Chasing the Wind 2

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Speaker 1: Chasing the Win Episode two, three Ways to Survive the World seating, Where does wisdom come from? And the big idea of this podcast. The first podcast created the suspicion wait, maybe I've been reading Ecclesiastes wrong. Well, this podcast is designed to give listeners a decoder ring you'll need for the rest of the series. Everybody needs wisdom because everybody is trying to answer the same question, and here it is what should I do next? They're essentially three answers, look within, look around, and look up. Welcome to Gospel Rant podcast to doctor Bill Sinyard YouTube channel. I'm your host, Doctor Bill Sinyard. We are free wherever you get good podcasts, of course on YouTube as well, so please subscribe. As always, one of the fastest ways you can help us grow is by leaving your com events below. Thanks sincerely for that. Thanks for making Gospel Rant one of the top ten percent podcasts in the world and in the top sixty of Christian podcasts in Colorado. Thank you for listening every week. We hope that it helps to regularly hear this about God's love for the unlovable, the unlovely, the unworthy, and the unlikely and that's all of us on any given day. Right if we were just a little bit honest and makes a difference to admit that, I want to get right back into it. After this brief word from our sponsors, we'll be right back. So what should I do? Should I marry her? Should I take the job? Should I quit the job? Should I move? Should I comfort him? Forgive her? Invest retire? Is the person telling me the truth? Is this doctor right? Is the church healthy? Or? Should I move on? Should I say something? Should I keep my mouth shut? Why am I sad? Should I change? I mean whatever? Welcome to being human. Most of life isn't lived knowing what happens next. It's lived one decision before knowing what happens next. And that's important, And that's why human beings have always been obsessed with wisdom and discernment. Also because underneath all of our grand definitions wisdom answer is one desperately practical question. What should I do next? What's my next step? What's the next right decision? Chasing the wind? The joke we missed in Ecclesiastes. Well, like I said in the introduction, there's three ways of knowing When I don't know what to do next? Where do I go? Door number one, Look within, Trust yourself, follow your heart, Listen to your instincts. You know what's best for you, right. That's enormously attractive and so human, And sometimes we get it right. Sometimes our instincts are indeed useful. But there's an obvious problem. What happens when the person giving me advice is me? When did I become wise and discerning? When was I able to identify all the possible consequences of my choice? When did I become objective? My fears are in there, my desires are in there, My wounds, unresolved wounds are in there. So much unidentified stuff is locked up in the shadows of my subconscious mind that I have no control over. Hey, I don't even know what they are. I don't even know where they are. And my ego is definitely in there, My pride is definitely in there, fear of making mistakes is definitely in there, and occasionally my two am brain is in there. So perhaps looking within isn't enough. I'm not saying it's evil, it's just not enough. Door number two. Look around. Now we see accumulated human wisdom. You know, experts teachers, science counselors, philosophy books, tradition, mentors, experienced proverbs, podcasts. Yeah, I recognize the irony of telling you not to trust podcasts on a podcast, but this is essentially the great human wisdom project. Observe enough reality and perhaps we can discover the patterns the creation algorithm, cause and effect. Do this, and generally that happens. Do this, and generally you will avoid that. And that's not bad. Right, there's enormous value here, But there's still a problem. We don't possess all the data, not even close. We don't know tomorrow, We don't know everyone's motives, we don't know all the consequences. We can't see around corners, Which leaves door number three. Look up. What if real wisdom and discernment can be revealed, can be accessed. What if the creator understands the creation better than the creation understands the creation. What if he actually does communicate and reveals, well, we're getting somewhere. Meet Solomon. Before we spend fifteen episodes with a man who claims Solomonic wisdom, Let's meet the real Solomon. Young Solomon becomes king and God effectively gives him the dream, opportunity, ask for whatever you want me to give you. Yeah, crazy, right, that's a dangerous question. What do you want money, long life, military victory, power, reputation. Solomon asks for something else. He asks for a discerning heart. And this connects directly to the Bena material we've been looking at. Discernment is the capacity to interpret information, to perceive patterns, to judge