Wisdom and Folly

Wisdom and foolishness are not tied to academic accomplishment or achievement. School provides knowledge, but it won't necessarily teach you to use it the way God intended. That takes wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to make spiritually informed decisions. This is The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, author, speaker, and founding pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas. Many people are smart, but not so many are wise.

Dr. Evans says the difference between the two is dramatic and can make more of an impact on your life than property and possessions combined. Today, he talks about the path to godly wisdom as he looks at the book of Ecclesiastes. Let's join him. Well, I hope that you have been following with interest the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon's book about life under the sun. Solomon has observed life under the sun where men live, work, play, raise families. And he is giving his observations. He's letting you see what he saw as men live life under the sun here on earth, not above the sun with the Lord under the sun where men live. And he's letting you know the good, the bad, and the ugly. He's letting you know, you know, he's, as we would say, keeping it real. He's keeping it real because he wants you to understand life under the sun. And in explaining this life under the sun, the things he observes and seen in his own struggles, in his own failures, in his own successes, if you really want to have life as God meant it to be lived, even with all the realities, good, bad, and ugly, that are under the sun where men live, then God's presence, God's intervention, God's purposes must be integrated into your life under the sun. So he is saying, you are not to have a pie-in-the-sky religion. Your faith in God must be brought to bear even on the nasty here and now. He says, because if all you have is what you see and feel and touch and taste, then the best word he can give you is vanity.

And of course, he starts that. Vanity has the idea of emptiness without purpose or without meaning. Now, you can have meaningful moments.

You can be involved in meaningful activities. But he's talking about ultimate meaning, not merely periodic or circumstantial meaning. So the way to have meaning in life in a meaningful way that transcends the circumstances that you will find under the sun is to have a life that is punctuated or where the divine intervenes in it. And so that is his thought process.

That is his concept. We ended last time in chapter 7, and we ended on a very important note. And we have challenged each of you to follow his advice. Verse 2, It is better to go to a house of mourning than to a house of feasting, because that is the end of every man and the living take it to heart. Verse 4, The mind of the wise is in the house of mourning, while the mind of fools is in the house of pleasure. Translation, it's better to go to a funeral than a party.

He says if you're looking for the real deal, if you're looking for how to look at life seriously, he says go to a funeral. Now, we plan to go to parties. Parties get on our schedule. We don't plan to go to funerals.

In other words, those are unexpected realities that we have to deal with, and they're very serious. Funerals are very serious. Parties, they camouflage reality, because, you know, the whole environment is to cause you to forget your troubles, to forget the problems of life. But not at a funeral. At a funeral, life is very serious, and you are reminded about how temporary it is. You go to a party, you feel like you're gonna live forever, you know? You go to a funeral, your mind reminded you're not gonna live forever. And therefore, the seriousness of life comes at a funeral.

So when there is an opportunity to naturally go—I'm not literally asking you to read the obituary column— and find a funeral every week to go to, but what I am saying is when there is an opportunity to pay your respects to someone in your circle, that's not a bad thing to do, because, he says, it's in the house of mourning at a funeral, where you come face to face with life's reality. And you need to be reminded of that. I need to be reminded of that as we live life under the sun. So he continues in chapter 7, verse 5, It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man than for one to listen to the song of a fool. Solomon has this way with words. It comes up in Ecclesiastes, and I mean, it really comes up in Proverbs. He's now gonna spend a long part of chapter 7 talking about wisdom and foolishness. So let me define that. He's already related to it, but let me talk about that since it takes up incrementally parts of this chapter. Wisdom and foolishness are not tied to academic accomplishment or achievement.

Okay? You can be a PhD fool and a dropout wise person. So it's not academic per se. Wisdom is the ability to make spiritually informed decisions. Foolishness is the inability or refusal to make spiritually informed decisions. That is, wisdom or foolishness has to do with decision making.

And whether those decisions are informed from a divine perspective or not, or from a human perspective. James chapter 3 talks about there being two forms of wisdom. He talks about the wisdom that is from above, that is divinely inspired decision making. And he talks about the wisdom that is from below. He calls that demon wisdom. In other words, it would be akin to foolishness.

He calls it earthly under the sun. He calls it demonic because it does not take into account God's perspective on a matter. So when you talk about wisdom, and usually when we talk about somebody being a fool or foolish, we're talking about decisions that they made. You know? Some of us, we talk about that to ourselves. Have you ever looked in the mirror and said, you fool?

You know? Because how could I have done that? How could I have decided that? What was I thinking? We said it earlier.

What were you thinking? Well, the whole point is you weren't thinking, at least not from a divine perspective. So he is promoting the pursuit of wisdom.

And if somebody has a divine perspective and rebukes you, that's better than somebody singing your praises who's a fool. Okay? We've probably all experienced folks singing our praises who are actually fools. We trusted them, and they went left on us.

