The Wisdom of the Wise

“For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom.”

(1 C or. 12:8)

I once held the view God’s gifts to His church in this present age are functional and nonfunctional. Of course, once this position is adhered to, it becomes a pick and choose situation.  In each case, a church selects the gifts their particular assembly or denomination believes to be operative today, thereby creating a schism in the Body of Christ. I’d like to call attention to just one of these gifts: wisdom.

Now it is important to understand there are general truths in the scriptures and specific ones. Example: James speaks of wisdom available to all, but Paul speaks of a particular kind of wisdom given to certain individuals of God’s own choosing. Wisdom such as the wise woman of Tekoah had, and the poor wise man in Ecclesiastes. We are not speaking here of common sense, for the gift of which we speak is not common to all.

The little cliché, “The wisdom of the wise,” is seen in the life of the Queen of Sheba. This wise woman sought out Solomon, whom God had endued with this special wisdom. Wise is the man or woman who searches out such gifted people. But be careful when seeking them, for they come in a variety of get-ups. Most, if not all, are passed over by the fact of their simple life-style. Remember, the wisest Man who ever lived had only one suit of clothes, hung-out, for the most part, with the poor and common people. And, literally didn’t have a penny to His name.

“Wisdom may come from the lips of a poor man or woman, but it can make you rich.”

2 Cor. 6:10

(rds)