FOUR WAYS TO WISDOM

By Danelle Carvell

Train up a child in the way that she should go. 

I have a bold mouth. And lately I feel the need to speak out. But I had a question recently that I needed answered. The question was, "Am I lacking humility by speaking out and should I continue to speak out even if my opinions are uncomfortable to people that I love?"

The backlash that I'm getting from my opinions about the coronavirus craziness so far is that I'm being hurtful, selfish, heartless and embarrassing. So I asked my husband what scripture might lead me to an answer about when to stay silent and when to speak up, and how do I know that my opinions line up with God's way of thinking?

 Hubby has an undergraduate diploma in Advanced Biblical Studies from Liberty University. He led me to the perfect answer, which was found in this wonderful book, the ESV Study Bible. What I share below is a combination of the exact wording in the Bible and my own paraphrasing, along with my personal opinions. I'm not wasting my time with quotation marks.

On page 2537 there is a section titled, Developing a Framework for Ethical Decision Making. It can help any Christian who is struggling with this same issue. First of all, I do not believe that Jesus calls us to be silent in the face of injustice. Those who use scripture to defend the idea that we need to obey our government no matter what are not considering the many examples in the Bible of people who challenged authority in order to achieve God's purpose-- people such as Esther and Moses.

"Just as man would not surrender everything he owns to a slothful neighbor, a man would not surrender all his rights to a tyrannous government," is stated on page 105 of the book, To Keep or Not to Keep, Why Christians Should Not Give Up Their Guns. Once a government begins taking our rights from us, we are not expected to stand down. And our civil liberties are not subject to change when pandemics and natural disasters strike. Our forefathers did not put any stipulations in the constitution that allow for the surrendering of freedom based on fear.

Many times a government will stray from its purpose and become oppressive. It might even use a pandemic as an excuse to force suffocating restrictions onto people, using a public health crisis as an opportunity to seize power. Moses leading his people out of bondage in Egypt is a clear example of God blessing  a people's rebellion against oppressive authority. He would not have parted the Red Sea if he didn't approve of them escaping oppression and seeking freedom.

To say that I'm not willing to give up my freedom for your fear sounds harsh to someone who supports wearing face masks right now. I view the forced face mask as oppression. You view it as "caring for your neighbor."  But if I have peace about my convictions, and I understand and obey the teaching of the entire Bible with regard to the situation, then I am on track with the overall goal in making ethical decisions.

To know if my decision is right or wrong I must do four things.

Pray- All decisions must rely on prayer for God's wisdom. I pray for holy spirit-led discernment on what to believe and what to share with others. When I get it wrong, I feel a discomfort in my spirit and I make changes accordingly. When I feel peace about something I know I'm in line with God's way of thinking.

Study the Bible- Search for biblical passages or examples that have relevance for the situation. This is so easy to do with so much information at our fingertips. If you can't find it in the Bible, Google it.

Study the Situation- Gather and access relevant information. A wise decision often can't be made until the facts become more clear, so be patient before jumping to conclusions and shooting your mouth off. (I learned this one the hard way.)

Study the people involved- Try to understand the character, motives and values of the people involved or affected by the decision to be made, including any relevant background, personal habits and characteristics, motivations and relationships as well as special interests that may be influencing the reactions of each relevant party. I often see the same kind of people disagreeing with me. And, at times, their disagreement is the very thing that tells me I'm on the right track.

Wisdom is the skill of combining the above factors so as to rightly apply the Bible's teachings to real people in real-life situations in such a way that one is truly thinking God's thoughts and sharing God's thoughts. If I am praying for wisdom, I have to trust what God is telling me. If I ask for holy spirit-led discernment, then I have to trust the holy spirit, not my friends, not my family.

So if your opinions make people uncomfortable and you are doing the above four things, remember that God will have the final word and the final judgement as to whether you had a heart and cared for your neighbor. You will stand before Him one day and He will not be embarrassed. Instead He will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."