Okay? So you want to know, is the person wise first? Not how much education only do they have. Nothing wrong with that education. Education does us well in terms of our careers, our income, and all that. But it does not necessarily give you wisdom, and you can look at people all over the place and see that reality. He says, for as the crackling of the thorn bushes under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool, and this too is futility.

That's an interesting phrase. The crackling of thorn bushes under a pot. So it's something cooking, and you get the crackling noise when it's cooking. And it's making a lot of noise. You get this crackling sound, but it's accomplishing nothing. It's noise. So the laughter of a fool, he says, is like the crackling noise.

It's not doing—the crackling is not doing anything, but it's making some noise. And so he's talking about not giving attention or following the fool. For oppression makes a wise man mad, and a bribe corrupts the heart. The end of a matter is better than its beginning.

Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. So he comes to these equations and says this is a wise way to look at things. He says you want to make sure you end strong. He says the end of a matter is better than the beginning.

Many of us have started things not too good, but you ended strong. It's better if you started bad to end good than to start good and end bad. And so he's saying this is the wise way of thinking.

This is the wise way of looking and evaluating things. Here's a bit of wisdom. Verse 9, Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools.

Interesting. Don't be hasty to get angry. Many of us have done foolish things because we were mad. And so if you say you got a quick temper, Solomon says you're a fool. Anger resides in the bosom of a fool. That is, if it resides there, you're just mad all the time and it just pops out. Well, I got an anger issue.

Well, that's because you're a fool. Don't get mad at me. It's Solomon talking here. He says it resides in the bosom.

It's just there ready to be provoked. Do not say what is the former days were better than these, for it is not from wisdom that you ask about this, okay? Don't live in yesterday. The former days, that's yesterday.

Now, you know yesterday happened and yesterday had its strengths, but you can't live in yesterday and ruin today and mess up tomorrow, okay? When I go back to Baltimore, I still got some of my homies back there in Baltimore. Now, I left Baltimore when I was 18 years old, away from Baltimore, a long time. But some of the homeboys are still there. Well, they ain't boys anymore.

They're old, gray-headed guys. And when I see ones who are still there, inevitably, we talk about yesterday, okay? You know, how I was growing up playing football and being out in the alleys and then going down to the diamond. We will talk about yesterday when I'm up there. There's one major difference between me and then the guys I'm talking about now, and that is I'm leaving, okay? I'm leaving Baltimore and I'm coming back to Dallas. Go up and see my father, I'm coming back to Dallas. They still talking about it while I'm leaving. And they gonna be talking about it when I go back.

And it won't be much difference in the conversation between those two times. Because if you live in yesterday, you don't make any progress today. So the wise thing to do is not live there. Wisdom along with an inheritance is good and an advantage to those who see the sun. So whatever you leave behind to your loved ones, you better give them some wisdom.

Because if you leave it to a fool, they gonna mess up what you built up. So he says, you need an inheritance with wisdom. Wisdom with an inheritance. For wisdom is protection, just as money is protection. So God's divine perspective on a matter is a protection. We look at money to protect us in our retirement, to protect us from different circumstances.

We use insurance for protection. He says, so you gotta look at wisdom like that. In the same way you look at money from a financial standpoint to provide security for you, wisdom is security, God's divine perspective. For wisdom is protection, just as money is protection. But the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the lives of its possessor. In other words, you're much more likely to live longer and live better if you live wisely.

But there's a balancing act to life. And we'll learn more about that when we continue with this message from our series on how to avoid a wasted life. This in-depth, nine-part sermon collection explores what the book of Ecclesiastes can still teach us today about the fleeting nature of worldly pursuits and the importance of finding meaning that goes beyond those physical things we can possess. True fulfillment only comes from God.

Real purpose and contentment are found when our lives are aligned with Christ. Right now, we're offering all nine full-length messages in this series on CD or digital download as our gift when you support the ministry of the alternative. Along with the complete audio package, we'll also send you a special bonus, the Kindness Flip Calendar, your 365-day companion to becoming contagiously kind. These reflections will help you cultivate a deep passion for kindness in your daily life as you're motivated and encouraged with biblical insights and prayers. Visit us today at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-832-22 to take advantage of this special resource package. I'll repeat that contact information for you after part two of today's lesson. Consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what He has bent? Now, he's gonna deal with this a number of times.

How do I say this? Don't try to figure out what God doesn't explain. Because all you wind up with is a headache. Now, to ask why is fine. To try to find out why is fine. But until you're given an answer, don't destroy yourself for something God does not give. And sometimes, unfortunately, there is no answer.

In other words, in life, in time, under the sun. You know, when you and I get to heaven and God answers, we're gonna say, Oh, okay, that makes sense. But right now, He doesn't answer every question.

Deuteronomy 29, 29 talks about the secret things that belong to Him. That is, some things that He doesn't answer. And that's true in our own homes.

There's some things we have not informed our children about. There's some things they say why, and we say it because I said so. Why are we doing this? Because I said so? Yeah, but why?

Because I said so. You know, we don't explain everything. And we have reasons for not. They won't understand it. They're too young.

