IN SEARCH OF WISDOM
When the Apostle Paul first arrived in the morally bankrupt city of Corinth, on the southern tip of ancient Greece; he had just learned a valuable lesson in philosophy, as well as religion and politics. Having just left the capital city of Athens, a mere forty miles up the road, with its vaunted status of being the philosophic center of the universe; you might say that Paul had his 'tail between his legs' a bit. Church leaders often point to this, "Mars Hill" experience of Paul in Athens, where he made an impassioned appeal to their, professed 'love for wisdom', (i.e. philosophy), as a means of communicating the Gospel message; as the prototypical and proven method of reaching an unchurched world for Christ.
Standing boldly on the Acropolis, the ancient citadel high above the city where, "...all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. (Act 17:21)"; Paul pioneered a new approach for this august body of wise men. Perceiving the inordinate amount of idolatry that filled the city, and their passionate pursuit of human wisdom, Paul eloquently began to proclaim the knowledge of an unknown God, which they had been worshiping unwittingly. He also quoted some of their own poetry, and he even talked about repentance and resurrection, but before he could even utter the name of Jesus, they began to mock him, and booted him off the stage. No great revivals, no outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and no planting of churches, as had happened in other cities; just a couple of converts and then he had to move on.
The lesson Paul learned there is a powerful one for us today, and it is recorded in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, where Paul admitted that when he had come to them, he, "...did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring ...the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (NKJV 1 Cor 2:1-5)" He had come to a painful realization that, attempting to awaken man's dead spirit, by appealing to his never-ending, futile quest for ultimate reality, deeper truth, and new wisdom, apart from the knowledge of the true and living God and Jesus Christ His Son, was a hopelessly flawed approach.
The renowned Greek philosopher Plato, over four hundred years earlier, had said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. (Plato)”, and in the years that followed, and even up until the present day, man's search for wisdom has certainly followed this pattern. For they are, "...always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ...[who] resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all... (2 Tim 3:8-9)" Paul would later go on to warn Timothy to, "...Guard what was committed to [his] trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge... (1 Tim 6:20-21)"
These are sounds words for us to adhere to as well. For in this world, all around us are truth claims that profess to have a knowledge of what is ultimately real, deeply true, and recently wise, but the old saying still stands; "If it's new, it ain't true, and if it's true, it ain't new!" Again, consider the words of Paul to the Corinthians, when he declared that Jesus had sent him:
"...to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND BRING TO NOTHING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRUDENT." Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:17-24)"
An amazing passage of Scripture! God, in his infinite wisdom, seeing that man would love his own wisdom rather than God's, to the extent of worshiping it as an idol, chose foolishness as the means of revealing His ultimate truth to the world; so that no man might achieve salvation through the diligent acquisition of knowledge or the search for wisdom, but by faith in His Son Jesus, who is the power and wisdom of God! Amazing!
Standing boldly on the Acropolis, the ancient citadel high above the city where, "...all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. (Act 17:21)"; Paul pioneered a new approach for this august body of wise men. Perceiving the inordinate amount of idolatry that filled the city, and their passionate pursuit of human wisdom, Paul eloquently began to proclaim the knowledge of an unknown God, which they had been worshiping unwittingly. He also quoted some of their own poetry, and he even talked about repentance and resurrection, but before he could even utter the name of Jesus, they began to mock him, and booted him off the stage. No great revivals, no outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and no planting of churches, as had happened in other cities; just a couple of converts and then he had to move on.
The lesson Paul learned there is a powerful one for us today, and it is recorded in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, where Paul admitted that when he had come to them, he, "...did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring ...the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (NKJV 1 Cor 2:1-5)" He had come to a painful realization that, attempting to awaken man's dead spirit, by appealing to his never-ending, futile quest for ultimate reality, deeper truth, and new wisdom, apart from the knowledge of the true and living God and Jesus Christ His Son, was a hopelessly flawed approach.
The renowned Greek philosopher Plato, over four hundred years earlier, had said, “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. (Plato)”, and in the years that followed, and even up until the present day, man's search for wisdom has certainly followed this pattern. For they are, "...always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ...[who] resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all... (2 Tim 3:8-9)" Paul would later go on to warn Timothy to, "...Guard what was committed to [his] trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge... (1 Tim 6:20-21)"
These are sounds words for us to adhere to as well. For in this world, all around us are truth claims that profess to have a knowledge of what is ultimately real, deeply true, and recently wise, but the old saying still stands; "If it's new, it ain't true, and if it's true, it ain't new!" Again, consider the words of Paul to the Corinthians, when he declared that Jesus had sent him:
"...to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND BRING TO NOTHING THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PRUDENT." Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor 1:17-24)"
An amazing passage of Scripture! God, in his infinite wisdom, seeing that man would love his own wisdom rather than God's, to the extent of worshiping it as an idol, chose foolishness as the means of revealing His ultimate truth to the world; so that no man might achieve salvation through the diligent acquisition of knowledge or the search for wisdom, but by faith in His Son Jesus, who is the power and wisdom of God! Amazing!
By Pastor Glen Mustian
Works Cited:
New King James Version. Holy Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. Print. 2001.
