Be Wise

 There's been a lot of discussion about Artificial Intelligence lately. And the question is whether A.I. will be a huge blessing to mankind or whether it will become self aware and be the end of mankind. It's said that at some point, A.I. will have the entire collective sum of all of human knowledge. Imagine an intelligence that would know everything that we have ever learned. But that phrase - 'entire collective sum of all of human knowledge' - with the key word being 'human'.

Humans don't know everything. And there's a massive difference between knowing facts and knowing how to apply those facts. This past week at VBS we talked about how God is the source of all wisdom. We looked to the book of Proverbs and King Solomon's writings to see God's wisdom revealed. And since wisdom isn't only for kids - I thought it might be helpful for us to recap some of the things we learned.

Now this will be review for those who were involved in VBS, but there's something I've learned about the book of Proverbs. Every time this book comes up in my yearly Bible reading plan, I get bogged down a bit. Some of the stories I read in the Old Testament really flow right along, and the Gospels read somewhat easily - but when I hit Proverbs, I really slow down because I have to reread and 'chew over' each verse to reflect on its wisdom.

God will freely give wisdom to those who ask, but many times you still may have to work for it. I think it's pretty easy to tell when you look around, not everyone has a lot of wisdom. We're not born with it. True wisdom comes only from God and a lot of times it only comes from a great deal of humility and experience.

On Day 1 of VBS - the first thing we learned was to 'Be wise'...

I. With your ears

I've had many experiences with 'un-churched' people who were very willing to tell me about who they thought God was and what He expected of them. Most of them never read the Bible, they didn't attend Church services, but they had formed strong opinions about God based on their limited experiences.

I was talking with one young man who'd been arrested for vandalism and drunk driving. He was doing community service with the Church because of a court order. I sat down with him on a break and he quickly started explaining to me his beliefs about God. "I believe that God is a good guy and doesn't have a problem with getting drunk. He doesn't really expect us to always follow the rules, and He's cool with letting loose and partying!"

So how did he come to that conclusion? Did he read that in the Bible? Did a Bible scholar impart that wisdom to him? No - he decided 'that's what God was like' to fit his own personal desires. And it's easy to point out his lack of Biblical understanding - but do we do a similar thing? Do we form our views on God and Biblical morality apart from what God actually says in His Word?

At Camp Kilimanjaro, the first verses we looked at from the book of Proverbs were Proverbs 19:20-21 (NIV)...

Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. (21) Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

We need to become wise with our ears and listen to what God says, not just to what we personally want to believe. Which leads me to Day 2 of VBS - the next thing we learned, was to 'Be wise'...

II. With your heart

Today's modern man seems to cling to the adage - "Follow your heart!" And that phrase has led millions to a lot of pain and heartache. Many believe that it's in our best interest, that we can only truly be our best and 'freest' self if we simply follow our own personal desires - apart from any restrictions placed on us by society. But the problem is, God's Word says that, "The heart is deceitful above all things" - meaning, your heart will tell you a lot of things that are not true.

We see that all around us - "God just wants me to be happy", or "You can't tell me who to love" - equating love and sex as the same thing, or "Sex and gender are completely different - you can be a boy born in a girl's body or a girl born in a boy's body...", that's not what the Bible says, or "It's my right to choose 'women's health care' and you can't tell me what to do with my body!", but God's Word says that human life is sacred and should be valued.

Maybe it's the lie your heart tells you, "I'm not good enough for God to love me" - or "God couldn't possibly use someone like me..." Your heart will lie to you. At VBS we looked at the passage I've shared many times from Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

We have a lot of people living very 'crooked paths' by following their own hearts. And in the end it will lead them to separation from God for eternity. We need to 'ignore our gut' if it tells us anything other than what is revealed in God's Word! We have to acknowledge that God does have the authority to tell us THE right way to live!

And then on Day 3 of VBS - the next thing we learned was to 'Be wise'...

III. With your tongue

We know the nursery rhyme, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It's taught to kids as a defense against name-calling or verbal bullying to try and protect them and teach them to ignore hurtful words. But even as that saying has the best of intentions and can maybe help a child get though a rough time - we know words can hurt. Sometimes words can cause even more damage than a physical blow.

The next verse we learned was from Proverbs 18:21 (NIV)...

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Are we always wise with our words...? 'The tongue has the power of life and death' - but do we always respect that power and choose our words carefully? Do we use our words to build up or to tear down? Do we use our words to share Jesus?

