Tag: experiential knowledge

Developing the Skill of Wisdom (Colossians 1:9-14)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
Colossians 1:9-10, by Bible Art

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (New International Version)

When I was younger, I played a lot of ping-pong. And I got good at it. In fact, during a several months stretch, back-in-the-day, I had a record of 156-2. Not bad.

That kind of record was only possible because of the two reasons that make any skill an accomplishment:

  1. Knowledge. I learned the game of ping-pong and eventually knew it inside and out.
  2. Experience. I practiced for hundreds, if not thousands, of hours in developing my technique.

The sort of knowledge that Paul was talking about was more than information and intellectual understanding; he used a specific word (in the Greek language – ἐπιγινώσκω, pronounced “EPee-gi-NOS-ko) which refers to knowledge gained by experience.

In English, we need to put two words together in order to communicate Paul’s concept: experiential knowledge – an understanding which is gained by continual repetition and practice until there is proficiency.

There are just some things that can only be learned and integrated into life through constant use and development over time. And this is precisely how a person becomes mature in life:

Growth + Time = Maturity.

And with maturity comes the wisdom to live life as it meant to be lived. This means that wisdom doesn’t come overnight or quickly; to be wise requires a great deal of learning, effort, experience, and time.

The wisdom and understanding Paul refers to is not some sort of secret information which has to be accessed through careful initiation into a group of people who have the inside knowledge. No, this is wisdom which can be gained by anyone who embraces a life of faith and spiritual discipline.

The highest form of knowledge for the Apostle Paul is knowing God in Christ.

This sort of knowledge is an understanding of salvation, and experiencing deliverance from guilt, shame, and the false self. Such knowledge is evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit in living a life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Colossians 1:11, by Bible Art

From the outside of Christianity looking in, it may appear that this is all a grand achievement of the human will. But it isn’t. On the inside, the Christian life is thoroughly a work of God’s glorious power, bringing new life, and effecting spiritual growth and maturity into a wise and good way of life.

We did not deliver ourselves. God did. The Lord transferred our membership from the realm of darkness to the empire of light. Christians are simply people who have been redeemed by God in Christ. Our liberation is because of God’s gracious forgiveness of sins.

Forgiveness, however, is not the end game. Forgiveness frees us to pursue the spiritual life without guilt and shame hindering us and weighing us down all the time. Forgiveness opens us to the possibilities of positive and life-giving relational connections with God and other people.

In our relationship with God, prayer becomes the conduit of divine/human conversation. That connection, in the past, had blockage because of our unhealthy lifestyles. But it is now unobstructed because of God’s gracious intervention by Jesus, in the Spirit.

So, when it comes to our interactions in prayer, there’s no need to invent a new game; we just need to learn the one we’ve got, and put in the hours of work necessary to become accomplished at it. 

Today’s New Testament lesson is a prayer from the Apostle Paul to the Colossian Church. His prayer for them was singular: To have wise minds and spirits, that is, to have knowledge of God – an understanding of who God is and how God operates.

To learn divine ways is to acquire the skill of wisdom.

Paul prayed for a reason: so that we might live our lives in a way which pleases God and enables us to sustain a lifetime of spiritual growth. 

As people created in God’s image and likeness, we are hard-wired with a spirit which needs strengthening and exercise. That happens as we put in the constant repetitions of connecting with the divine and putting in the time on our knees – praying daily for ourselves and others to mature in faith so that we might all together act wisely and justly in this world, for the life of the world.

A good place to start is to use Paul’s prayer as our own. Never has there been such a need than now for us to know how to apply wisdom in the places and in the circumstances we’ve never been in before. 

For wisdom to happen, we must grow in our knowledge by putting in the hours of prayer.

The skill of wisdom doesn’t magically happen. Wisdom is the culmination of acquired understanding; a lot of practice exercising love in the places where love is not; and engaging in a lifetime project of becoming knowledgeable through constant learning, struggling, and growing.

Direct me, O Lord, in all my doings with your most gracious will and wisdom. Further in me your continual help – that in all my work and in all I do and say, I may glorify your holy name; and, by your mercy, obtain the life that is truly life; through Jesus Christ, my Lord.  Amen.

Respect Wise Sayings (Proverbs 22:1-9)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Being respected is more important than having great riches.
    To be well thought of is better than silver or gold.

