The wisdom of Solomon in today's world

We live in a world where the wisdom of Solomon is greatly needed. In the simple story recalled in 1 Kings 3:5-12, God appears to they young, newly anointed king and asks what Solomon would desire of God. In humility, Solomon simply asks God for an understanding mind and the ability to discern between good and evil. He asks for nothing more. With joy, God not only grants Solomon’s request, but adds a note of appreciation for Solomon’s not asking for long life, wealth, or power. In today’s world, so often we ask for the wrong things.

The Fourth Chapter of James touches on a similar theme as the Apostle recognizes that disputes, animosity, and conflict among believers erupt simply because the people of God fail to ask for the right thing. The prayerful requests lifted before God serve only to appeal to selfish desires and therefore create disastrous rifts withing the community of Christ. James ends the warning with a stern condemnation that such selfish thinking places one in opposition to the Divine.

Both passages remind us that prayer to God and spiritual gifts from God are not to be applied as cosmic tools of self-gratification or a means to achieve power, control, authority, or pleasure. (That does not mean God will not grant such things in accordance with the Divine wisdom as God sees fit, but it is God that makes that discernment; not the believer.)

For Solomon the fundamental truth is to seek wisdom. In today’s world such wisdom is sorely lacking. Due largely to populist news media, the ubiquitous nature of the internet and social media, dishonest and manipulative politics, and malicious attempts to spread flagrant lies under the guise of satisfying belief systems, today we live in a world without wisdom. We believe lies that tell us what we want to hear rather than the hard truths that conflict with our personal preferences. We back politicians that fabricate false realities that cannot stand up to intelligent scrutiny and believe them because they describe a world view we wish to believe is true. We discount relevant academic theories and scientific evidence because they conflict with the versions history, theology, and religious assumptions that please our own sensitivities. Such practices are not wise, do not show true Divine discernment, and do not serve humanity. Rather, as James so bluntly put it, the practice serves only to fuel disputes and conflicts.

In America today, wisdom and discernment has been replaced by opinion and belief. Consequently, rather than being a great nation of wise, discerning adults, we have eroded into a more primitive, tribal conglomerate or disparate, angry, opinionated, arrogant, and selfish fools. This is not the community for which Christ died! This is not the community that is called by God and surrenders to the Divine name. This is a community of unrepentant sin.

As a church—and a nation which continues to have a significant percentage of people who profess a belief in the Christian understanding of God—it is time that we collectively bow to God and embrace the prayer of Solomon and seek to truly embrace the nature of the prayer. We need to pray for true divine wisdom and discernment.

This does not mean we all believe the same thing or accept the same worldview, theological perspective, or Biblical interpretation. It does mean, however, that we need to stop taking social media posts at face value. It does mean that we need to stop accepting news reports at face value. It does mean that we need to stop accepting uninformed opinions as objective fact. It does mean that we need to spend the extra to research the fact from the fiction, discern the real news from the fake news, and take responsibility to learn and understand others.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: The wisdom of Solomon in today's world