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January 1, 2012

Ron McKinney: Searching for wisdom in this informational age

From staff reports Dalton Daily Citizen

The hottest items to buy continue to be digital technology such as iPhones, iPods and iPads.  This has been named the “digital age” or “digital revolution” in which the world is characterized by the ability of people to transfer information globally and freely and quickly.

Daily I am in communication with friends and associates in India, Africa, Papua New Guinea and England. The social network of Facebook provides instant gratification in connecting and reconnecting with new and old friends.

The information highway has accumulated so much information and manipulated the facts to where we think we know everything. The byproduct of this information bonanza is that one would believe that knowledge is everything. I remember the axiom “Knowledge is power,” which is attributed to Sir Francis Bacon, from my school days. But the question I am asking is “What does it mean to have wisdom in a culture drowning in knowledge?” More precisely, I want to have Godly wisdom.

With the Internet, we can find information about anything from nuclear physics to the habits of field mice. If a little knowledge puffs up (as the Scriptures state), then what will mega-colossal knowledge do to us? God is not simply concerned with us obtaining knowledge, but how that knowledge works out in our everyday life.  

For the Christian, he has not completed his learning until accumulated facts affect his judgment and decision-making process. The Bible points out that knowledge must impact our living. Understanding is transformed into wisdom by the Holy Spirit of God and the diligent pursuit of the Christian seeking to be obedient.  

The book of James provides a portrait of the man who both seeks and finds true Godly wisdom. He is portrayed not as a ship tossed and swayed by the winds and waves. He is not a double-minded man, for double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:6-8). The man of wisdom is established in the Word of God and an obedient servant.

What is wisdom? The Holy Scriptures teach us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:7) To fear God is to have a reverential awe and honor of who God is.  Without a knowledge of God, there can be no real Godly knowledge. Biblical wisdom, in the final analysis, is never merely insight, but characterized in action. We are not only hearers of the Word but doers (James 1:22).



Ronald W. McKinney is pastor of Kinsey Drive Baptist Church and host of “Majesty,” a weekly television program on WDNNtv. He is editor-in-chief of The Sword & Trowel, a theological journal.

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