I think many times we take our words for granted. We know there are other countries where speaking about Jesus can absolutely get you killed. But in those countries, Christianity is actually growing - despite that threat. But here - in America - where we're still free to speak openly about our faith in Jesus, the Church is struggling - Church attendance is way down nationally; many small Churches are closing their doors.

Could it be that the Church in America has not been very wise with our words? Could it be that, many times, our words do not line up with God's Word? Do we water down our words to be more acceptable to those outside the Church - but then lose God's blessing by rejecting His authority..?

On Day 4 of VBS - the next thing we learned was to 'Be wise'...

IV. With your hands

We can be very busy in our lives, but if we aren't busy doing what God wants us to do - it's really a waste of time, when you think about it. We taught the kids the passage from Proverbs 16:2-3 (NIV)...

All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. (3) Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

We talked with the kids about, 'no more monkey business!'; about getting down to work. - What's the work we're to do? There are a lot of people in this world who are more than willing to give you their opinions - but you can only find that answer in God's Word! We need to get busy reading God's Word! And I know I talk about biblegateway.com a lot and various Bible apps for your phone - but this is a big deal!

Again, I think we take God's Word for granted. We have more access to the Bible in hard copies and in digital forms than in any other generation before in history! I can pull up multiple versions on my phone right now, almost instantly! Not only that, but I can do a 'key word search' and tell you every single verse where the word 'grace' is used, or the word 'baptism', or 'heaven'. I can do in a few seconds what it used to take hours. But even with all of this access - all the research indicates that biblical literacy in America is at an all-time low.

One study a few years back found that a majority of U.S. adults (81%) said they consider themselves highly, moderately or somewhat knowledgeable about the Bible. Yet less than half of those adults were able to name the first five books of the Bible. A more recent study found only 45% of those who regularly attend church read the Bible more than once a week. The data said roughly 26 million people had mostly or completely stopped reading the Bible during the pandemic. Many believers have never read the entire Bible cover to cover - ever.

If a person says they wholeheartedly believe the Bible is God's Word, but they don't actually spend time reading it - what might that tell you about their true belief? We need to be wise and get busy reading God's Word!

And finally on Day 5 - the last thing we learned was to 'Be wise'...

V. With your feet

Our feet take us where we want to go; but of course, we tell our feet where we want to go. Our feet usually don't just walk us somewhere and we look up and go, "Whoa! How'd I get here...?" We choose what path we'll take - sometimes intentionally, and sometimes unintentionally as we just 'go with the flow' of those around us. So if we choose to surround ourselves only with people who are not interested in going God's Way - chances are pretty good we'll walk in the wrong direction.

The final verse we looked at during VBS was from Proverbs 13:20 (NIV)...

He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

King Solomon, who was the wisest man to ever live, wrote that passage. You can read Solomon's whole story in the Bible and you'll see that his reign as king ended sadly with him sacrificing to idols and his kingdom being split apart. How was it that the wisest man ended up falling away from God - the One Who had blessed him with so much? - He surrounded himself with unbelieving wives; he immersed himself in a 'godless culture' and became a 'companion of fools'.

If even Solomon was corrupted by a 'godless culture', what makes us think we can 'walk with the wise' without the body of Christ, the Church? We've seen attendance dwindle here - we're still nowhere close to where we were before the shutdown. Many attend a service once or maybe twice a month and consider it 'good enough'. And sure, you can do that - but don't be surprised when your faith then withers on the vine.

If you only have a casual attitude toward God's Word or God's Church - why would you expect God to have anything other than a casual attitude toward your salvation...? You need the Church!!

So What?

Twenty five years ago, I visited Africa. At VBS I got to show the kids various souvenirs I brought back from a little village called Narok and a market in Nairobi – a spear, a small shield, a milk gourd, a hidden knife in a stick, a sword and club, and a Masai blanket. I related each of those items to those five calls to be wise with our ears, our hearts, our tongues, our hands, and our feet. If each of us were to really learn wisdom in those five areas – how different might our Church look? How different might our families look?

Remember at the beginning when I talked about Artificial Intelligence, I said, "Imagine an intelligence that would know everything that we have ever learned." We don't have to imagine - we can have a personal relationship with the all knowing God of all creation! Jesus came down as God in the flesh to give His life for us to have a way to the Father. We have the choice to accept Him or reject Him.

Those are the facts – what is the wise choice...?