wise

You can know you’re humble–that was the title and the conclusion of last week’s blog post. This assertion comes across as self-defeating; the moment you say you have humility, you’ve lost it. You can either claim it or own it, but you can’t do both. At least that’s what most of us assume.

Yet Jesus (Matthew 11:29) and Paul (Acts 20:19) announced that they were humble. Furthermore, Paul called the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 4:2) to own this virtue. These examples show that the Bible allows us to be aware of our growth in humility.

And this applies to all virtues. They’re gifts from God. What’s the value of a gift if you never knew that you received it? How much time would you waste denying the presence of a virtue that’s dwelling in your heart? How much would you shortchange yourself by chasing after something you already have? 

To the degree we become mindful of the Spirit’s work in us, we can declare that He is conforming us to Christ’s character. Humility, like other virtues, is the fruit of God’s grace.

So this principle should apply to the virtue of wisdom, too. Or is the claim to possess wisdom self-refuting? Following the reasoning laid out above, we would conclude that people can recognize their own wise thoughts and behaviors. But unlike the case of humility, there appear to be specific biblical proscriptions against this.

“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.” – Proverbs 3:7

The first half of the verse is clear. Not only shouldn’t you state that you’re wise, you ought not to acknowledge the possibility. If you think you’re wise, you’re not. Remind you of the common attitude toward humility? But Scripture refuted that! So is Solomon correct or did he forget that virtues are gifts, not achievements? 

“Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.” – Proverbs 26:12

Solomon doesn’t quit; he pounds home the point that being wise in your own eyes is dangerous. After cataloging the failures of fools (26:1-11) with relentless precision, he concedes that even they have a better chance of success than those convinced of their own wisdom.

Solomon concludes with a double contrast:

“The rich are wise in their own eyes; one who is poor and discerning sees how deluded they are.” – Proverbs 28:11

On one side, we have rich people who believe they’re smart; on the other side, we have poor people who see the truth. The wealthy ascribed their success to their business acumen and shrewd deal-making. These folks wanted credit and recognition as much as they wanted money. And they got it all. On the surface, they looked wise.

But a few poor individuals could see through them. They recognized the game in front of them and could not praise the participants. To neglect the will of God in all one’s dealings–that was a sad life unworthy of praise. And even a poor person–whom the world would deem a failure–could spot it.

Does this mean that the followers of Jesus have to settle for poverty and scorn? Should we view ourselves as fools lest we invite the rebuke of the Lord?

Isaiah the prophet echoes Solomon’s prohibitions:

“Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.” – Isaiah 5:21

This verse occurs in the midst of several other warnings against various sins like greed (5:8), drunkenness (5:11), blasphemous evil (5:18-19), stupidity (5:20), and dereliction of duty (5:22-23). People who act in these ways may believe that they’re smart enough to get what they want, but they’re mistaken. Isaiah threatens them with the judgment of the Lord. To live as though there will never be consequences is the antithesis of presumed wisdom.

But it’s not a habit of righteous souls to conduct themselves with habitual rebellion. So does Isaiah’s admonition apply to disciples of Christ, or is it intended only for the foolish?

Paul’s observation about the Gentiles reinforces the cautions of the Old Testament:

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools ²³and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.” – Romans 1:22-23

Much of the first chapter of Romans lays out the sinfulness of fallen humanity. In particular, the apostle focuses on idolatry, as people substituted gods of their own making for the Creator of heaven and earth. Paul labels such degradation as foolishness. No matter how intelligent or creative such people consider themselves, they fall far short of how God designed them to function. Misunderstanding ultimate reality, they were haughty about their spiritual affairs. Instead of feeling proud, they should have wrestled with shame.

Is it wrong, then, to think of yourself as wise?

If we treat virtues as gifts rather than achievements, we should feel free to call ourselves wise. As we acknowledge our own humility as a work of the Spirit, we should be able to treat wisdom in a similar fashion.

But the verses we explored create the impression that wisdom is the exception to the rule. Virtues are gifts from God rather than own accomplishments. Thus, we have no grounds for boasting about them because we didn’t earn them. They speak more of the generosity of Jesus Christ than they do of our exemplary character.

It works for humility, but not for wisdom. Is this right? Why is wisdom different? Let’s seek the Lord, explore His Word, and talk about it next week!