Wisdom from the world of sin… and how I fell prey to it

It’s amazing how things are bandied around among Christians as if they’re wise, even though they have no root in Scripture. Well, not really amazing. It happened in the Old Testament Church (Matt 15:1-9) and the New Testament Church (Col. 2:16-23).

One such thing – and since I’m in parachurch ministry I hear this all the time – is the need for multi-generational fellowship in the Church. The belief that we need the experience of people older than us to point us to wise living.

I’m willing to be proven wrong on this, but I don’t think the Bible teaches such a thing. What the Bible does teach is that the knowledge it imparts is sufficient for every good work – “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

So knowing the Bible is the key to right living…

The Bible also teaches that wisdom flows from fearing the Lord: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7)

Now, I admit that over time our knowledge of God’s word should grow – and so those with more time in God’s word should be wiser. But that’s not something that always happens. Our reliance must not be on the age or experience of one seeking to impart knowledge; but rather on this question: are they speaking and explaining God’s holy and sufficient word?

I am certainly not immune to the temptation to doubt the sufficiency of God’s word. I’d always heard that the big failure that people have in marriage is their failure to communicate. Now certainly, communication within a marriage is vital. But let me suggest something: what I’ve seen in my age old marriage (of 3 weeks) is that my big failure in our marriage (so far) is not my lack of communication – it’s my sin. It’s my idolatry. It’s my failure to worship God. It’s my refusal to consider my wife more significant than me. It’s my love of myself. (I hope you can see here that I’ve been paraphrasing Scripture! See Romans 1:18-32, Philippians 2, 2 Timothy 3 for starters.)

And the reality is this: my communication with my amazing wife is sometimes controlled by my sin. So sometimes when I communicate, I am sinning by communicating!

Whoops.

I have to return to what God has said – and God hasn’t given me a 10 step program to a healthy marriage. He’s given me his word, which is sufficient to please him, and he’s given me his Spirit, which is his power to accomplish all godly things (2 Peter 1:3, 4).

There’s no magic bullet for obedience. There’s not a secret in the success of others. There’s God word – his commandments – his Law telling me what I need to do to honor God. And there’s the Holy Spirit, present in me, conforming me to greater obedience to God’s Law.

You wanna help me? Don't tell me a story. Don't tell me what experience has taught you. Tell me what you've learned from God's word. And tell me that that I can only please God by the Spirit's working.