The Fools' Gold of Human Wisdom
There is a tragedy, a deep and dark tragedy, in the church of Jesus Christ today. It is the tragedy of misplaced trust, of building castles on shifting sands, of storing treasures in earthly vaults instead of heavenly ones. We have confused man's understanding with God’s wisdom, and the exchange is deadly. Our understanding may glitter like polished brass, but it is not the pure gold of divine truth. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Corinthians 3:19).
Man prides himself on his knowledge. Oh, the libraries are filled with volumes of man's vain thoughts! The universities boast of their learned professors, experts in every field imaginable. But where is the wisdom that discerns the difference between the glittering fool's gold and the eternal treasure of heaven? Where is the understanding that will stand the test of fire, when the wood, hay, and stubble of human reasoning are consumed in a moment (1 Corinthians 3:12-13)?
We have elevated human opinion to the status of divine revelation. We applaud the philosopher and neglect the prophet. We treasure the words of man, yet neglect the Word of God. The church has adopted the language of the world, the values of the world, and the wisdom of the world, and yet we wonder why we lack the power of the Spirit. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God” (James 1:5). The wisdom that comes from above is pure, peaceable, gentle, and full of mercy and good fruits (James 3:17). It does not originate in the seminaries of man but in the sanctuary of God.
Oh, how we need men and women who are filled not with the knowledge of men but with the wisdom of God! Men who do not merely study books, but who study the Book! Men who do not merely seek to be clever, but who seek to be holy. For holiness, dear friends, is the beginning of wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10).
The world does not need another scholar who can debate finer points of theology or another preacher who can charm the masses with eloquent words. What the world needs is a prophet who speaks with the authority of heaven. A man, a woman, who has stood in the presence of God, whose lips have been cleansed with the coal from the altar, and who speaks, not from the vanity of the human heart, but from the very heart of God.
Let us cast away the fool's gold of human wisdom and seek after the pure gold of God's wisdom. Let us become fools for Christ's sake, that we might be truly wise. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25). Only then will the church rise in the power of the Spirit, clothed with the beauty of holiness, shining forth as a city set on a hill, a beacon of truth in a world of darkness.