for our lives so we can have those blessings and rewards for doing so.
