The Twelve Gifts of Life Recovery by Arterburn Stephen;Stoop David; & David Stoop

Author:Arterburn, Stephen;Stoop, David; & David Stoop
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: RELIGION / Christian Life / Spiritual Growth, SELF-HELP / Substance Abuse & Addictions / Alcohol
ISBN: 5395773
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
Published: 2015-09-01T00:00:00+00:00

Three Types of Wisdom

Through her life recovery program and her involvement in her church community, Amanda learned about three types of wisdom. The first type is common wisdom or secular wisdom, which may not be true wisdom at all. This was the so-called wisdom of her high school friends. Its basic principle could be summarized as “do what feels good.”

In the Bible, after Job has lost his family and all of his possessions and is now afflicted with disease, his wife says to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). “Give it up,” she might have added. “Quit trying so hard.” That’s common wisdom, and it was much like what Amanda’s high school friends had suggested to her. They told her she should forget about her mother’s problems and just enjoy the party.

The second type of wisdom can be called religious wisdom, which comes from people who try to help us deal with our problems by giving us solutions that sound spiritual but are really just clichés. For Amanda, the input she received from her husband fit into this category. He had been raised in a religiously strict home, and like his father he had a spiritual answer for any of life’s problems. But his helpful comments, when analyzed, were much like the comments of Job’s friends.

The first friend says, “In the past you have encouraged many people; you have strengthened those who were weak. Your words have supported those who were falling; you encouraged those with shaky knees. But now when trouble strikes, you lose heart. You are terrified when it touches you” (Job 4:3-5).

Job’s second friend takes it even further when he says, “Shouldn’t someone answer this torrent of words? Is a person proved innocent just by a lot of talking? . . . When you mock God, shouldn’t someone make you ashamed? You claim, ‘My beliefs are pure, and I am clean in the sight of God.’ . . . True wisdom is not a simple matter. Listen! God is doubtless punishing you far less than you deserve!” (Job 11:2-4, 6). In other words, Job, you are being punished because there is sin in your life! A common, simplistic religious answer.

Religious wisdom provides clear and simple answers: “You’re suffering because of hidden sin. Just repent and get back on track.”

Certainly we may suffer because we have sinned, but not all suffering is caused by our sin. Sometimes we suffer because we have been sinned against. Sometimes suffering is just part of being human, or it may be used to glorify God. When Jesus encountered a man who had been blind from birth, his disciples asked whether the man’s blindness was caused by his own sin or his parents’ sin. Jesus replied, before restoring the man’s sight, “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him” (John 9:3).

The third kind of wisdom is godly wisdom, which always brings us face-to-face with God’s unlimited power, insight, and mercy.

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