"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." Mark Twain
This describes the learning cycle of a lot of us, doesn't it. When we are young we tend to think we "know it all." But with some growth, maturity, and real leaning, many find out that the longer they live, the less they know. Information is growing at a phenomenal rate. How much new information per person? According to the Population Reference Bureau, the world population is 6.3 billion, thus almost 800 MB of recorded information is produced per person each year. It would take about 30 feet of books to store the equivalent of 800 MB of information on paper. Information explosion? We estimate that new stored information grew about 30% a year between 1999 and 2002. If you are 14-20 and want to adjust these estimates, just contact how-much-info@sims.berkeley.edu
From Mark Twain's humorous admission, we quickly understand that he, like T.S. Elliott was grasping differences between data, information, knowledge, and wisdom.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
T.S. Eliot, "The Rock", Faber & Faber 1934.
Note that the diagram below implies that wisdom includes the ability to apply knowledge to the future.
So, how do we move toward wisdom? Is it not a lot like humility, the more we try to grab it and proclaim it, the more elusive it becomes. We find that trying to nail our plaque of wisdom to our office wall is a lot like trying to nail jello to the wall, right?
How does God weigh in on these stages of development? As usual His ways are quite different from ours and He keeps so simple for us that many miss Him and His wisdom in our pride, sophistication, and stubborn and selfish independence. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:7 To have knowledge, you must first have reverence for the LORD. Stupid people have no respect for wisdom and refuse to learn. And Paul who cherished and nursed those He taught wrote: 2Cor. 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. And finally Jesus demonstrated this simplicity in Mark 10:13-15, Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, "Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it."
That briefly summarizes God's path from knowledge to spiritual wisdom and life eternally with Him. We close today with the wisdom for living that James (3:13-17 MSG Translation) challenges believers with. Let's see how we do on his test for wisdom with this "take home quiz" for today and tomorrow.
Are there any of you who are wise and understanding? You are to prove it by your good life, by your good deeds performed with humility and wisdom. But if in your heart you are jealous, bitter, and selfish, don't sin against the truth by boasting of your wisdom. Such wisdom does not come down from heaven; it belongs to the world, it is unspiritual and demonic. Where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is also disorder and every kind of evil. But the wisdom from above is pure first of all; it is also peaceful, gentle, and friendly; it is full of compassion and produces a harvest of good deeds; it is free from prejudice and hypocrisy.