Attentiveness: Wisdom

The apostle James asks, “Who is the wise and understanding among you?” (James 3:13, ESV).

Praying about the new school year, I have been reflecting on the purpose of education—whether formal or informal, theological or secular. Pursuing a degree in higher education seems so time-consuming and expensive at times. So, in the case of Gordon-Conwell, it is a fair question to ask the obvious: “Is all of this work really worth it?”

Unlike a degree in mechanical engineering or business, a theological degree should be as much as about wisdom as it is about book learning. For wisdom is more than knowledge. The scripture is true (as many of us have experienced) where Paul states so clearly in I Corinthians, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1:8). Earlier in the same letter (from the first two chapters), Paul speaks more directly about wisdom, and if I may summarize: the world’s wisdom is folly and God’s wisdom is surprising, profound and it has power. Even more than that, God’s wisdom is of a much higher order: it leads to glory, God’s glory.

The past week I have been reading the book of James, which also talks about wisdom. I have reflected a lot on wisdom most of my adult life, at least since living on Mt. Sophia (Mount of Wisdom) in Singapore in the 1980s and early 1990s. The “mount” was probably named after Sir Stamford Raffles’ wife, but I like to think of it as being named “wisdom” because the Methodist Girls School and Trinity Theological College were both located there. It is a mount where wisdom is attained.

For Christian education generally, but especially at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, wisdom, ultimately, ought to be what we are after. I pray we are producing students that come away with more than mere “knowledge,” and certainly not worldly or human knowledge. I pray we are helping to form wise leaders, counselors, preachers, ambassadors, and missionaries. Such formation is not a matter of downloading facts, talks, outlines or PowerPoint presentations. These may be part of the process, but forming wise persons involves much more. It involves community, meditation, rhythms of life, prayer, worship and interpersonal accountability. And yes, it can be done with online teaching if all these elements are before us.

Wisdom is a matter of formation, beyond simple information. It is a matter of cultivating character more than simply absorbing content.

We are to love God with all of our being and that includes our mind. We are created to think and grow and deepen our understanding of God and his creation. Learning, for the toddler and young reader, as well as for the seminary student and even the professor, is great joy and fulfillment of our being made in the image of God. Often what seems tangential to our calling (“But I want to preach the Word of God! Why do I need to learn about theories of the Atonement or about the decline of the Ottoman Empire?”) is part of the beautiful fabric of God’s wisdom. I have found that God uses what we learn, what we suffer, and what we get to celebrate to deepen our souls.

James asks: “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom . . . [T]he wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (3:13-18).

So my prayer for our graduates is that they leave having tasted and begun to live into humility. Moreso, my prayer for students embarking on their seminary journey in the coming days is that they will connect the hard work of verb parsing with the virtue of patience. They will see that knowledge can deepen our love of mercy and our life in humility. I pray they will be attentive to their own souls knowing that knowledge can puff up, but in submission to Christ it can deepen our lives in Christ.

And I pray that there will be joy—joy in the work and joy in the worship, for studying God’s world and works as an act of worship.

Dr. Scott W. Sunquist, president of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, is author of the “Attentiveness” blog. He welcomes comments, responses, and good ideas.