Loving God with Your Mind

Today, we’re going to take a look at a bit of Scripture that I can’t help but believe that most of you adults have heard at least one sermon on. It starts with these familiar words.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12.1

This is where I’m supposed to talk about devoting your body to God. And that might get a little interesting if I break it down using parts of the body symbolically. Feet represent where you go. Hands, what you do. Ears what you listen to. Eyes, what you look at. And mouth what you say. What do you think? Good outline? Well, I’m not going to talk about any of that this morning. Instead of preaching on Paul’s commands about your bodies, I’m going to speak to you about what Paul has to say about the other aspect of who you are.

Gaining Wisdom

This is the second post about wisdom. The first is here.

An appropriate question to ask at this point is simply this: how can a person gain wisdom? The Bible is quite clear about where to start.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. Proverbs 9.10

The fear of the Lord. There is a problem here for many. Being afraid of God is out of vogue. As a result, there are quite a few Christians who don't know what to do with a verse like this. That means that there are quite a few Christians who don't know the first step when it comes to gaining wisdom. And the reason is that they have not been taught what this fear of the Lord actually is about.

There is a kind of fear that is the dread of a slave before a harsh master who has the power of life and death and is not afraid to use that power. And it's not as if this master has to worry about someone holding him accountable for what he does with his slave. The slave is his property. He can do with him as he pleases. That is one kind of fear, and the Bible speaks about it.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 1 John 4.18

But fearing God has nothing to do with that scenario. We are not slaves, and God is not harsh master.

The fear of God that Proverbs praises is rooted in the awareness that we are accountable to God. Our lives are going to be evaluated. Like the servants in the parable of the talents (Matthew25), one day we will be called upon to give an account of what we did.

There are lots of places in the Bible that speak about this.

First, Peter.

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile…  1 Peter 1.17

Next, Paul.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Corinthians 5.10

And now, Jesus.

For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Matthew 16.27

Our lives are going to be evaluated.

Unfortunately, way too many Christians think of this in terms of being in trouble. God is going to get them for all the evil things that they have done. Not even close. This is where I get to include just some of the verses that talk about rewards. There will be a reward for those who were faithful.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them [God's laws]there is great reward. Psalms 19.11

Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges [evaluates] on earth.” Psalms 58.11

The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward. Proverbs 11.18

And this is not just some Old Testament thing. Jesus adds His two cents.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5.12

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6.6

Why do we think that being evaluated means bad things happening? It doesn't sound like it from these verses. (And there are more!)

Now, here's an objection that might come up in response to this kind of thinking. 'There's no way that I will get any reward. I've sinned so much that the only thing that I can expect is going to be bad.' So, who are all those verses written to? Perfect people? Is that who Jesus was talking to? No, all of that was for people just like us, people who sin. This is where the grace of the Gospel is so precious. The Father knows all about our sinfulness. But He has provided for that. Jesus has come to deal with our sin. So, when the Spirit points out some sin, all we need to do is repent of it and come again to Jesus for forgiveness and for change. And that repentance includes going back into the fray to work at living as faithful disciples. And the next time the Spirit points out some sin, we do it all over again. That's a part of the Gospel. People who sin, people like us, can still expect a reward.

And that explains how the fear of the Lord motivates. To be sure, there is the threat of bad things happening if we goof off, that is, if we refuse to repent when the Spirit points out some sin. So, we know not to fall into that trap. But there is also the promise of reward. Think of it: reward! As much as the motivation is to avoid the bad, how much more is it to gain the good? It's from here that wisdom can begin to grow. More on that next time.

Wisdom and Knowledge

I have a few thoughts about wisdom that I think are worth writing down. But instead of one large post I'm going to break this down into three. Here's the first.

We live in a culture that is enamored with knowledge. We realize that there are many things to know, and we want to know about all of them. It would be good if all this zeal to gain knowledge was altruistic. Some of it might be. But there are many who want to know so that they can advance beyond those who don't know. We can be very competitive.