The rich and the poor are alike
    in that the Lord made them all.

The wise see danger ahead and avoid it,
    but fools keep going and get into trouble.

Respecting the Lord and not being proud
    will bring you wealth, honor, and life.

Evil people’s lives are like paths covered with thorns and traps.
    People who guard themselves don’t have such problems.

Train children to live the right way,
    and when they are old, they will not stray from it.

The rich rule over the poor,
    and borrowers are servants to lenders.

Those who plan evil will receive trouble.
    Their cruel anger will come to an end.

Generous people will be blessed,
    because they share their food with the poor. (New Century Version)

The Bible is a big book. In fact, it is more like a compilation of many books – 66 of them, to be precise, contained in the Old and New Testaments. Although the Bible has the grand theme of presenting a redemptive drama, it is not a flat one-dimensional piece of literature. 

Throughout the Bible’s contents, from Genesis to Revelation, it is chocked full of various literary genres. From poetry and narrative stories to apocalyptic accounts and exhortative epistles, Holy Scripture provides a many-sided look at the unfolding drama of God’s redemption toward humanity. 

Included in this big Bible is the book of Proverbs, a collection of wise sayings to help people navigate God’s big world. The chief reason it’s important to know that the Bible contains different types of literature is so that we can read it and interpret it well. 

A proverb is a short pithy statement of experiential truth. 

It’s not the same as commands or law. The individual Hebrew proverbs are designed to point out that, all things being equal, this is how the world works. For example, let’s consider one of the most misunderstood and misused verses in the Bible: Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. 

Many a parent has been made to feel unrelenting guilt over a wayward son or daughter, believing that somehow they have failed. The reason they have such feelings is that they treat the book of Proverbs as clear promises to claim. But biblical proverbs simply were not meant to be stretched in this manner.

Rather, the proverb is meant to communicate to us that if parents are diligent and faithful in raising kids, that in all likelihood, this training will never leave them; it will always stick with them in some way, shape, or form. 

Furthermore, it’s also true that many a parent has rejoiced over an adult child coming back to their faith after a sojourn in the muck of the world. Important to that return is the foundation laid years ago with faithful parenting that desired to pass on wise and good instruction.

Proverbs, therefore, are meant to encourage us, not with an ironclad promises, but with the hope that all the blood, sweat, and tears that parents, teachers, mentors, and others put into children, and into their diligent work, will someday likely bear much fruit of responsible lives that contribute and benefit the church and the world. 

So, be diligent, patient, and do not give up; keep persevering knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

And also consider the proverb that honoring, respecting, and fearing God will bring a person wealth, riches, and an abundant life. It might. Perhaps likely. But it’s neither a promise nor a command. And it’s definitely not a math equation; you cannot build an algorithm from it to get rich quick. No, the verse is a proverb.

In other words, if we are careful to pay attention to God, and seek to obey and trust the Lord for all things, then, it is quite likely that you will find yourself with plenty, and not be in want. Thus, we ought never to look at the world with black-and-white glasses that unthinkingly believes that all rich people are hard workers and godly, whereas all poor folk are lazy good-for-nothing’s.

What’s more, many a poor person is rich in faith and good works, whereas many of the rich, care little for God and spend their wealth on self-centered concerns. Understanding a proverb as a proverb helps us to avoid stereotyping people and giving them labels they don’t deserve.

Let’s keep going. I do believe, as the proverb says, that generous people will be blessed. But know this: genuine generosity always costs us something. It will take money, time, energy, and/or resources which become depleted when we give liberally. Some folk never acquire wealth because they are committed to sharing what they have with others. And, in my opinion, these are the persons who are truly blessed.

If we keep an eye toward acquiring wisdom, pursuing experiential knowledge, and trusting God, then we look to places in the Bible like the Proverbs, and seek to live life as it was intended to be lived.

Internalize the biblical proverbs and, all things being equal, you are quite likely to have a good and blessed life.

Blessed and almighty God, the Giver of life, it is from your hand that we have received all we have, and are, and will be. We understand that your divine call upon us is to be the stewards of your abundance, the caretakers of all you have entrusted to us. Help us always to use your gifts wisely; and teach us to share them generously. May our faithful stewardship bear witness to the love of Christ in our lives; we pray with grateful hearts, in the gracious name of Jesus. Amen.

