Who is Wise?

Scripture

Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills.”

Exodus 31:1-3. God filled him with wisdom

Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him.

Deuteronomy 34:9. Was Joshua filled with Moses’ wisdom?

God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.

1 Kings 4:29

For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 2:6

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

Proverbs 4:7

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom.”

Jeremiah 9:23

I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom.

Daniel 2:23

Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.

Ecclesiastes 7:12

Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Hosea 14:9

All wisdom is from the Lord, and with him it remains forever. There is but one who is wise.

Sirach 1:1, 8

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”

Mark 10: 16-18. Even Jesus did not claim to be good.

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Luke 2:40

But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

Acts 6:10

What do you have that you did not receive? Also, if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?

1 Corinthians 4:7

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

Ephesians 1:17

In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:3

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:5

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3:13, 17-18

Gregg’s Reflection

I studied with Robert Fritz for three years. He lived and hosted workshops in his 250 year old farmhouse on 40 acres in Vermont. When we built our cabin, I was inspired by two things. First was Fritz’s use of home for retreats. The second was my friend Richard Kessler’s description of his hunting lodge, where we met each year for our Christian Businessmen’s Retreat, as a home place where family and friends gathered in.

Since we finished the cabin in 2002, it has indeed been an home place where friends and family gathered. The next year, we finished out the space over the garage as a loft, I had a vision of using that space as a retreat space. Indeed, we had workshops here, let pastors use the space for sabbatical, and for five years hosted a men’s leadership retreat called Manmaker for CityChurch Eastside where I was on staff.

April 2016

In April 2016, we had 20 men here for Manmaker. It snowed three feet that week. After I had done a short talk, the men headed off into the snow for a Manmaker challenge. I learned the first year not to get drawn into that testosterone contest. So, I went over to our fire pit and mountain Hytte and sat for a while.

I quickly began to beat myself up over some things I had forgotten to say in my talk. After a couple of minutes of that negative self-talk, I thought WAIT A SECOND. I realized that I had realized my vision of bringing people here for retreats where I could share my wisdom, and I was beating myself up.

You see, I had created a list of values with goals for realizing them around 1995. When I looked over the long list, I thought of two words that summarized the whole list: Wise Leader. So, for two decades, I had pursued a vision of becoming a wise leader.

By the time 2016 rolled around, we had sold the business. I had completed an Executive MBA, become a business consultant, created a Leadership Academy in our Synod, gotten certified as a structural consultant by Robert Fritz, joined the staff of a church plant in my Atlanta neighborhood, created a Discover your Design course at the church, and become a leadership, career and spiritual coach to pastors and professionals. I had also suffered failures that had been the dawn of humility, but I still wanted to be seen as wise, maybe a wise ass.

The Wise Owl: actually, their eyes are so big, the brain is pretty small. From our yard

As I sat there in the snow, contemplating my ego’s desire to be seen as wise, I heard, “Who is wise?” I immediately thought of the verse where the man spoke to Jesus, saying, “Good teacher.” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.”

I was convicted in my heart, as I heard again, “Who is wise?” And then, “What wisdom do you have that I haven’t given you?” And one more time, “Who is wise?” That very moment, I was convicted and let go of trying to be seen as a wise leader, and decided to live the next season of life being the fool (see my post on Holy Fools)

Great Horned Owl

While the Owl symbolizes wisdom with their large head, the truth is quite the opposite. My wife Genie, the zoo docent, learned that with such big eyes so they can see to hunt at night, owls actually have pretty small brains. In a similar fashion, my two decade quest to become a wise leader had proven to be an exercise in ego that is the opposite of true wisdom.

Mama Great Horned Owl sits on an egg in the snow

My father used to excuse his singular focus on the business by saying, “I’m just doing this for your mama and you kids.” My brother, sister and I all knew that, in fact, he was a perfectionist and a workaholic. He was feeding his own ego. It was hard for me to realize I had spent a couple of decades feeding mine under the banner of being wise.