rightly and understand consequences. Not merely to possess information. It's to see what's going on. It's the reading of the room, it's reading of the information packets. And here's the distinction I want to bring out. Solomon doesn't ask God to make him smarter. He asked God to enable him to discern This is what good kings do. Well. Why well, because Solomon understood something that Q apparently doesn't. Discernment isn't merely something you acquire. It's something you receive biblically, and that's huge. Okay, full body dive into the weeds. Biblically, wisdom and discernment overlap, but they are not the same thing. Here's the simple distinction. Discernment recognizes what is really going on. Wisdom knows what to do about it, So discernment, what is true here? Why did that happen? Why did that person say that? What spirit is that? Is that good or evil? So to speak? Biblically, discernment is the ability to distinguish truth from error, good from evil, what is from God from what is merely a peer spiritual and sometimes what is good and what is best. Hebrews five point fourteen describes mature believers as those whose faculties are trained to distinguish good from evil. Paul prays that believers would grow in knowledge and all discernment so that they might approve of what is excellent. Philippians one nine to ten. First John four to one says, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits. So discernment discernment asks questions like what is actually happening? Is this true? Is this consistent with God's character and word? What's really motivating this? Is this the spirit or my fear or my ego or cultural pressure or something else? In spite of what that person said or did, what was driving it? I mean, really than wisdom, given what is true? What should I do? Wisdom is broader Biblical wisdom is the God shaped capacity to live well in the light of reality. Discernment identifies reality. What's really going on here? Wisdom therefore asked, what is the faithful and loving response based upon what I've discerned? What should I say? Based upon what I've discerned? What should I not say? When should I act? What choice reflects the character of Christ? What should I do that might heal the person who is yelling at me? Do good for the person, Love the person who is now yelling at me for some unknown reasons. Right, Discernment, here's a useful biblical sequence. Think of it this way. Knowledge I know what Scripture says. Understanding I grasp what it means. Discernment I recognize what is happening in this particular situation right now, and Wisdom I respond appropriately and lovingly. So imagine someone just out of the blue criticizes you, or yells at you, or calls you a name. Knowledge remembers a soft answer, turns away wrath. Understanding recognizes why that principle matters. Discernment realizes discerns this person's anger. Is it really about me? They're frightened and feeling threatened. They need someone to ignore the affront for now and show them honor and respect and peace a safe place. Right. That's discernment. Wisdom says, So I don't need to defend myself right now. I don't need to respond. I should just see how this works. The last step is important. You can discern something accurately and still choose to respond unwisely. There is a particularly Christian dimension here. Paul makes an intriguing connection between discernment and the Holy Spirit. In One Corinthians two fifteen, the spiritual person judges discerns all things. The Greek idea is there involves an anacreno and examining and evaluating a discernment, and Paul identifies discernment of spirits as a particular manifestation of the spirits in One Corinthians twelve ten. And again there it is discernment is a fruit of the spirit. We'll get back to that. So I wouldn't define Christian discernment merely as being perceptive or street smart, as people have said, or having good instincts. Okay, that could be part of it. Biblically, it is perception increasingly shape by scripture maturity, but bottom mind and the spirits. The spirit is the one who gives discernment. So put on your spiritual doctor phil hat. That person who yelled at you as upset because they are lonely or triggered or upset or baggage. It may not be about you at all, And if you respond defensively, it just gets worse. Right, it's cycle. We've all been there. Now we can see why God is the only true source of wisdom and discernment, because discernment sees what fear cannot, and then wisdom chooses what love would do. And that's how it works. Or perhaps even closer to talking about the spirit, discernment, Spirit, show me what's true here. Make me not take this personally or be defensive. What's happening here? Open up my eyes to see, make me see wisdom. Spirit, show tell me how to love this person. When God appeared to Solomon at Gibeon, Solomon asked, give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people. Boy, see that's got discerning and wisdom. Give