This morning I had planned to go to church here in Seoul and, after some research, had selected Seoul Grace Community (SGC) as an option which looked like a good geographical, horological and theological fit.
Plans change and as I was on skype with Lesley last night I realised just how tired I still was and just how full today was looking with the combination of church at 11:15 and a tour of Changdeokgung palace at 15:30, requiring meeting my colleague Isaac here at the hotel at 14:00. So, confirmed in my mind by Lesley's unprompted suggestion, I decided to give up my church plans and opt for an online sermon instead.
Having noticed that SGC post their sermons on YouTube I thought I'd give this a try. They're currently doing a series from Proverbs on wisdom and the most recent one was called 'Wisdom - Our Plans' - fitting!
The preacher had chosen a handful of proverbs from several chapters talking about plans and decisions from which he made three points, which I agreed with, although the way he expressed them threw up some issues for me.
Anyway, this got me looking at Proverbs and the subject of wisdom and I came across the familiar verse of Proverbs 9:10 - "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom". This stood out for me as the idea of 'the fear of the Lord' has been a recurring theme for me lately.
It struck me that a synonym for 'beginning' might be 'foundation' - I've not looked at the original text and whether or not the Hebrew word translated 'beginning' in my bible has any sense of the foundation idea in it so for now this is just speculation (that's the great thing about blogs - they come with pre-made caveats that excuse you from the duty of research and fact checking).
This resonated for me with Jesus' parable about the two builders with their houses on the rock or the sand.
Perhaps we are drawn to ideas presented to us by those around us or from society in general which seem wise, and perhaps they are. But even truly wise ideas, when built on the wrong foundations, will ultimately collapse.
Contrary to the illustrations in the popular story book by Mick Inkpen & Nick Butterworth, 'Stories Jesus Told', the man who built his house on the sand is not described as building with inferior materials or with more haste or with less skill or care. In fact the only thing that Jesus makes any comment on is the surface on which they build.
Perhaps we can say the same about wisdom. We all know that many true words of wisdom have come from the lips of those who don't know Christ. Just because my boss doesn't share my faith doesn't mean I shouldn't listen to his advice about how to be better at my job.
But at the same time, Jesus called those whose foundations are not "on the rock" fools.
What does all this mean?
Firstly, it's a call to repentance. A word to the wise: it's possible for a man to possess wisdom and yet be a fool in God's eyes.
But what about those whose foundations are already in the right place? Well, let's not be too quick to dismiss the warning of Jesus' parable because we consider ourselves Christians.
I've often considered the parable of the two builders to be primarily about salvation; those who build on rock are those who have put their trust in Christ, those who build on sand are those who will not. But looking again at the accounts in Matthew and Luke, Jesus starts with the phrase "everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice". It's not just about our response to the gospel, it's about the way we live our lives. And what are "these words of mine" to which Jesus is referring? If we look at the wider context of the story, it appears, in both accounts, at the end of a long period of teaching (in Matthew we refer to it as the sermon on the mount - the Luke account has much of the same teaching but is considerably reduced). Perhaps you could even consider it as Jesus closing remarks, concluding all that he'd said on so many topics. Considering the breadth of the words to which Jesus is referring then it seems this is a general claim concerning the whole of his teaching.
So, attempting to collect my threads of rambling thought into some kind of conclusion: true wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord and works itself out in obedience to and application of the teachings of Christ.
What about application then? How should this affect my response to the worldly wisdom I'm offered by my boss or anyone else?
Firstly - Test everything: does it fit with the teachings of Christ and Scripture as a whole? If it is not contrary to Scripture then I can accept it as potentially useful and valuable. Let's be open hearted and open minded to those we meet on our Frontlines, not retreating to a Christian intellectual ghetto, dismissing the opinions of unbelievers out of hand, but taking every God-given opportunity to engage the teaching of Christ with the 'wisdom' of the world that needs him.
Secondly - Fear the Lord: remember in all things the supremacy of Christ "for whom and by whom all things exist". When it comes to wisdom, no-one is better able to understand the workings of the human heart or the universe we inhabit than The Word through whom all things were made; The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.
Thirdly - Take time to reflect on the house you're building and its foundations. Does the life I live and do the decisions I make testify of 'the fear of the Lord'? Are there areas of my life where I have unquestioningly accepted the wisdom of the world? In what areas is the Spirit convicting me that I have been only a 'hearer of the word' (James 1:22-25) and have not yet put it into practice.
Fourthly - Get into shape: where we have not formed an opinion on a subject we are prone to allow ourselves to be unwittingly shaped by the first sensible explanation that comes our way. Let's make sure that Scripture gets there first by being disciplined in reading it and allowing God to form us through it into his image, inviting him also to remould those bits of us that have already been moulded in an image other than His own.
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