Why Wisdom is So Important Today

As I said in my last post, sometimes I "self edit" while I'm in the midst of preaching.  Well, last week, I began a preaching journey, with the intention of preaching through the book of Proverbs.  Below is a portion of the sermon that I skipped over for time, but is hugely important... and perhaps God knew what he was doing, because a blog provides more opportunity for interaction with the words.  If you'd like to hear the sermon, click here.  You'll have to click on "sermons" on the right side.  The sermon is called "Why Wisdom?"

So, as you read this, please remember that I wrote it planning to preach it, not to blog it.  The Big Idea of the sermon, based on James 1:2-8, is this: We know we're lacking in wisdom when we're unable to consider trials of every kind as "nothing but joy."  That's how I know I need wisdom... and here are a few more dimensions of that:

The Dark is Going to Get a Lot Darker (this is biblically true: Jesus promises that we will be persecuted because of him, Paul joins the chorus in 2 Tim 3:1-9). 

It’s no secret that things are changing, and many believe things will begin changing even more in the future.  Last week, for example, Gary Hines shared about a set of dreams he’s had in recent months warning of an imminent major economic downturn and worldwide political upheaval.  His dreams only add to the litany of voices in the political, economic, and religious world who all say the same thing.  Whether it is my generation or one of the generations to follow very, very closely in this nation, one of them will face a complete and total renovation of the way things are.  And renovation, just like in a home, starts with demolition.  That’s what all the gloomy, doomy voices are saying.

What specifically are they talking about?  What will it mean?  What will life be like if the scariest predictions are true?  And most importantly, how ought Christians respond? 

First, what they are talking about: Economically speaking, the nature of life in what used to be called the “first world,” referring to rich countries with lots of luxury like ours, is almost entirely unique in the world today and even more unique in world history.  I don’t know exactly how that will change, but thinking of a place like Zimbabwe may give us some indications, since Zimbabwe illustrated for the world in recent years what a corrupt government combined with utter economic disarray results in.  To be honest, it is hard to imagine it getting so bad in the US, since our government is based on a system of checks and balances... but, Zimbabwe at least proved that the worst case scenario (economically speaking) is possible.  People can mess things up that bad.  

What happened in Zimbabwe?  This is a cursory report... I'm not an economist, and I did not go to many sources.  Here's what I learned, though: Inflation occurred in such measure that normal, every day needs required ridiculous amounts of money.  According to Wikipedia, When Zimbabwe first introduced their dollar in 1983, it was worth $1.47, so it was more valuable than a USD.  By 2008, one US Dollar (which itself had devalued) was worth 758.5 Billion (with a B) Zimbabwean dollars.  It took hundreds of billions of Zimbabwean dollars to purchase an egg, or a piece of bread. 

In a situation like that, everything falls into disarray.  Zimbabwean gasoline was far too expensive and rarely available.  Grocery stores were rooms full of empty shelves.  Looting and theft became the normal way of life.  When the money goes, order and safety are soon gone too.  That was true, and to some extent still is, in Zimbabwe.  Pray for them. 

Now, whether it will be like that or not, at some point the “American Dream” will come to an end.  The only Kingdom that will stand forever is the Kingdom of God.  By war or natural disaster or our own undoing, the US will disappear eventually, just like every major empire of history that thought “we will never fall.”  And many people believe that it will happen far sooner than we'd like to think.  

Yes, it could happen soon.  Yes, the Biblical promise is that the world will hate Christians.  Like many times before, it is likely, and not too incomprehensible, to imagine that if things go wrong, Christians will be blamed. 

How do we be ready for those times? 

You know what I say to all that?  In faith, even though I honestly don't feel this way, I say bring it on.  I want to see Jesus exalted.  I want to see the power of God.  I want to see people live by faith and share what they have and get untangled from the ridiculous temptations that are provided by luxury.  Predictions and prophetic words, like Gary’s dream which he shared last week at LCC, strike fear into our hearts because we trust in the “better life” that we feel we have here.  They scare us because we think we’ve gotten so good at “saving ourselves.” BUT, Have we really made life so much better? In Ralph Winter’s words,

“America today is a ‘save yourself’ society if there ever was one.  But does it really work? The underdeveloped societies suffer from one set of diseases: tuberculosis, malnutrition, pneumonia, parasites, typhoid, cholera, typhus, etc.  Affluent America has virtually invented a whole new set of diseases: obesity, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, srokes, lung cancer, venereal disease, cirrhosis of the liver, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce, battered children, suicide, murder.  Take your choice. Labor-saving machines have turned out to be body-killing devices.  Our affluence has allowed both mobility and isolation of the nuclear family, and as a result, our divorce courts, our prisons, and our mental institutions are flooded.  In saving ourselves we have nearly lost ourselves.”  (Ralph Winter, “Reconsecration to a Wartime, Not a Peacetime, Lifestyle” in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, p. 706.)

Here’s the point:

Before this happens, whether it is in the next 6 months, several years, or an another several generations, it is utterly essential that Christians develop the sort of mentality and lifestyle that allows us to be undaunted by winds of doctrine OR winds of economic and political change.  It is time for us to cease filling our brains, bellies, and bank accounts with stuff that has no eternal value.  It is time for us to stop lying to ourselves about what is important in this life, and begin telling the truth.  It is time for us to learn to face trials as if they were "all joy," so that even the worst trials serve to strengthen our faith and cause us to fix our eyes even MORE on Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith.  To him be the Glory forever, amen. 

Jesus Promised Times Like Those, and Much Worse, Would Come

Jesus talked about times filled with struggle, persecution, and turmoil beyond the scope of Gary's dreams a lot. When He warned of such times, Jesus said to “keep alert” and “keep awake” over and over again.  Jesus’ warning of such times, by the way, was not a conditional prophecy, like Jonah’s.  Jonah thought (or, hoped) his prophecy of the doom of Ninevah was unconditional, but the repentance of the Ninevites turned the wrath of God away.  That principle can be true, and will impact the manner in which these things come.  But Jesus was not saying “God will do this unless you repent” he was saying “God will do this.  It will happen all around you.  Here’s how you be ready.”  That message, “how you be ready,” is a way of understanding all of Jesus’ more radical teaching and lifestyle.  It really helps us understand Jesus' very weird commands.  For example, if only the rich man knew Jesus was offering him the greatest gift of all when he invited him to sell everything he owned.

The Rest of the New Testament Echoes Jesus, Especially Revelation

As it warned of the Beast and the Dragon, Revelation 13 issues a call to all readers: “This calls for wisdom.” (Rev. 13:18).  We need wisdom in these times.  To walk around prophesying disaster with nothing else to say is useless, or worse, dangerous. If such times, or any version of them, should strike and the people of God are unprepared and undisciplined and easily tossed around by the waves of fear, then we are to be utterly pitied.  Why?  Because in our very hands, we have a guide for life that is not dependant on the economy of the United States or the European Union.  We have a way of thinking about the people and the stuff that is around us that can see it all as a gift from God, whether we have much or little, if only we learn how to live in dependance on him.  

------------------------ (that's the end of the stuff I left out on Sunday)--------------------

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