me discernment so that I can actually love an honor your people. And he continues that I may discern between good and evil First Kings three nine, and God responds, behold, I'm not just this is my paraphrase. I'm not just giving you a discerning mind. I'm giving you wisdom, First King three twelve, So interestingly he gives them both. Solomon specifically asked for the capacity to discern between good and evil, and God describes his gifts as wisdom plus discernment. The famous story immediately afterward two women claiming the same baby right, First Kings three sixteen to twenty eight shows these two wisdom and discernment working together beautifully. Discernment. Solomon perceives what's really going on, and he discerns how how the true mother would respond. That's discernment. I was about to say brilliant, but it's actually discernment wisdom. He devises the test that reveals the wrong woman and the right woman. Biblically, Solomon's wisdom included extraordinary discernment. Why said, we don't talk much about discernment. This book's written about wisdom. How about discernment? All? Right, now, we're gonna look at Proverbs aid. We're gonna begin to talk about lady Wisdom. Because she just entered the room. We want her to come alive, not an abstract theological concept, but a metaphorical, live character before Q begins chasing the wind. Scripture gives us another picture of wisdom, and strangely, she that's right, she's a woman, and she's feminine and dancing. She's dancing. Proverbs personifies wisdom as press it with God and creation, delighting in what God is doing and delighting in humanity. Lady Wisdom understands the end because she sees reality from God's perspective. Unfortunately, we humans and including Q, just see through a little keyhole. We can only see a little bit in front of us. So imagine God laying out creation, oceans, mountains, gravity, seasons, human beings, love, sex, work, rest, community, justice, and Lady Wisdom is there. She knows how the thing works. Right. We don't, and that's the problem. We live inside the machine and God designed the machine. And Lady Wisdom was there when God designed the machine. She knows the machine. We don't. So biblical wisdom and discernment make an audacious claim. The deepest wisdom and discernment about creation comes from outside creation. Now back to our well meaning, relatable, tragic wisdom, clown Q. Remember him the man who has investigated everything in the machine, everything under the sun, and Q says, essentially, I've studied this, I've observed that, I've experimented with this. I've compared wisdom with folly. I've studied pleasure, work, wealth. I've watched righteous people wicked people. I've even looked at death. He looks around, he measures, he observes, He analyzes. Solomon requests and receives wisdom and discernment from God. Q pursues wisdom, folly, and madness through his own investigation. See the difference, and Q ends an exasperation and anguish. Remember, lady, Wisdom dances just saying, use some discernment here. Q knows an astonishing amount about life. He does, and I get his journey, I mean his reason for being. I mean, actually appreciate that. I love to trying to figure out algorithms, and Q tried and didn't. Right at the end of the book, does he know what life means? No? What identity is all about? Now? What enoughness is? What love is? Or purpose? All? Right? No knowledge accumulates information, discernment sees meaning, right, but no God, no discernment. And all you have is when you look at things, all of the data, it's meaningless because you can't see the algorithm. You can't see the reason, the purpose long term, you can't. Only God sees that, only lady Wisdom sees that. Well, there's three people in all of us. Ecclesiastes presents three categories of people. Kind of a joke, right, You know? Three people walk into a bar as a wise person, a fool, and a scoundrel, and we could be any of those on any given day. It's not a DNA thing, and we can swing between these postures from decision to decision. The fool says, I'll figure it out on my own. I've got this. I don't need God. The wicked says it doesn't matter. I'll make it work for me, no matter what I have to do or who pays the price. The wise says, God, I can't discern good and evil here? What do you see that I don't? And notice a wise person isn't necessarily smarter. The wise person has adopted a different posture, this awareness. They only have a keyhole view, but also a dependence upon God that God is somehow in charge of this and has their back and is good and loves the unlovable. That's a wise person, which means biblical wisdom. Begins in a place that I don't want to be here. It is I don't know I need help, I need a rescuer. I can't tell. I need some guidance here, and I'm willing to take it. See see God does know. He does not need ill, he doesn't need a rescuer. The great irony Cahela desperately wants to understand the code he acknowledges God. But God is