Don’t Forget about Kindness and Truth (Proverbs 3:1-12)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

My child, do not forget my teaching,
    but keep my commands in mind.
Then you will live a long time,
    and your life will be successful.

Don’t ever forget kindness and truth.
    Wear them like a necklace.
    Write them on your heart as if on a tablet.
Then you will be respected
    and will please both God and people.

Trust the Lord with all your heart,
    and don’t depend on your own understanding.
Remember the Lord in all you do,
    and he will give you success.

Don’t depend on your own wisdom.
    Respect the Lord and refuse to do wrong.
Then your body will be healthy,
    and your bones will be strong.

Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and the first fruits from all your crops.
Then your barns will be full,
    and your wine barrels will overflow with new wine.

My child, do not reject the Lord’s discipline,
    and don’t get angry when he corrects you.
The Lord corrects those he loves,
    just as parents correct the child they delight in. (New Century Version)

There is no wisdom apart from humility. And humility can only be accessed through being authentic and vulnerable. The proud person doesn’t look to God (or others) because they think they already know what is best and can figure out things without anyone’s help.

Wisdom is a skill that is attained through learning and application, over an extended period of time. The wise person has a solid body of knowledge, and is able to take that know-how and apply it to real life situations.

For the skill of wisdom to be realized, we must first take the posture of a child. We need to listen well, and humbly receive instruction. Without this initial mindset and heart attitude, wisdom will forever be elusive.

Then, when we learn and gain understanding, it’s imperative that we remember it. This is why the best learning engages all of our senses; it presses needed information deep inside us, so that what comes out of us is right, just, and good.

Concerning the Christian life, we can only obey commands which we know. So, it’s important to learn and retain the commands of God. This is one reason why I read my Bible every day; my mind and heart need the continual refreshment and recalling of Holy Scripture’s insight and instruction. I want to be so full of God’s good commands that if you cut me, I bleed Bible.

Kindness and truth are to be worn like a big gaudy necklace around our necks – so that we will always have in front of us what’s most important in living our lives.

The reason so many people are continually at odds with one another is that kindness and truth are neither acknowledged nor remembered. But you cannot have good relations without basic human kindness and a commitment to truth. Put another way, being gruff and mean, and fudging on reality, will not only get you nowhere, but it will also bring a profound lack of success in life.

That stubborn meanness and inattention to truth comes from spending way too much time alone in one’s head. Left alone for too long, every one of us will come up with all kinds of goofy thinking that we believe is the truth. But it’s really only craziness born of a tremendous lack of healthy interaction with others.

At some point, everyone must eventually trust the Lord – who is kindness and truth itself. Going it alone is not an option, that is, unless we want to be lonely, messed-up in the head, and miserable in both body and soul.

Let’s get real. Often, the reason why so many of us choose a path of arrogant pride, radical independence, and selfish loneliness is because we simply do not want to be hurt.

Someone, some group, or many persons have hurt us, and we’re determined to never be hurt and to hurt like that again. So, we shut others out – including God.

We may not go the route of becoming actual hermits, but we build invisible walls which no one can scale. This is why the loneliest people are actually around other people – they’ve shut them out emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, even though they are next to them physically.

Persons who take such a route to living eventually discover that, although they may have avoided the sort of pain they feared, a new kind of suffering is experienced. And it’s the kind of suffering that gnaws at your insides and slowly kills you.

Little does one know, but the fear, anger, and hatred morphs into a bitterness which becomes gangrene of the soul. The person dies a little bit at a time in an agonizing existence. We all must endure pain; it’s just a matter of what sort of pain we will accept: the bad kind or the good kind.

A good sort of hurt is the pain of healing, of making things right, of committing oneself to reconciliation and peace. It’s a soreness of being corrected by Holy Scripture and God’s directives, a suffering that will truly lead to life, not death.

So, what will it be? The book of Proverbs calls us to make a choice, not only between good and bad, but a choice of better and best, and of accepting the sort of pain that helps us grow; or rejecting that and enduring a debilitating hurt that damages deeply, maybe even permanently.

Let go of the pride and adopt humility. Become a student of wisdom. Take up the necklaces of kindness and truth. Honor God with a life full of experiential knowledge and devotion to the betterment of humanity. Learn to trust the Lord and others who are trustworthy. Know what it feels like to be merciful, pure, and peacemaking.

