God’s Wisdom and Man’s Foolishness in the World Today

Today I ask what the apostle Paul did two thousand years ago:

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (1 Corinthians 1:20 NIV84).

The professors, scholars, doctors, media pundits, and world leaders of today tell us that there is no God, that the Bible is outdated, that to believe in a loving Creator is foolish—but “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:25 NIV84).

God’s wisdom is the voice of reality; it cries out from every street corner to observe, to see, to understand how the Creator built life to function and to witness the results of rejecting Him and His methods for life. God’s wisdom enlightens the mind to comprehend cause and effect; one not only sees the chaos but understands the cause of it—and that only Jesus and the methods of truth, love, and freedom are the solution.

Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:20–22 NIV84).

God’s wisdom leads us to see the difference between reality and fantasy, to discern what works from what doesn’t. God’s wisdom leads us out of chaos to order, out of fear to love, out of conflict to peace, out of death to life. His wisdom exposes the foolishness of the so-called wisdom of this world, of listening to the so-called “experts” in our society who deny Him and His laws. But these “simple ones,” those who don’t understand reality, they mock God, make fun of truth, hate objective facts, pretend there isn’t a God, and believe what the “authorities” tell them.

“Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD, since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm” (Proverbs 1:29–33 NIV84).

Look at what is happening in the world today: broken families, rising crime, economic distress, increasing alcohol and drug problems, a mental-health crisis as never before seen. It is the communities with the highest level of rejecting God and His principles—whose leaders advance the principles of humanism, liberalism, socialism—that have the greatest chaos, homelessness, crime, failing schools, and breakdown of social order. God permits this to happen to arouse people to understand reality; when people reject God’s principles, He respects their choice, and the Holy Spirit withdraws, and the inevitable result is that evil increases.

If we want to solve the problems in society today, we must reject the wisdom of the godless world. We must return to understanding reality in the way our Creator has designed it to function.

For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. … Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways (Proverbs 2:6, 9–15 NIV84).

If you want wisdom, you must listen to the Lord. Following Jesus will save you from being deceived by those leaders who deny God, who deny the principles of the Bible, who advance a godless worldview and agenda for society. God’s wisdom will save you from the so-called wisdom of this world. And what is the wisdom of this world, the wisdom that is perverse and leads men from light to darkness?

The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way. “Let all who are simple come in here!” she says to those who lack judgment. “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave (Proverbs 9:13–18 NIV84).

Have you heard certain government leaders and media pundits who do not uplift our Creator justifying mass shoplifting, refusing to prosecute blatant crimes, supporting riots and property destruction as healthy forms of voicing one’s concerns, proclaiming that police are the source of violence and that if we got rid of law enforcement, society would be less violent? And what are many of these leaders doing? They are refusing to hold the wicked accountable.

Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them (Proverbs 28:4 NIV84).

It is a certainty that in this sinful world, if people close their hearts to God, then sin will rise, exploitation of others will increase, and society will decay. When we take God’s principles and truths out of our schools, homes, and communities, the unavoidable result is the collapse of social order, and this, if not corrected, will lead to a backlash of increased authoritarianism and loss of liberty in attempts to restore order. Understand this clearly: If people do not have God in their heart, such that they are mature and have self-control, the only way to have order in society is with extreme external governmental control—like the kind we see in China and North Korea. John Adams, second President of the United States and co-author of the Declaration of Independence, understanding this reality, wrote: “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

But when those who understand God’s wisdom arise to protest the foolishness that we are seeing from those who refuse to uplift our Creator, how are they treated?

Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you (Proverbs 9:7, 8 NIV84).

The foolish reject God’s wisdom; they hate the voice of reason, the reproof of the righteous, the call to order, the setting of boundaries, the expectations of personal responsibility, the call for accountability—making decisions based on fact, truth, reality, and reason. The foolish claim that a man can become to a woman and fairly compete in female athletic events. The fool denies their own sinful state and claims it is because of others that they rape, steal, or murder—that it is society’s fault. The foolish claim that if we would only get rid of the police, of law enforcement, of personal accountability, that if we would only make decisions based on something other than ability, qualifications, merit, or skill, then our communities would improve. Such worldly wisdom is truly foolish.

It is only the godly, those who respect our Creator, who value God’s Word, who embrace and apply His truths to their lives who are wise:

Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:9, 10 NIV84).

Without Jesus, without God, in our hearts, families, and communities, there is no possibility of improving what’s happening in our society. It is only those who admire and respect our Creator, who value His methods, and seek to honor and uplift His principles that have the wisdom to make healthy decisions. God’s wisdom is not found in earthly governments—it is found in Jesus, in the living and written Word of God. We must reject the so-called wisdom of this age; we must stop listening to the so-called experts who deny God. We must return to the wisdom of God, unplug from the philosophy of this godless world, get our children into Christian schools, return to church, join a Bible study, have personal daily devotional time with Jesus, study God’s Word for ourselves, and then apply God’s methods of truth, love, and freedom to our lives. We must live out the wisdom of God!

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:3–6 NIV84).