It wouldn't be appropriate. I mean, there's a lot of reasons, and that's true also with God's creation. Now, there are things He does reveal, okay? And so, you can't force something on God that He has bent, and there's no explanation for it. In the day of prosperity, be happy. But in the day of adversity, consider God has made the one as well as the other so that man will not discover anything that will be after him.

Wow. The second most important doctrine that you need to learn and discover and grow in, and it's difficult, is the sovereignty of God. Now, the first one is the gospel, getting saved.

But the second one is the sovereignty of God, which says God is in control of all things good and bad. Okay? Now, God does not sin, but God does allow it.

You know, Adam and Eve would have never eaten a fruit. Okay? So God allows what He doesn't agree with. Now, that's difficult to grasp, especially if you're the one who's feeling the adversity. But you must—I must, we must—learn to appeal to the sovereignty of God and believe when we don't see it, He is in control even of that which is out of control. Okay? It's just out of our control. It's not out of total control. And to be able to say, God, I want to thank you that even though this is crazy right now, it's out of control, I want to thank you that it's in your control and just out of my control.

Okay? Because what that does is shift your perspective on something that you can't figure out. So He wants you to know that. I've seen everything during my lifetime of futility. And remember, he's the richest man that's ever lived.

He's got everything going for him. Great job. But he calls it the time of my futility. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness. And that ain't right.

It says, a righteous man died young and a wicked man lived long. And he says, under the sun, some things aren't fair from our perspective. And we've all seen that's not fair for that good person to be hurt and that bad person to be okay. It appears to be unjust, and God sometimes appears to be unjust. Now, you have been born in America and somebody else born in a jungle who is eking out a living.

Was that fair? You know, we could go on and on and on and on, and you try to figure that stuff out? I mean, it's beyond you. And he's saying, I've looked under the sun, and I observe this inequity. And do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise.

Why should you ruin yourself? Now, I better explain this real quick, unless y'all get the wrong idea, okay? To be excessively righteous means to be righteous beyond even what God requires.

All right? So what that means is you are being self-righteous, okay? That's what the Pharisees were. They were self-righteous. God gave them a rule, and they came up with ten more, okay? In the name of being righteous, which was legalism. But in the name of being righteous, they added to God's standard their own standard, and all they did was frustrate folks, okay? And that's what legalism does. It gives rules God didn't give, and it gives restrictions.

God doesn't know what you're talking about. Many of us grew up in churches like that, where there was rules, but there was no biblical basis for the rule, but it was the religious rule, and you were made to feel guilty that God was going to get you if you broke it, even though God never gave it, okay? That's what you call excessively righteous. So it means going beyond even what God requires, and many, many groups do that.

Many groups do that, and it becomes a form of cultism and control, and not biblical Christianity. But the Bible does have boundaries, it does have standards, but it does have freedom, too. Do not be excessively wicked, verse 17, and do not be a fool.

Why should you die before your time? Now, obviously, excessive wickedness means you're continuing in wickedness. All of us fall short, but he's just talking about that you just keep going, okay? So he's dealing with excess. Verse 18, It is good for you that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other, for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them. It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of another, for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.

So here he is. He says the key to balancing all of these excesses out, you know, excessively this, excessively that, how do you balance out? He simply says you fear God. By fearing God, he means you just simply take God seriously. You take God seriously. You don't take stuff that's not God.

Just because somebody uses God's name, that doesn't mean it's God, okay? So you want to fear God, then you're balanced. You're not overly righteous, self-righteous, overly wicked, continuing in a fault, in a sin. You are now able to live this, quote-unquote, balance. You can balance your life.

You put God in the center. You take God seriously, and then you are able to manage life under the sun. Life will still have its question marks.

It will. But even within the question marks, you will be able to live in a balance of well-being. Dr. Tony Evans, talking today about living a balanced life by going beyond knowledge to wisdom. Now, before we go, I want to tell you that if you'd like to review today's lesson on your own or pass it along to someone you care about, just get in touch with us for details on the message titled Wisdom and Folly, part of our sermon series on how to avoid a wasted life.

The complete series contains nine messages exploring the wisdom of seeking after those things that will stand for eternity, as opposed to the often shallow temporary pursuits of the world. As I mentioned earlier, this collection is yours when you make a contribution to the alternative, and as an added bonus for a limited time, we're including an inspiring perpetual 365-day kindness flip calendar, good to be used in any year. Be sure to take advantage of this unique resource package while you still can. Just visit tonyevans.org to get the details and to make your contribution and request. That's tonyevans.org. Or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you.

That number again, 1-800-800-3222. Life without God eventually proves empty and meaningless, despite our income, accomplishments, possessions, everything. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans will look at how divine perspective moves us beyond momentary satisfaction to a fulfilling present and an eternal future. I hope you'll join us for that. The alternative with Dr. Tony Evans is brought to you by The Urban Alternative and is made possible by the generous contributions of listeners like you.