One place where this push to know shows itself is in our ideas about education. What is it that we want for our kids? We want them to know. And so, in a multitude of ways, kids are getting their heads filled with all sorts of information. Education is about knowledge. And, again, for a goodly number of these, gaining knowledge is about getting ahead of others.

But is that what education is supposed to be about? Is the goal to have knowledgeable children - who can get ahead? I really don't think so. I have an alternative to offer. I actually think that education, the training of children, is supposed to be about wisdom.

I hope to say more about a definition later, but speaking simply, wisdom is the skill of living well. It is a skill that way too many never get anywhere close to mastering. It is a skill that is learned. And part of what needs to be learned are certain bits of information. That means that there most certainly is a place for knowledge in the education of children.

But there are two caveats. Knowledge is not the goal of education. It is a means to the goal. It is a means to the goal of wisdom. And those who are involved in the education of children need to keep that relationship between knowledge and wisdom clearly in mind. There are things that children need to know. But they need to know those things so that they can be wise, so that they can live well. This means that there are things that children don't need to know, at least not right now. The goal of wisdom determines the priorities of the various bits of knowledge.

Here's the second caveat. It takes more than books to gain wisdom. Knowledge can be gained by books alone. But not wisdom. For wisdom to develop, knowledge needs to be grasped in a particular context, the context of life. To grow in wisdom requires experiences, living out the knowledge that you have gained. It's in those experiences that bits of knowledge result in wisdom.

This has much to say about current ideas about the training of children. Too many have aimed at creating adults who are filled with much knowledge. And there are many of these who have gained much knowledge. And, from a particular perspective they are quite successful. But they are not especially wise. And that is sad. The goal is not knowledge but wisdom.

Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
    and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
for I give you good precepts;
    do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
    tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
    he taught me and said to me,
“Let your heart hold fast my words;
    keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom; get insight;
    do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
    love her, and she will guard you.
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
    and whatever you get, get insight.
Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
    she will honor you if you embrace her.
She will place on your head a graceful garland;
    she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.” Proverbs 4.1-9

Increasing in Wisdom

Last week I presented Jesus as an example to follow. One of the things that I said was that Jesus was able to respond well to life because He was wise. I told you that as a man, He increased in wisdom. I also told you that since this is part of His being a man, then you also can increase in wisdom and become wise. This week I'm following up on that. I'm going to talk about how to increase in wisdom, how you can grow in your understanding of God, other people and yourself so that you can become like Jesus and live well.

Why Bother?

You have noticed, I'm sure, that the theme of wisdom comes up every once in a while in my sermons. That's because gaining wisdom is important. Well, this morning I'd like to look at that topic again. I'm going to ask a question. And the question is not complicated. It's the question, 'Why?' Why is it important to do the hard work of gaining wisdom? And I hope that it's clear that pursuing wisdom does require hard work. But just to make sure you're persuaded I'm going to quote from Proverbs, a book of the Bible especially devoted to the topic of wisdom.

My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Gaining Wisdom

Today, we're going to look at one of the promises of the Bible. We're going to do that for a couple of reasons. For one thing, I think that this promise is actually misunderstood. So, I'd like to fix that. Also, preaching on this verse will make it possible for me to develop a little further some recent themes in my teaching.

The promise is found in James.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Chick-fil-A

Someone in my church told me that it would be good for me to say something to my congregation about the recent Chick-fil-A situation. This is what I emailed to the folk.

I have been encouraged to comment to you on the recent Chick-Fil-A controversy.

But first, two verses:

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (Matthew 5:38-41)

But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed. (Acts 16:35-40)

There are times when we need to accept some offense against us and then expect some more of the same and accept that too - quietly. And then, there are times when we need to make a fuss in response to some evil that someone has done against us. It takes Spiritual wisdom to decide which of these responses is right in any particular situation. However, in any situation the guiding principle is always the same: 'What will advance the Gospel?' That's always the guiding principle since advancing the Gospel is the only way  we can change the world.