You’ve probably seen the lament on a coffee cup or elsewhere, “Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.” Though meant to be humorous, the point is profound. As human beings, we can lose almost anything else and still function. But if our mind goes, little is left to life.
In a large sense, losing wisdom is tantamount to losing one’s mind. The essence of wisdom is the capacity to respond to the practical issues of life effectively. Knowing how to deal with life is the ultimate function of the mind. Whatever else our mind does, if it can’t do that our lives will be messed up.
In this practical sense our society has lost its mind. We lack the wisdom to deal effectively with the practical issues of life. A glaring example is found in the choice of a President totally lacking in experience for the job. I hope President Obama succeeds, and he might. However, even if he does, it was still a foolish risk to elect someone without the necessary qualifications. A person might spend all his money playing the lottery. Even if he wins, it was still a foolish idea.
Other examples of our societal loss of wisdom abound. Our economy is out of control, and no one seems to know how to fix it. More government spending seems to be a recipe for long-term decline rather than a solution. We lack the wisdom to establish and maintain marriages and families. We have more marriage and relational support than any time in our history, and yet we have never done worse. In fact, it’s difficult to think of a major facet of our culture at which we are not failing—where we do not manifest a lack of wisdom.
What is the cause of this bankruptcy of wisdom? Both David (Psalm 111:10) and Solomon (Proverbs 9:10) tell us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. One implication of this assertion is that every major field of study and every major component of culture requires a biblical beginning or foundation.
Ethics, for example, must be founded on scriptural wisdom. If our ethical system is built on the sand of our own understanding, our moral edifice will collapse. Sanctioning abortion, celebrating homosexuality, and having school children put condoms on bananas represent just some of the more flagrant examples of our ethical ruin.
Psychology requires a biblical foundation. Some Christians are hostile toward psychology; however, the problem is not with psychology (literally a study of the soul) but with bad psychology, that is, psychology not founded on biblical principles. This “we can do it ourselves” psychology has produced a full array of misguided remedies from primal scream to the bankrupt self-esteem movement.
Likewise, every field of study and endeavor, philosophy, science, etc., requires biblical underpinnings. That foundation leads to wisdom and its lack to foolishness. Our post-Christian culture, being too wise to need the wisdom of God, now wallows in its own foolishness and failure.
What led us to abandon the fountain of wisdom for the polluted waters of our own devices? For the answer we must go back to the assertion of David and Solomon that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A failure to fear the Lord cuts us loose from the guidance of Scripture to follow our own impulses. The recognition that we cannot abandon God’s wisdom and get away with it keeps us on track. The absence of that fear results in an arrogance of intellectual self-sufficiency.
The lack of fear of the Lord by our educational system, news and entertainment media, government, and other elements of our society, has led to the abandonment of His principles that has produced the cultural foolishness that is destroying our nation.
Hopefully, our failures on every front will turn us to the fear of the Lord and the principles of His Word.