someone to be feared and left out of the picture as much as you can, because he's such a wild card. But Q is relatable. Hear me on that. I mean, he's me, he's you. Human beings desperately want to understand the code. He's our hero. The Bible just says that path doesn't work if you really want discernment and wisdom. We have this nagging desire to understand rule and subdue creation right. That was the charge to Adam and Eve pre fall, and that was done depended upon God post fall, right that got cracked. Good desire to rule and subdue becomes despair when it's pursued independently from God. So maybe Q's mistake isn't wanting wisdom. God wants us to want wisdom. Maybe his mistake is more subtle. He wants the wisdom of the Creator without the Creator, And suddenly Ecclesiastes becomes frighteningly contemporary, because so do I, right. I mean, if you read some Gary Larson cartoons and see how he presents scientists, there it is. We want principles. We want seven steps. We want three habits. It's all rep you can repeat them, you can improve them, and you can do it on your own. We want three habits for successful people, ten rules for successful marriage, five principles of financial freedom. We want a parenting formula, a leadership formula, spirit growth formula. If only did these things, then my spiritual life would take off. So give me the wisdom. Just don't make me dependent upon the wisdom giver, because he's no telling what he'll do. And read the book. He's a wild card sometimes with all respect and sometimes I'm not sure where I stand with him. That's how I feel, and I know Jesus purchased that, but my feelings say something different. Oh my goodness, I'm a disappointment today. He can't be pleased with what I just thought, what I just said, what I didn't say. Oh and I know I'm saved and we'll be in heab and eventually, but sometimes I wonder if he still wants to me there. So I'm just saying, by the way, I've talked to a lot of Christians, I think that's rampant out there. If we were honest, he most likely God most likely isn't that excited that I'm going to be there. I'm a bit of a disappointment. Yeah. Check out my book good Enough Christian. We talk about that. Maybe the wise thing is that I just keep trying harder. And maybe that's just another part of the joke. So where does wisdom come from? Inside? Around above? Scripture doesn't tell us to stop thinking, It doesn't tell us to stop observing, it doesn't tell us to stop learning from experience, but it refuses to let any of those become God proverbs trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. Right. That's not an argument against understanding, it's an argument against leaning on it. Right. And Q is a leaner, not on God. He's about to lean on intelligence, on observation, on experience, experimentation, and extraordinary human intelligence and wisdom. And so for the next several episodes, We're going to watch something fascinating happen. The smartest man in the room is going to fall over, because before we can understand what's wrong with Q's wisdom and discernment, we need to understand what real wisdom and discernment looks like. Only then we will hopefully begin to see just how thin and pallid ours really is. And strangely enough, wisdom is pictured as a dancing woman, laughing, delighting in God and delighting in us the creation. What's next? So I'll let you know after this brief word from our sponsors. Got a new book, Good Enough Christianity. I mentioned it a sequel to Good Enough Parent in my Good Enough christian series. Here's the back cover. Why so many Christians feel stuck in how to experience more? Or you're a Christian who believes the Gospel but don't feel loved by God, You're not alone. If you've ever felt spiritually stuck, wondered why the abundant life Jesus promise feels out of reach. If you've sat in church hoping to feel loved, yet left unchanged. If you haven't felt that inner stirring for a long while, maybe you're already have left church for well, you know lots of reasons. The pattern is unmistakable, sincere Christians who love Jesus but feel stalled in their faith, not rebellious, not apathetic, wondering if they have somehow become a disappointment to God. In the book, you'll discover why feeling spiritually underwhelmed is more common than you think. Hidden obstacles that dull our experience of God's love, the role of the Holy Spirit, how your brain background and church culture shape your faith experience. If you've ever wanted to ask, without shame, what does the love of Jesus actually feel like? This book was written for you. Well, thanks for listening to my series Chasing the Win. Next time, on Chasing the Wind, we're going to go back and look more at Lady Wisdom. I mentioned the need for an Ecclesiastes decodering one who wants the wisdom of God without needing Gods too, Maybe accuse brilliance without discernment. And three, Lady Wisdom gets the joke. We'll see you next time. Take heart, child of God. Yeah,