“Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.” - Prov. 4:7
Whenever I think of wisdom, I think of tomatoes. Not because I like tomatoes in particular. Their great contributions to sauces notwithstanding, they’re okaaaay, but usually, to me anyway, as a take-it-or-leave-it add-on. But in reference to wisdom, tomatoes do the trick because the best mental picture I ever got of wisdom came in the following quote:
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit;
Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad
Or, to put it more formally: wisdom is the proper application of knowledge. Wisdom is what happens when you learn something, gain greater understanding from it, and are able to apply it to life. It is an indispensable good and one that we are exhorted many times over to gain. By wisdom, we are told, God created the world (Prov. 3:19). And if it’s a grand enough attribute to create a world (and save our fruit salads), it’s probably something each of us should make an effort to obtain.
But how does one go about the getting of wisdom? As you may have noticed from the fruit salad quote and the formal definition we have for wisdom, wisdom is closely intertwined with knowledge. In almost every passage of Scripture that exhorts us to obtain this trait, knowledge is lurking nearby. As an example, when it says in Proverbs 3:19 that the Lord founded the earth by wisdom, the very next verse states that more of the forming of the world came by His knowledge (Prov. 3:19-20).
And so, while this piece is about wisdom, because it is so closely linked to knowledge, I think it’s important to note this: To be wise, we must gain knowledge. We are, in fact, exhorted to gain knowledge. Repeatedly. (Prov. 2:6, Prov. 1:7, Prov. 15:14, Prov. 18:15)
Knowledge is good, knowledge is powerful. We cannot be wise if we have no knowledge. BUT, we are told that while we gain knowledge, we must also gain understanding (see all previous verses). A person can know many facts, but be foolish (the opposite of wise) when it comes to how to apply those facts to life.
I once heard a man speaking on television. He was a very articulate orator who had been to multiple highly praised colleges. A person of whom most could say: before him, my genius is rebuked. And yet, the points he was making with such high-sounding rhetoric…were utter nonsense.
He spoke his words very well, using fine turns of phrase, but in the end, it was the mental equivalent of saying 2+2=banana. At one point, I turned to my husband who was staring as I had been, brow furrowed in disbelief at the nonsense, and said, “He is so unwise, he might as well be stupid.”
And wisdom is not only useful for keeping a man from making stupid speeches, but also to keep those who hear foolishness from being deceived. For after hearing that very unwise man speak, the audience of many people cheered. Had that man been noticeably less intelligent, he would not have captured such a crowd. But this man was educated and capable of speaking eloquently and many unwise people were fooled by his speech and believed him.
Know that for all the intelligence that God has blessed you with, there will always be someone smarter, someone who can turn your words, your logic, your world upside down with a few, cutely phrased words. Without wisdom, we are all in danger of being fooled and dragged into all sorts of dangers (Prov. 7:6-27, Prov. 18:17).
And so, wisdom is imperative. But just as wisdom is not knowledge, it is not obtained in the same way that knowledge is. One cannot simply gain wisdom by memorization or reading, not even of the Bible itself. I know, I know, that sounds crazy. After all, if one reads and memorizes the Bible won’t he automatically be the wisest of the wisemen that ever wised? Well, no. The Bible, after all, is not just words on a page, the Bible is the guidebook giving you context for the world and what you what you ought to do. Reading it alone can no more make a man wise than reading a cookbook can make him full. It is always all about the application.
Knowing a specific verse or passage means nothing if you do not have the wisdom to know what it means and how it is to be applied to your life. Understanding is required for the proper application of Scripture, for the right division of the Word of Truth to which we are all called (2 Tim. 2:15).
How many times have you heard a Bible verse used out of context and without understanding? How many times has Scripture been twisted, on purpose or accident, to mean something contrary to God’s own will? Sometimes the fallout from such errors is harmless, but often it is destructive and leads people farther astray and away from God.
Consider, the Pharisees were scholars of their day and knew the Scriptures better than most. Yet, for all of their knowledge, they lacked understanding to such a degree that they not only missed out on the Messiah, they, with their incorrect understanding of what God had told them, killed Him.
Peeling the Potatoes
(An aside to defend the Knowing of Things)
Having said all of that, I can just hear myself cheerfully making the next argument: Well, if I’m not sure I’m wise, getting knowledge sounds like it can only do more harm than good, so guess I won’t learn anything. Perish the thought. Being ignorant only makes it easier to be fooled by those who do know things. Consider that knowledge is a flashlight and wisdom is shining it in the proper direction.
If one is walking forward, but unwisely shining the light into his own eyes, he will not see the hole in front of him and fall right in. But he’ll fall in just as easily if he has the flashlight pointed properly but it’s not on (Ps. 119:105).
Every person will learn things throughout their lives. We must make sure we know the best things, the right things, the true things that we might apply correct knowledge. It won’t matter how wise you are if your information is false. For example, let’s say I needed you to give me the final count of all the potatoes in the kitchen, and you, dutiful friend, went and counted all of the potatoes in the pantry, but I did not tell you that there were several in the sink for washing, no matter how great your skills at counting, you would not reach the correct number.
“Your word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against You,” the Psalmist says (Ps. 119:11). We cannot avoid pitfalls we do not know are there. While knowledge alone is not enough, ignorance is more dangerous than all. We are admonished to read the Scriptures, even memorize them (Josh. 1:8). Even our very faith comes from hearing the message (Rom. 10:17). So, even if we are afraid we are not quite as wise as Solomon or even Uncle Steve, we must turn on our proverbial flashlights and find all the potatoes in the kitchen, wherever they may be.
And Now Back to Our Tomatoes
So we must gain both knowledge and wisdom. Not only must we learn the lessons, but we must learn from the lessons not only of life, but that our Lord imparted to us in Scripture. As for the getting of knowledge, you know how to do that: read, listen, observe, live. The question before us is how do we go from all of that input to wisdom? Well, the steps are more involved and robust than those of knowledge and require more effort.
Beginning in the humble fear of the Lord to being slow to speak, having patience, listening to others, and using discernment, the path is long and has many avenues. We will delve deeper into all of it in the coming months.
But for any who feels that perhaps wisdom has not been at the forefront of your life, if you feel lost or hopeless regarding this, know that the first and most important step is to pray and ask of the Lord who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you (Jas. 1:5). What we will be discovering is the tools and processes that God has given us to hone and increase the strength of this precious gift.
Knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are a fruit. Without wisdom, you will put those tomatoes in your fruit salad. Together, let’s learn how to put those tomatoes in their proper place.