You may just find that the old tools of cynicism, sarcasm, skepticism, distrust, and unbelief become lost in the mental junk drawer of things rarely, if ever, used.

Lord Jesus Christ, you prayed for your friends that they would be one as you and your Father are one. We confess our resistance to your prayer. We have failed to maintain the unity of the Spirit. We have broken the bond of peace.

Don’t Be a Fool (Proverbs 1:20-33)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment

Wisdom shouts in the street;
    in the public square she raises her voice.
Above the noisy crowd, she calls out.
    At the entrances of the city gates, she has her say:
“How long will you clueless people love your naïveté,
    mockers hold their mocking dear,
    and fools hate knowledge?
You should respond when I correct you.
    Look, I’ll pour out my spirit on you.
    I’ll reveal my words to you.
I invited you, but you rejected me;
    I stretched out my hand to you,
    but you paid no attention.
You ignored all my advice,
    and you didn’t want me to correct you.
So I’ll laugh at your disaster;
    I’ll make fun of you when dread comes over you,
        when terror hits you like a hurricane,
        and your disaster comes in like a tornado,
        when distress and oppression overcome you.
Then they will call me, but I won’t answer;
    they will seek me, but won’t find me
        because they hated knowledge
        and didn’t choose the fear of the Lord.
They didn’t want my advice;
    they rejected all my corrections.
They will eat from the fruit of their way,
    and they’ll be full of their own schemes.
The immature will die because they turn away;
    smugness will destroy fools.
Those who obey me will dwell securely,
    untroubled by the dread of harm.” (Common English Bible)

I don’t know about you, but I find that the older I get, the more I realize I don’t know.

What I’m trying to say is that, as I move along in this life, I am discovering more and more how much I need wisdom.

Wisdom is more than being smart, intelligent, or even having some common sense; it is to gain a basic foundation of sound knowledge and instruction, and then having the ability to put that knowledge into practice, applying it to the specific concrete situations we face daily.

In other words, to be wise is to make decisions, engage in actions, and speak words that are appropriate to a given circumstance.

Conversely, stupidity has less to do with one’s intelligence quotient (IQ), lack of education (degrees), or ability to speak well (erudition). To be stupid means that a person is too stubborn to accept help, take advice, or learn from their mistakes.

The Foolish Person

Instead, a stupid fool relies on their own short-sighted opinions, looks for easy ways out of trouble, and generally expects others to think and act the way they do. And that approach to life can literally get you killed. I can testify to that as a hospital chaplain who has been around a lot of death.

The telltale signs of a foolish person are:

  • Refusing to change, even if it means having a better life, or even to keep living
  • Ignoring the advice, correction, or rebuke of another person
  • Being cynical and sarcastic most of the time
  • Mocking and talking down to others
  • Disliking books and reading; or just generally not wanting to learn or consider new ideas
  • Freaking-out when any little thing doesn’t go their way

A person characterized by those things will face disaster, likely sooner than later. That will happen, not so much because they tend to get into trouble, but because they do not have a solid spiritual, emotional, and mental foundation of internal support to draw from. So, when disaster hits them, they fall over and crumble, like a house with its foundation built on sand.

Fools won’t find God in the mix of their hardship since they did not look to the Lord to begin with. And even in the midst of their adversity, the fool would rather blame God than seek God’s help. Indeed, stupidity is the deliberate cultivation of ignorance.

The Wise Person

The wise person, however, is careful to set aside time so that they can learn about God and God’s Word. They seek to know God’s commands in order to live honestly, ethically, responsibly, and justly.

Wisdom has taught them humility, obedience, and acceptance. When the storms of life hit the wise, they are safe and secure in a house built on the rock; the wind and waves shall not blow them over.

People who have sought wisdom can remain calm in the midst of trouble; rely on their acquired experiential knowledge in hard situations; and have faith that doing what is right and just is its own reward.

Wisdom is still calling out, just as she did all those centuries ago to the ancients. Amidst all the noise, bustle, and confusion of our contemporary society, you can hear the clarion voice of Lady Wisdom above the fray – that is, if you are bending your ear to listen…

Almighty God, the Creator and Author of my life, help me learn to read what you have written on my heart. Give me discerning eyes, a steadfast spirit, and courage of heart to look within me in order to understand how to reach outside of me. And once I have begun to read you aright, give me the generosity to help others to read you, to sound you out one letter, and one word of radical giving at a time. Amen.