If we know ourselves at all we are fully aware that our sentiments can change like a chameleon’s skin. It is not a good barometer of things. If faith is a tangible reality it cannot be shaken or disturbed either by the winds and rains on the lake or by whatever circumstances may be around us, yet if it is merely a blind ephemeral concept it can never be of much help in the day of trouble. There is much more to be learned in how the Scriptures define the word than what cannot be brought forth by emotional manipulation.

In my devotional time yesterday morning I was reading through Luke 8 when I came to the healing of the women who “…having an issue of blood twelve years” came to see Jesus. Y’all know the story well I am sure, and how at the end our Lord says to her, “…Daughter be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.” Every time I read that there are a couple of emotions that well up within me (yes, Presbyterians have emotions). First is just joy. The whole scene is worth its weight in gold. She’s been to doctors, faith healers, the works, yet the simple words of Christ is all that it takes for her to be made whole. The picture here of a poor lady, suffering immensely only by providence to see the consolation of Israel present, running to Him, and being relieved of all her pain and anxiousness, is really the story of all of God’s covenant people, and should move us to see a kindred spirit. Second, is a feeling of loss in a sense. I am sure there were many more people in that crowd who may have had similar needs as this woman, and their answer was right in front of them, however, they did not “see” nor seek that which could be found only by looking in the right direction.
There is some irony of course in that Luke 8 also includes the tale of the disciples on the waters freaking out because of a storm. There after Christ has calmed the seas we hear Him testify to the men, “Where is your faith?”. Talking about feelings again one of the ways in which our religion has been watered down in the past couple of centuries is by how the word faith has gone from being a sure and certain rock to being an emotional state. If we know ourselves at all we are fully aware that our sentiments can change like a chameleon’s skin. It is not a good barometer of things. If faith is a tangible reality it cannot be shaken or disturbed either by the winds and rains on the lake or by whatever circumstances may be around us, yet if it is merely a blind ephemeral concept it can never be of much help in the day of trouble.
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Wisdom can be sought, learned, and increased. But the seeking begins with Jesus Christ and Him alone. Without Christ, without submitting to Him, we are forever condemned to the foolish harm of our souls, and the souls of those around us.

Did you know that people pass electricity through their brains (tDCS, “transcranial direct current stimulation”) in the hope of being more intelligent? They do this before IQ testing, hoping to gain an edge over others.
Intelligence is a valuable commodity. Higher intelligence opens the door to better university degrees at better universities. Better degrees open the door to more lucrative careers. More lucrative careers open the door to the Nirvana of homeownership, meals with top chefs, private schools for the kids, better medical and dental treatment, early retirement, travel, and all-important experiences.
Thus, intelligent people are the new rock stars. Jordan Peterson’s recent lecture tour in Australia was a sellout. The ubiquitous Stephen Fry—urbane, witty, mellifluous—hosts the British TV show QI and makes one feel that one could never fly at quite his own altitude.
In this environment it is difficult not to measure and value ourselves according to our intelligence.
Wisdom is far more valuable than intelligence.
God’s Word does not rate intelligence this way. A quick concordance check of the NIV Bible shows that the word intelligent appears nine times, clever appears twice, and the words smart, intellectual, bright,and brainy not at all. But the words discern and discerning appear 34 times, understanding appears 115 times, and wise and wisdom 455 times. Know and knowledge appear 1,250 times. Think, thought, consider, meditate, reason, and ponder appear 405 times. We are commanded 14 times to “Wake up!” In the KJV, the command “Behold!” appears 1,326 times. The Bible highly rates wisdom, wisely alert thought, and wisely used knowledge. Bare intelligence is irrelevance.
The reason is this: there is no necessary correlation between intelligence and morality, or intelligence and wise conduct. You can be a fool with a very high IQ. You can be an evil genius. You can be dim, and good. You can be slow on the uptake, yet wise. You can be dull, and yet very skilled at the worthwhile thing that you do.
At the end of the day, a person’s contribution to the world, their society, and their friends and family will be determined not by their intelligence per se, but by their wisdom and goodness.
Wisdom is about knowing how to act correctly in any given situation.
According to the New Bible Dictionary the Hebrew word ḥokmā, “is intensely practical, not theoretical…. wisdom is the art of being successful, of forming the correct plan to gain the desired results.” And so the craftsmen of the Tabernacle were given ḥokmā to undertake their highly skilled workmanship (Exod. 31:6). The Bible associates wisdom with skilled metalwork, woodwork, jewelry, embroidery, weaving, trading, politics, leadership, and military and nautical ability. Wisdom is not about being smart. Wisdom is about knowing how to act correctly in any given situation, to do a given task well. This is driven home by the startling observation of Proverbs 30:24–28:
Four things on earth are small,but they are exceedingly wise:the ants are a people not strong,yet they provide their food in the summer;the rock badgers are a people not mighty,yet they make their homes in the cliffs;the locusts have no king,yet all of them march in rank;the lizard you can take in your hands,yet it is in kings’ palaces.
Ants, badgers, locusts, and lizards frequently shame the sharp, clever, and intelligent. For whereas the latter so often misuse their intelligence to harm themselves and those around them, “dumb animals” act prudently, constructively, and well. (The lizard is my favorite: he lets men sweat and toil to build a great and luxurious palace, says “thanks for that” when it is done, and simply moves in.)
While intelligence may be fixed, we can increase in wisdom.
The implication is that whereas IQ, like your height and eye color, may be relatively fixed, wisdom can be sought, learned, and increased. It should grow deeper and wider with age and experience (Job 32:7, Heb. 5:12). With every journey around the sun we should learn by experience how better to look after ourselves and those around us.
That is why we will now hear, from Proverbs 8, Wisdom shouting out to us from the street corners, urging us to take hold of the gifts that she longs to lavish upon us all:
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Written by Kyle E. Sims |
Friday, May 13, 2022
The process should look like this: after receiving the ministerial data forms, the pulpit committee needs to pray through the names, see which ministers seem to line up best with their congregation, rank them in order, and then start with the first name on the list and pursue it until there is a yes or a no. If it is a no, you go to the next name on the list. My plea to pulpit committees is to pursue one man at a time. Continue with one candidate until there is either a yes or a no. Trust the Lord to guide you to whom He is calling to be your pastor.

The Bachelorette is a reality TV show where one single woman is put in a situation where she interacts with a larger group of potential suitors. She goes on dates, has group activities, and whittles down the group of men to one man. It seems strange to find a potential husband by dating twenty men at one time.
However, this show’s process of finding a significant other is not unlike the way many pulpit committees seek to find a pastor. Often, pulpit committees will talk with several candidates at one time, even interviewing multiple candidates at one time. There is no hard rule against this practice, but there is some wisdom for not doing it this way.
First, by dealing with multiple candidates simultaneously, you run the risk of splitting the pulpit committee between two or more potential pastors. Who wants to go to a new call knowing that some on the pulpit committee did not want you? Often, the division on the pulpit committee will become known in the congregation. This information can cause unnecessary division and conflict.
Second, pulpit committees who treat the calling of their pastor like a company hiring an employee run the risk of using human wisdom over God’s calling. You compare the candidates and look at their skills and abilities. This process can lead a pulpit committee away from the first and primary question, “Who is God calling to be our pastor?”  The question then distorts to become “Who do we want to be our pastor?”
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